Pu-erh tea preparation and storage guide

Pu-erh tea's preparation: 

Pu-erh belongs to a compressed tea category. Its brewing method is quite different from other loose leaf Chinese teas.

1. Breaking off from the cake: Use a butter knife or a special Pu-erh tea knife (blunt) to break the tea leaves loose from the edge of the tea cake. Look for the space between the tea leaves to insert the knife to avoid crashing the tea leaves.
2. Quantity: Use 5-7g of tea leaves per serve (for up to 5 people) into the tea vessel.
3. Use freshly boiled water, quickly and thoroughly rinse the tea without soaking:
   • rinse once for young tea;
   • rinse three times for aged tea.
4. Add freshly boiled water and serve without delay  ( around 5 seconds for the first infusion).  Pu-erh tea, especially pre-fermented (ripened) tea has a relatively darker colour. Prolong brewing could result in tea colour being too dark (like soy source) and take on a medicinal like flavor.
5. Repeat infusions: Pu-erh leaves can be used repeatedly for up to 10  infusions by adding  boiled water.

Hints:

1. We recommend to only break a small amount of pu-erh tea leaves from the cake at a time, eg. 50g. The reason is that Pu-erh has a unique nature that is very different from other categories of Chinese teas: post-fermenting . (Similar to some premium wines in this aspect: quality improves with the length of time after its production.) As cake form facilitates this fermenting process to continually improve the tea’s quality, it is better to leave the unused leaves in its original form.
2. Most of premium Chinese teas are hand handled. We always recommend rinsing the tea leaves for up to 10 seconds before brewing.
3. When adding hot water into tea vessel, pour along the vessel wall to allow the tea leaves to infuse without excessive disturbance. This will ensure tea being clear, bright and smooth. Unnecessary disturbance of the tea leaves during adding water could result in tea liquid being clouded with a rough taste.
4. If you notice any additional odor (especially for aged cakes that have been stored for many years) after the water is added, remove the lid immediately to diffuse the additional ‘age’ ordor.
5. Recommended tea vessel: Zi Sha teapot is the best for Pu-erh tea.

Pu-erh tea's storage:

Pu-erh tea’s storage requirement is relatively simple compared to most of the other Chinese teas:

1. store in a cool, dry place that is absent from light, foreign odour and foreign odors;
2. good ventilation.
3. store the broken off loose tea leaves at a container like all other loose leaf teas.
4. store the remaining cake in a brown paper bag or cardboard box.

To order our premium Pu-erh tea, please go to: PU-ERH TEA .