How to brew pu-erh

Pour tea leaves into a teapot and pour boiling water over it? Or cook in a saucepan and let it brew? Maybe use special utensils for the tea ceremony? What kind of instructions and advice you will not meet in search of an answer to the question of how to brew pu-erh correctly. No wonder: today this sort of tea breaks all sales records in specialized stores. Sheet, pressed, in tablets and “pancakes”, green and black pu-erh – so many varieties and options that you can get confused!

” Healthy Food Near Me” together with the tea master answers the most popular questions about pu-erh. Let’s talk about how to brew pu-erh correctly, about the technologies for preparing the drink, its compatibility with different tastes and special dishes for ceremonies.

Types of pu-erh

The founder of the tea pub “Sir Puer” Alexei Shubin says that pu-erhs are a whole layer of tea culture. You can talk about them and classify them for a very long time. But at the first stages of acquaintance, you can limit yourself to the base.

Pu-erhs come in at least two types: shu and shen. Shu in Our Country is usually called “black”, and shen – “green”. There is some truth in this. Shen when brewed gives a very dark green infusion. It owes its taste to the microorganisms that live on its surface. The older the tea, the tastier it is: the richer the taste, the bitterness disappears. Infused like wine. Provided that the storage conditions were met, says the tea master.

Shen pu-erh is aged for three to ten years. There are also older ones, but they are rarely found on sale. This tea becomes a collector’s item.

At one point, in the homeland of pu-erh – southwest China – they decided that waiting ten years for pu-erh to ripen was too long. And in the 70s of the last century, technologists developed a method of accelerated fermentation.

Tea leaves and sheng pu-erh buds are piled up. Spray with water and cover with a cloth or film. Periodically measure the level of humidity, temperature, a little stir up the raw materials. For a couple of months, the tea matures, gets its unique taste. This is how shu pu-erh appeared – the most popular type of this tea today.

“In the case of shu pu-erh, age doesn’t matter as much as it does for sheng. Blending and quality of raw materials are important. Due to the accelerated ripening, the tea turns out to be much darker: black tea with a red, amber tint,” explains Alexey Shubin.

Also, pu-erh can be divided into pressed and leaf (loose). The former are called by “rammed” forms: brick, tile, pancake or tablet.

It cannot be argued that the pressed ones are worse. Much depends on the technologist and manufacturer. Pressing is just a method for ease of transportation. It does not spoil the taste of pu-erh. The tablets are brewed as a whole, and the amount needed for the ceremony is broken off from the rest of the forms.

How to brew leaf pu-erh in a mug

Some tea masters have a negative attitude towards this method of brewing leaf pu-erh. Like, there is no aesthetics here and it is impossible to know tea philosophy. But if there is no time and special dishes, then you can give up metaphysics and just drink tea.

Step 1. Choose a cup

Any: though from ceramics, though metal.

Step 2. Warm up the container

Pour boiling water on the bottom and sprinkle the walls – the container should warm up. Then pour out the water.

Step 3. Pour pu-erh and brew

For 200 ml of boiling water, take 3-4 grams of pu-erh. Tea is brewed for about five minutes.

Step 4 Enjoy Your Drink

The main disadvantage of this brewing method is that tea leaves get into the mouth. Although, again, you can give up tea philosophy and pour it through a sieve into a new cup. It is also impossible to adjust the intensity of the taste and rinse the tea.

How to brew leaf pu-erh in a teapot with a button

This type of dish has two names. The first European is “tee pot” (English tea pot). The second came from Asia – kung fu. Price 800-2000 rubles.

Such a kettle has a compartment for tea leaves – a capsule isolated from the main container. But at the push of a button, the capsule opens and the contents flow inside. At the same time, tea leaves remain in a separate compartment and do not fall into the finished drink. This is a modern method of brewing pu-erh, however, it does not contradict canonical norms and is considered correct.

Step 1. Preheat the dishes

First of all, the kettle is heated with boiling water. Just pour water inside, wait 5-10 seconds and then drain the contents.

Step 2. Fill Puerh

Loose tea is poured into the brewing container. Most often it is 3-5 grams. For pu-erh, this is about one and a half teaspoons.

Step 3. Add boiling water

The capsule “tipota” holds 150-200 ml of boiling water. As soon as poured – immediately press the button so that the water goes into the main container. So you rinse the tea from dust.

Step 4: Refill hot water

And leave it in the capsule for 30 seconds. Next, press the button and the water will go into the main tank. Fill a cup or bowl and drink tea. Would you like more? Feel free to add boiling water to the capsule, wait this time for 25 seconds and press the button.

Step 5: Drink until the taste is gone

In this way, pu-erh can be spilled at least five times. And the highest quality can withstand eight to ten straits. Only if the first two or four times we constantly reduce the brewing time (30-25-20-15 seconds), then from the fourth or sixth time we start adding in the opposite direction (20-25-30 seconds). As the ceremony progresses, the pu-erh will open up and change its taste.

Let’s make a reservation that they drink pu-erh immediately. It is impossible to drink one cup in the morning and leave the tea leaves until the evening, bearing in mind that it can withstand many straits.

How to brew leaf pu-erh in gaiwan

In the homeland of pu-erh, tea is brewed in this way. Suitable for leisurely tea ceremonies. Gaiwans (cup 150-200 ml + lid) are made of porcelain or glass. Price 500-1000 rubles. You will also need a chakhay, a gundaobey or a plumber – all these are the names of the same jug. Like gaiwan, these are sold in tea shops.

Step 1. Preheat the dishes

We start by warming up the dishes: pour boiling water into the harbor, from there pour it into the chahai, and then into bowls or cups. After that, the water is drained.

Step 2. Get to know tea

Before pouring pu-erh into a gaiwan, you need to get to know it. Tea should be in chahe (sometimes they write cha he) – this is a tea box, a small dish, where dry tea leaves are poured before the ceremony. It is for acquaintance and visual inspection. Breathe in the scent, examine the leaves. All this sets you up for a tea ceremony.

Step 3: Rinse Puerh

Pour boiling water into the harbor and immediately drain it – this will wash the tea. In China, the procedure is carried out not once, but twice.

Step 4. Fill with boiling water

The next portion of water already needs to be infused in a gaiwan. Time is individual: depends on the variety and taste preferences. It is important that this tea ceremony does not end with the first bowl drunk. It lasts a long time and as it flows, with each new infusion of water, pu-erh opens up in a new way. It is important to ensure that the water you use remains hot: 80, and ideally more than 90 degrees.

Step 5: Keep Spilling Water

A good pu-erh can withstand up to ten infusions in a gaiwan. Timings we described above in the chapter about the “tipot”. If you want everything to be completely authentic, then do not wait for the measured 30 seconds. They poured water and literally in a few seconds you poured out the chakhai (drainer), and from there poured it into bowls. Thus, high-quality sheet pu-erh is able to withstand up to 20 spills of water.

How to brew pressed pu-erh in tablets in a regular teapot

If you want to do everything beautifully, you will need a heat-resistant glass teapot. But it can also be normal. To make the ceremony spectacular, take a gas burner or stove. However, the usual burner of a household stove will also fit.

Step 1. Boil the water

When the water boils, start stirring it with a spoon or tea tongs (“chaga”). Most of them are made from bamboo.

Step 2: Add Puerh

In the whirlpool, which is called the “tail of the dragon”, fall asleep pu-erh. For 500 ml of water you need 5-7 grams. Wait another half minute and turn off the fire.

Step 3 Brewing

The drink is infused for 5-10 minutes. It’s a matter of taste here. An indicator that the tea is ready is that the tea leaves begin to sink to the bottom. Minus the method: small-leaf pu-erh is brewed more strongly during cooking, an unpleasant bitterness appears.

How to brew pressed pu-erh in tablets in a Yixing clay teapot

Reference method of brewing. Real dishes made in Isin are expensive: from 3000 rubles to infinity. After all, it is like a piece of art. If you see a cheap option, then most likely the clay was mined somewhere else. Yixing teapot opens tea due to the thermal properties of its material. But he does it especially well with pressed pu-erh.

Step 1. Preheat the dishes

The ceremony begins with warming up the dishes. Boiling water is poured into the kettle itself and poured over the container from above.

Step 2. Get to know tea

Take chahe, get to know the tea and pour it into the teapot. This will set the right mood for the tea ceremony.

Step 3. Fill with boiling water

And let’s insist. Then you can immediately pour into a bowl or use a chahai (drainer). The first brew is infused for about 30-40 seconds. After that, pour the pu-erh and evaluate whether there is enough color, aroma and strength. The second and subsequent brews are faster. Starting from the fourth or fifth brewing, on the contrary, time must be added so that the tea leaf has time to give its taste to the water.

Tea Master Tips

We told how to brew leaf and pressed pu-erh. We also asked our expert to share tips on how to make the ceremony right and the drink even tastier.

Water quality. The water must be clean. If you live in a big city and you do not have the opportunity to get the purest spring water, then take ordinary well-filtered water.

Buy a kitchen scale. This is a task with an asterisk. For those who want to follow clear instructions. A kitchen scale will help you measure the exact amount of pu-erh that we indicated in our instructions. If you use the pouring method, and not boiling or brewing in a mug, the proportions are as follows: 5-7 grams of pu-erh per 1 liter of water. This is based on the fact that for the gradual pouring of 1 liter of water, the leaves will give all the taste.

Water temperature. For sheng pu-erh, it is recommended from 85 to 95 degrees Celsius, for shu pu-erh – as hot as possible, up to boiling water. However, this does not mean that shu will not brew at 70 degrees. If the tea leaf is of high quality, then it will be brewed. You can not get carried away with measuring the temperature: take water that has just boiled and pour it. It is better to pay attention to how the water will meet with tea leaves. The more tender the leaf, the more delicately boiling water should be added.

Rinse tea. All because of tea dust. After all, they sort, ferment and store it in non-sterile conditions. More “dirt” in leaf pu-erh. Pressed pu-erh can be pre-soaked in cold water – literally 10 seconds. In China, pu-erh is washed not once, but up to three to five times.

If pu-erh has an unpleasant taste and smell. Tea with the taste of the earth, the smell of a cellar, lying fish and even the “aroma” of socks. What only impartial words do not describe the taste of tea. Most often, an unpleasant blend follows pu-erh cakes that were stored in an excessively humid room.

How to store pu-erh. The room should not be too damp, but not too dry. Room temperature is 20-25 degrees Celsius. It is ideal to drink an open package for six months, a year. It is better not to keep open for more than two years. All the taste will disappear, the tea will stop brewing.

How to choose the best tea. When choosing, pay attention to the number of buds – these are red or white leaves. The more of them, the better the tea. The larger the leaf, the lower the class of pu-erh. But that doesn’t mean it won’t taste good. The blend is less saturated, devoid of nuances of taste, but this tea tastes closer to a drink in our understanding.

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