Optimal tea accessories for pu-erh tea
- Written by En Jie Rudd
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Pu-erh tea has recently gained some rather favourable attention among tea lovers due to the reputation of weight reduction and many other health benefits.
Standing as a class of its own among the premium teas, pu-erh tea has many unique natures including its preparation.
Unique natures of Pu-erh tea:
- Pu-erh teas are made of tea tree leaves (big) instead of tea bush leaves (small)
- the more a Pu-erh tea is aged, the better its quality. As a result, most of the Pu-erh teas would have been stored for at least a couple years and often require a sensible ‘brew’, in comparison to teas made of young and tender leaves and consumed seasonally, such as green teas and white teas.
- Pu-erh teas are much longer lasting – some leaves can still produce quality flavour after 20 infusions, while the teas made of young tip eaves can only be used for up to 4 times normally.
Brewing Pu-erh tea:
Pu-erh tea is one of my favourite teas, a right type can have green tea’s refreshing nature, Oolong or black teas’ mellow texture, and Taiwan High mountain Oolong commending refreshing aftertaste. A careful selection of the tea accessories to use would in no doubt enhance the quality of Pu-erh tea brew.
Home brewing Pu-erh tea
A premium YiXing ZiSha tea set is a good choice. YiXing ZiSha teapots are traditionally made small (See YiXing ZiSha teapot for more info). They therefore require frequent top up of hot water and serving – producing many small infusions of freshly brewed and served tea which is the best quality tea.
- For single person consumption: use a small ZiSha teapot to make up 5-10 infusions of tea and serve into a cup or mug
- To sever a number of drinkers, use as many kung-fu tea cups as the number of people at presence, brew and sever accordingly. For example, there are four members in our family. I use a tea set as shown in the image after dinner. A pot of hot water and a serve of Pu-erh leaves is all is required for a few good cups and a chat after dinner.
Brewing pu-erh tea at office
When the space is limited and time is tight in the office to get some work done, a tea infuser like this one is ideal:
- It is a pot, cup and strainer all built into one.
- The brewing chamber is where the tea is brewed.
- Once the tea is brewed to the optimal time, a value is released by pressing a side button and the tea is filtered through a very fine filter to the lower chamber.
- The lower chamber then can be used as a cup to drink from, while using the up facing lid as a saucer to sit the brewing chamber on.
- This process can be repeated many times by topping up with hot water.
More information on Pu-erh tea preparation and storage guide: https://www.valleygreentea.com.au/preparation/pu-erh-tea-preparation-and-storage-guide.html
En Jie Rudd
The founder and owner of Valley Green Tea
I grew up in the Fu-Jian Province – the tea country of China. Tea drinking has been part of our daily life for as long as I can remember.
While I was working as a public health researcher a few years ago, I read many research reports conducted over the last 30 years about the health benefits of green tea in fighting certain life style related challenges such as cancer, obesity, cardio-vascular and inflammatory diseases etc.
From my research, I realised there is a significant gap between what people consume (i.e. commercial tea bags) for assumed health benefits and the actual benefits that have been enjoyed by the Chinese for a long history from the premium loose leaf teas.
As well as being potentially beneficial to health, the premium loose teas (green tea being the biggest group) are most enjoyable beverages with a fascinating history, colourful culture and holistically dynamic in every aspect.
It is my passion to share, not only the products, but also the whole culture dynamics around the premium teas with the tea enthusiasts, here in Australia and around the world.
Valley Green Tea currently supplis a diverse range of premium loose teas to the tea drinking community that suit all tastes and all cultures and to pass on a deep understanding of the history and benefits of this wonder beverage.
Website: https://www.valleygreentea.com.auRelated items
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