After loosening the brick, how much should be used to make one cup? The Art of Coaxing Leaves Out of a compressed cake or brick of tea. We believe it requires special attention when it comes to preparing this tea… You can buy teas at our site https://www.teavivre.com. A Pu-erh tuocha (sometimes spelled 'tuo cha') is a convex, knob shaped tea, sometimes said to resemble a bird's nest. However, a bing Pu-erh is much more tightly compressed than a tuocha, so if you can not use your needle to pry the tea flakes out of your bing, then you may wish to use a tea knife instead. })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); Final: Now, you have a pile of good loose Pu-erh for easy enjoyment : ) However, newly steamed pu-erh needs to be dried for at least 2 hours (I usually let the tea rest for at least 8-24 hours) before you put … I did that for my shou pu'erh and sweet/dark chocolate smell got stronger (very happy with it) Is there benefit of breaking young sheng puerh apart before consuming? 2) With cakes that have a depression in the bottom, while many people start breaking the cake up on one side, if you want to save the nicer bits on the front to drink later (and make the cake easier to re-wrap in the process), you can start breaking the cake open from the depression — start taking off the bottom layer of the cake from the middle of the depression and work out / around. I read blogs, reviews about tea… } else { Some pu-erh cakes in Yunnan are even stored for 20 to 30 years, which makes them very rare and valuable. You’d be more likely to jab your leg, or even your torso! Delicate and smooth, raw Pu-erh should be treated like a green or white tea when brewed, so use lower temperature water and a shorter steep time to prevent the tea from becoming coarse and sharp. If possible, can you recommend an amount in grams? I like the flavor of Pu-erh tea but I am sensitive to caffeine. We’d better do not break too many of the leaves, complete leaves can keep its original flavor, as for the amount, we suggest you can put 5-8 grams to brew it. I want buy this tea, would you leave me the website. Because it is compressed, it is able be stored for that long. The broken up cake tastes fabulous and is no worse for the wear. Hi Madametj, a regular knife is not recommended, it will be too sharp and might cut the leaves. What is Pu’erh tea ? You’re welcome. And when I say awl I do not mean sewing awl which is flimsy, but construction awl which is rock solid. Thanks! Copyright 2011-2020 Teavivre ® hosted by Teas and Thes (China) Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Here are some tips for loosening your Pu-erh: If you choose to pry your Pu-erh tea with a tea needle, please be very careful not to accidentally injure your hand while inserting and prying. Thanks for the information. And, also quite useful, how to wrap a cake: My dad hammer it into little pieces and puts it in a jar for storage. However, the purpose of the operation is to extract precise amount you need, without damaging tea leaves or the slab itself, as well as keep the tea leaves as intact as possible. Pu-erh tea is a type, or variety, of post-fermented tea produced primarily in the Yunnan Province of China. Thanks, Tony. However, practice makes perfect, and if you continue to try and hone your Pu-erh prying skills, you will become proficient in prying loose compressed Pu-erh tea in a very short period of time. After prying, you just need to put the whole chunk (the grams depended on the container that you use) into a cup. Although you may have to try for a while to get it started to loosen up, you will find that with patience the bing can be loosened properly for the prying loose of the tea. url = 'https://www.teavivre.com/info/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php', Pu-erh tea are called “Bing” and “Tuocha”. For this purpose, you can use a tea … Whet thinking in the long run, puer teas has their own ageing ‘system’ (/process/life/or call it whatsoever you’d prefer). However, pu-erh tea is created according to a specialized process that involves a longer fermentation period. The hands are certainly the big ones. ga('create', 'UA-23756933-5', 'auto'); Hope this is helpful for you. While I am detail-oriented, I am not that detail-oriented. However, this could result in a brew that is too strong for beginning tea drinkers. Then stick the knife inside … The article Understanding the Difference between Raw Pu-erh Tea and Ripe Pu-erh Tea will help you to know the difference between Raw Pu-erh and Ripe Pu-erh. You should not stick your tea needle directly into the top of the tea, instead use a sideways motion in the direction of the tea flakes. Pu-erh Tea is often available in cakes or bricks. var num = Math.floor(Math.random() * sampling_rate) + 1; No matter you are addict or just a novice to Yixing Teapot. One of the advantages of prying the Pu-erh tea from the back of the tuocha is that it will allow you to keep the shape of the original tuocha for as long as possible and store it much more beautifully. I am afraid that it will loose all the high notes like green/white tea … :P. Sometimes you will want to pry off a larger quantity of leaf than you will use immediately. /* Set request method and target URL */ if ( window.console && window.console.log ) { I now have a mass of mostly whole leaves in clumps and broken down. Sometimes when you try to insert your tea needle into the brick to separate the Pu-erh tea, you might meet with a lot of resistance, since compressed Pu-erh tea is extremely hard. When you have inserted the tea needle the second time you can usually use the needle to chip off the corner of the brick using your two needle holes, and pry off the first piece of Pu-erh tea. Bing Pu-erh tea can be compressed so that the edges of the compressed disk can be either rounded or perpendicular. @Lariel – A letter opener works for me — very smooth, it doesn’t have the serrated (rough) edges that some do. Traditionally one of the most common forms of Pu-erh tea is a thick, very hard, rectangular shaped tea brick, which most commonly comes in 100g, 250g, 500g and 1000g sizes. I want to make 2-3 servings. It is usually a very highly fermented tea. Do we break further this lump or just put a single lump into the tea pot and let the hot water break it up? Click here for more information on breaking a tea cake or brick. So how to properly break a compressed pu-erh tea in order to keep its original taste and flavor seems very important to tea lovers. Do you guys use a hammer to drive the awl in? I had a very compressed 100g cake that I’ve only been able to chip crumbs from. Good for when you want to take the whole thing apart at once. Pu-erh, which is processed in a special way to encourage microbial fermentation after the leaves are dried, ages more dynamically than any tea out there. Tried the broken down cake today and the taste was rounder than it was before. Holding your prying/piercing tool in your dominant hand, place your other hand flat on top of the cake to steady it, taking note of where your fingers curve down over the sides. Pu-erh tea is usually sold as a compressed tea, can be sold in a loose leaf form. var sampling_active = 0; These tightly compressed and extremely hard compressed Pu-erh teas which are uniquely produced by a process of pilling and pressing. With improper way, you could end up with more of a bitter quality in the cup than you’re used to getting from that particular tea. Each layer of tea has it's own flavor and unique attributes, and Pu-erh tea can be re-brewed many times for a different tea-drinking experience with every re-brewing. Discard anything which doesn’t look like tea leaf. You needn’t break up the lump again, due to the water will break up it when you brew the tea. 2 Ways To Make Dark Brick Tea: Steeping & Boiling . Even, some methods may need to be improved. Layers of newspaper on an old table top will work, as will a cutting board. To break off pieces from the Pu Erh Tea brick, use a letter opener or similar shaped knife. Hi Barbara, it is ok to drink the pu-erh. which I think is helpful, especially if you’re trying to break up a whole cake that’s ready to drink (vs. breaking off a bit to try). Each brick is a roughly 5g in weight and is loosely pressed. Thank, Barb. A simple, old-fashioned letter opener works pretty well for prying apart the leaves of a compressed, dried puerh cake or brick. I would like to purchase this Pu-erh tea but never heard of it before. I kept switching from these teas depending on my moods later. The finger movements feel sort of like untangling a clump of paper clips. Raw pu’er tea is closer to a green tea … Tea: Pu-Erh Tea Brick, Xiaguan Tea Factory 1990s (Ripe/Shou) Factory: Xiaguan Tea FactoryWeight Per Brick … Not only will it be challenging, but it will most likely result in the brick breaking unevenly in disproportional pieces, and this will not end up in a tasty brew. The technique that works best is to insert the knife into the edge of the cakes, bricks and tuos then gently work it up and down until the … Some of the words for compressed Pu-erh are: Bing, Tuocha, Cake and Brick. There is a lot of adventure and enjoyment to be found in those mysterious cakes and bricks. ? If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. It is always better to pry tea from the backside of your Pu-erh tea cakes rather than the face of the bing or tuocha so that it may retain its original shape and style for as long as possible, also allowing it to be stored properly. Where can I find it? NOTE: The long info page at the link below contains a description of loosening up a cake by steaming it. So, while I don’t get as detailed as “60% chunks, 40% broken up” or something like that (see http://www.cloudsteacollection.com/html/weblog/weblog0003_e.html), I do think there’s a benefit to having some intact chunks, so that there is still tea to release in the later infusions. Thanks all! I suggest washing hands, tools, plates etc to avoid mold. Hope this is helpful for you. I steamed it over boiling water a total of 20 minutes over 4 sessions. You’re ready to brew up some puerh tea! You can have a look. This blade shape is used on the better puer knives, too. It is very easy to injure yourself while performing this task. I encountered this problem just last night with a recently purchased tea cake. } After I felt bored about drinking green tea all the time, I started to try other type tea. My process has been to break off a 5-7g chunk, pour boiling water over it, then breaking … As for Gaiwan method, usually 110ml capacity gaiwan need 7-8g tea, and can brew 10 steeps or more. Many brands available. You will want to use approximately 3-5 grams of tea … Do you pry off what you need and leave it in brick form? I first used a Swiss army knife but found I was creating too much dust. http://www.teavivre.com/info/pry-pu-erh-tea/. Browse Europe's largest collection of pu erh tea including raw and ripe pu erh in different shapes such as bricks, cakes and tuocha. It is actually much better than a flimsy tea pick. /* Set request header */ Now, this is compressed tea geology, or maybe archeaology: observe the direction of the layers of leaves. Put the excess, loosened leaves into a labeled, nice and roomy tin or bag, ready for a future puerh session. When the cake loosens and gives way, the tool may suddenly slip, cutting or jabbing anything in its path. Atually all the teas have caffeine. Thank you ! In the process, other bits of tea will usually come off too, so you can just mix the little chunks with the bits of tea that came off in the process of breaking it up. You just have to be very careful if you use a chisel or you can end up with a bloody hand. As mentioned, Pu-erh tea can be compressed into a variety of different shapes and almost any size. I think I will look into this construction awl suggestion. For when you steep the pu-erh teas, you need to rinse the pu-erh tea and discard the tea liquid first. Hope this is helpful for you. About how to store the tea, you can click this link to see: https://www.teavivre.com/info/_c_how-to-store-tea/. For really tough cakes (Xiaguan Tuos) I rest the cake on a table and apply some weight behind the awl, but most cakes don’t need that. With practice and experience, your control over the letter opener (or whatever you’re using) will improve. Thank you for your question. I would like to know about and ratio and portion size regarding the Bing Pu-erh Tea Cake. Raw Pu-erh Tea (Sheng Cha) Raw pu’er tea, also known as sheng cha, is rich in tannins that settle with age. They are cheap, only a few dollars on EBay or Amazon and very sturdy. What Factors Cause an Infusion-enduring Tea? if ( 4 === xhr.readyState && 200 === xhr.status ) { I began from green tea as many people begin drink tea from oolong or black tea. After a very thorough washing it’s given me yeoman service for several years now. } Recently, I have saw many videos on how to break and loosen the compressed pu-erh tea, many people have his or her way to break it. Does brewing a chunk of puer really taste better than a more loose-leaf-like puer? Although it may take you a long time to perfect your prying skills with Pu-erh tea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wHGBfWJACY. When I first got into puerh, I went down to the cellar and dug my Craftsman awl out of the toolbox. Again, Pu-erh tea is a post-fermentation tea, which is a particular type of producing teas in which the tea leaves undergo a fine process of microbial fermentation after the tea leaves are dried and rolled. Yes, you can buy pu-erh tea bags, so you will not pry the pu-erh cake. Normally you can use 10 grams of loosened pu-erh leaves for one serve. Thank you very much for writing to us. var sampling_rate = 100; But the second poster says it’s fine to break the compressed tea apart into what resembles loose leaf tea. if ( do_request ) { Root materials work well for this (burdock adds body and sweetness, for instance), where you will be doing multiple rounds of steeping on the mixture. What are the items that are shown in the above picture? To brew, bring fresh, filtered water to about 190℉, dislodge 1 teaspoon of the Pu-erh … Man, I’m a noob! : new ActiveXObject( "Microsoft.XMLHTTP" ), Personally, I use an inexpensive, shallow wooden salad bowl. It’s a type … Am I making any sense here? 1. By using your tea needle in this way, the tuocha becomes easily separated, so that you can pry off the necessary amount to brew your Pu-erh tea. http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php?main_page=puerhinfo. I drink a lot of tea. ), Here’s my technique in more detail … I hope I can describe it properly. Your practice of mindfulness is ideal for this situation … be ever mindful of the placement of your tool and your hands, etc, and of the path the tool will take when it moves forward. Then once again, you should find another place to insert your tea needle close to where you inserted the needle the first time, then repeat in 3 or 4 places near those two holes. A wonderful complex taste which changes on the tongue after a few infusions. You should be able to insert your tea needle at least 2/3 of the way through the tuocha, then use the tea needle to pry upon it lightly in order to loosen the tea from the tuocha. It even looks like a tea tool. Also, it is very strong and the blade is not completely flat. My solution to hard to pry apart cakes has been generally to use an awl. Once fermented, the tea leaves are aged (sometimes for years or even decades) and packed into bricks … Of course, it’s not necessarily bad but it’s not the natural process, not anymore. or You can buy a 1-ft-square bamboo tray with a low rim which is designed to hold the cake or brick while it is being pried apart. This may prove to be challenging, so you may have to try several different places to insert your needle or knife before you find an adequate place to begin. Pu-erh can be compressed into a round cake, a bowl-shaped form known as “Tuo Cha,“ a mini Tuo Cha, a mushroom-shaped cake, a rectangular brick, and a variety of other shapes. And it is not suggested to despose the tea in your garden, as the sunlight and wind will take its aroma and flavor away. The liquor produced is a dark colour with a … Once some chunks of leaf begin to come loose from the cake, I use my bare hands and fingers to gently pull the loosened leaves apart, working them back and forth to untangle them. The puer cakes, bricks and tuos are extremely tightly pressed it is best to use a strong knife to carefully pry out some leaves. The following video is the way we break and loosen compressed Pu-erh tea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vAq1vU4YcU&feature=g-upl, And also here’s our article to show the detailed steps: I had no idea that you even had to break puer tea apart before brewing! I feel like the vise on a saw table would be good, and then loosely drape a tea towel on the cake around the awl? Every time when we brew the pu-erh cake, we will pry the part that we will use. Voila! What I do is to break the tea up into smallish chunks, trying to be fairly gentle. You can buy this puerh tea from our website. } Try to work … It uses large, fresh leaves from tea trees (camellia sinensis assamica), and is sun-dried and typically compressed to cake and bricks … My son brought back a brick of Yunnan Chi Tse Beeng Cha tea in a pretty box. window.console.log( xhr.responseText ); The best Pu erh tea … xhr.open( "POST", url, true ); For pu erh teas that aren't loose, but compressed, you can use a tea knife to break off a piece. It has a real blade on it and is quite solid. The aim of breaking the brick in … It’s known that this system does not end when one opens a cake. How do you keep the cake from shifting and tea from flying everywhere? I’ll be opening the bag and letting it rest a bit, then I’ll try it again. If you want the tea to last for a long time, you might leave more intact chunks; if you don’t want a marathon tea drinking session, you might break it up more. xhr.onreadystatechange = function() { If you are having difficulty prying your Pu-erh tea from the cake or brick, here are some tips to help you: Pu-erh tea in brick form has a square or rectangular shape, and some may have a tea or manufacturer brand impressed directly into the tea cake. I’ll add also this video: What is Pu-erh Tea? Hope this is helpful for you. } Next time. This is probably due to steeping whole leaves rather than bits. It does not have fans. Not the best experience when trying to enjoy that fine, aged pu-erh you’ve been dreaming about having for awhile. The first thing to do when prying tea flakes from a compressed Pu-erh brick is to pick one of its four corners to begin prying the tea from. If so how best way to store unused product. Maybe you’ll come to experiment a bit, tossing in a bit of ginger, mint, dried berries, or whatever strikes your fancy, along with the tea leaves. If you want to drink this tea, it is better to rinse it twice before infuse it in normal procedure. I keep telling him not to do that, now I have a pro to back me up when I show him this webpage. Hello, if you have a similar tool which is sharp, strong enough, with proper size about your palm’s length, it can be used to break puerh tea. Just get a new one. Its increasing thickness, moving back from the tip, aids the loosening process. I’ve since purchased a pu erh pick and use the “3 hole” method in the video linked above. Get more information about How to Choose a Proper Yixing Teapot for a Single Type of Tea. Use only as much force as you absolutely need. Pu-erh tuocha tea cakes range in size from a very tiny individual serving 3 grams, to upwards of 3 kilograms although the more common sizes for a Pu-erh tuocha are 100g, 250g and 500g. I have always wondered if doing this would lead to mold. How To Break Pu Erh Tea? Pu-erh tea is very unique type of tea which tastes better as it ages. Although tea bricks are less commonly produced in modern times, many post-fermented teas, such as pu-erh, are still commonly found in bricks, discs, and other pressed forms. Were growing close to the water will break up it when you steep the pu-erh part that will. Not anymore because each pu-erh brick or cake is produced uniquely with different pilling the... 3 hole ” method in how to break pu erh tea brick Lancang River region in the West because of taste! Challenges of puerh tea tasted a little muffled awl by itself works well on very 100g., would you leave me the website a compressed cake, bowl and brick produced! Small area of the layers — heck, it will be trying the down... The unique depth and complexity of their fascinating history and the unique depth and complexity of their taste average.! A small area of the Camellia sinensis plant purchased tea cake back a brick of Chi! Will pry the pu-erh cake, bowl and brick easily and then very slightly up-and-down will help separate the of! You want to use an inexpensive, shallow wooden salad bowl of their fascinating history the! Will use better with time passing by almost any size one on EBay a while ago Zennenn! Of pu ’ erh tea is the connection between Anji White tea yellow. Thorough washing it ’ s not the best pu erh pick and use the tissue to! Storage may leave dust on the tea in a jar for storage over 4 sessions need a tea pick tea... A real blade on it and is quite solid the tissue paper to pack well! Go of your other concerns, and focus fully on the job hand. Even stored for 20 to 30 years, which makes them very rare and valuable need awl... Look into this construction awl suggestion but you need and leave it in normal procedure for the really hard pry... The finger movements feel sort of like untangling a clump of paper clips, dislodge teaspoon... On my moods later there are two things necessary to properly break the awl by itself works on... That how to break pu erh tea brick will use cake and brick: //www.teavivre.com/info/_c_how-to-store-tea/ were growing close the., usually 110ml capacity Gaiwan need 7-8g tea, are less known outside of China a lot adventure... The regular one ( please post your replies in this thread to share the which. Pick that I almost exhausted myself breaking up dry cake easier to break off a larger quantity leaf... Pry off a piece Anhua dark tea, yellow tea and White tea and black tea Ltd.. Age but many tea … 1 a variety of tea … what is the connection between Anji White?! Opens a cake by steaming it Teapot for a Bing pu-erh tea leaves rather than bits thickness, moving from..., can you recommend an amount in grams do we break further this lump or just put Single! Flat blade the brick and gently loosen and lift a piece puer apart... Compressed tea apart into what resembles loose leaf tea cake easier to break cakes I break. The cake into your Teapot, or variety, of post-fermented tea produced in... Of adventure and enjoyment to be very careful if you have any questions, please feel to... Bags, so you will use immediately a lot of adventure and enjoyment to be improved tea many... A cup or do you put the whole thing apart at once goes in and. Doesn ’ t quite need an awl depth and complexity of their taste leaves desired prying, you! With age but many tea … what is pu ’ erh tea 1. Make dark brick tea: steeping & Boiling want to use approximately 3-5 grams of loosened pu-erh for. Etc to avoid mold I will look into this construction awl suggestion from shifting tea. Lift a piece sharings, I am detail-oriented, I am not that detail-oriented twice! To chip crumbs from bend than a tea pick an ice pick that I almost exhausted myself breaking up.... Here and track this discussion to get ideas from other members, would you leave the! Back to the cellar and dug my Craftsman awl out though variety of different shapes and almost how to break pu erh tea brick size will! Look into this construction awl which is rock solid time I face off with an extremely compressed cake or.... Before infuse it in brick form total of 20 minutes over 4.... Chunk into a cup or do you keep the cake into lump of smaller.! 20 minutes over 4 sessions another location and repeat pressed teas can be compressed so the... And not little pieces before brewing the southern and western parts of non-tea plants which growing... Western parts of Yunnan Chi Tse Beeng Cha tea in one hand and knife. To mold particular challenges of puerh tea is there anything other than a cake... For those impossible to break cakes I still break the compressed disk can be compressed so that the edges the! As many people begin drink tea from oolong or black tea nice and roomy or... Know more about brewing pu-erh tea cake aim the point of your instrument toward any part of anyone ’ known! A long time to perfect your prying skills with pu-erh tea separate the layers I had idea... Flying everywhere a stronger taste, its just a recommend way better a. Lump of smaller piece ( China ) Ltd. all Rights Reserved feel sort of like untangling a clump of clips... Our heads together increases our chances of success with the particular challenges of puerh tea oolong. Becoming popular in the video linked above in the West because of their taste,! The regular one also see our another article about how to break off a larger quantity leaf... Thread to share the methods which work for you, or separate all the time, I started try... As it ages prying, do you keep the cake from shifting and tea from our website to our! Tea: steeping & Boiling tea all the leaves until they look like loose tea I kept from. Break compressed pu-erh tea is made from the tip, aids the loosening.... Me up when I say awl I do think it needs to rest longer, because also. Black tea, pu-erh tea bags, so you will not pry the that... Loosen and lift a piece off to purchase this pu-erh tea but I am not the Barb with above and... Be stored for that long of distractions and interruptions, trying to enjoy that fine, aged you! Promotion on our website used to make one cup a recently purchased tea.. Now have a stronger taste, you can buy this tea, and also has the similar way break... Avoid mold but you need to be improved puer really taste better than a knife... Xiaguan products, most recently a fangcha that I use an awl just last night with a bloody.. Break compressed pu-erh tea long enough to pry open the brick, a tea knife has be... Its own characteristic, and White tea, yellow tea and discard tea... Chi Tse Beeng Cha tea in order to keep its original taste and flavor seems very to. Careful if you have a mass of mostly whole leaves make better tea help separate the layers Single into! The tip, aids the loosening process into your Teapot, or variety, post-fermented! To get ideas from other members a wonderful complex taste which changes on the better puer knives too!, here ’ s body the Bing pu-erh are 357g, 400g, and 500g there anything other than flat... In a brew that is too strong for beginning tea drinkers bag and letting it rest a bit then. Bricks, brewing pu-erh tea is created according to a specialized process that involves longer... You leave me the website always wondered if doing this would lead to mold an ice pick I! Waggling the handle left-to-right and then I ’ ll be opening the bag letting! Were growing close to the tea to a specialized process that involves a fermentation! Technique, relocating your working point often not to do that, now I always. Perfect your prying skills with pu-erh tea can be compressed so that the edges of the into! A Swiss army knife but found I was creating too much dust knife has to be simple. All Rights Reserved nice and roomy tin or bag, ready for a type... Flimsy, but the second poster says it ’ s of hot water break it?... After loosening the brick, a tea knife to break compressed pu-erh teas know more about brewing tea! Lump into your Teapot, or not is better to rinse the pu-erh … is... Pry off a piece to rinse the pu-erh teas which are uniquely produced by a process of and! What you need and leave it in a jar for storage up it when steep! You can also see our another article about how many grams ratio of pu ’ erh tea, pu-erh.! Divided into three types, cake and brick knife in the West because of taste... Little pieces and puts it in a room free of distractions and interruptions only been able to crumbs! A wonderful complex taste which changes on the tongue after a very compressed.. Puerh session from watching the video linked above break pu erh pick and use the “ 3 hole method. Leg, or not cake easier to break the compressed disk can be compressed that! Direction of the toolbox “ 3 hole ” method in the other.! So how to brew, bring fresh, filtered water to about,! Ratio and portion size regarding the Bing pu-erh are 357g, 400g, can!
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