[S Clark]

Last fall a friend brought me a brick of Pu'er tea from his visit to China.  I finally got around to brewing some to find that this isn't my Mama's Lipton's.  The first quick brew had the color of 15,000 mile motor oil.  Taste was strong, complex, but not bitter at all.  Nose of seafood.  Second brew was pleasantly full flavored, still black, smooth, nose less off putting- just good.  Third, still black, full flavored, nose pleasant... 4th still dark flavor beginning to compare to strongly brewed English tea but without the bitterness.  This was still brewing a pleasant drink on the 6th cup. 
I have no idea what I'm doing with this stuff.  Any tea drinkers around here familiar with these teas?  I'm a coffee drinker and seldom brew anything else. 

[Photon46]

You've received a gift of tea that's often hard to appreciate. I've been a pretty serious tea drinker for many years and order most of my tea from vendors in Yunnan China where your pu-erh tea gift originated. Pu-erh is an acquired taste and it's taken me a long time to develop appreciation for it. Main thing it took for me to appreciate it was buying some pu-erh cakes and then letting them age for quite a few years. As time passes, the tea mellows and becomes a rather different thing entirely. Inexpensive pu-erh is also kinda nasty tasting compared to better quality stuff in my experience. As you may know, good pu-erh can be quite expensive. In Asia, there's a community of tea heads that collects fine tea vintages. They speculate on future price appreciation with an enthusiasm equalling any fine wine collector. In the past, price speculation for the best teas reached a level resembling the old Dutch tulip fever. Wikipedia has a pretty good short article on explaining the differences in raw and cooked pu-erh teas and how they're made. Main tip on brewing is to start out with short steeps (less than a minute) and increase brew time as subsequent steeps are prepared.

Here's a link to page from one of my favorite tea vendors explaining their brewing tips:
https://yunnansourcing.com/pages/brewing-guide-for-green-black-oolong-and-pu-erh-teas

[S Clark]

So, how does one store this tea?  Put it in the wine cellar?

[ctviggen]

I just leave it in the box it came in.

I just switched to this tea from green tea.  I like this a lot better.  Also, you can brew quite a number of cups of tea from one set of tea leaves.  You are supposed to "rinse" the leaves in hot water and drain that, then brew.  You are supposed to use 195F as the temperature, but my pot only has 190, so that's what I use. 

Your cake looks a little nicer than mine (mine appears drier), but since this is the only two I've seen, I'm not an expert. 

[mresseguie]

Scott,

I ought to introduce you to a couple friends from Taiwan. They (plus my wife) love this kind of tea. I have tried many times to 'learn' to like it, but I have failed miserably. I avoid it when possible.

I love Oolong tea. It doesn't command the crazy prices that Pu'er tea gets, but it can still get pretty expensive. I don't pursue the expensive stuff.

Keep it for another 10 years. Perhaps it'll be worth more than your car. 

[Photon46]

I just leave it in the box it came in.

I just switched to this tea from green tea.  I like this a lot better.  Also, you can brew quite a number of cups of tea from one set of tea leaves.  You are supposed to "rinse" the leaves in hot water and drain that, then brew.  You are supposed to use 195F as the temperature, but my pot only has 190, so that's what I use. 

Your cake looks a little nicer than mine (mine appears drier), but since this is the only two I've seen, I'm not an expert.

Store pu-erh in something that "breaths" a little, don't store in a sealed plastic container. I keep mine in a cardboard box in a big storage pantry. The issue of brew temp seems to provoke as much disagreement as tubes vs. solid state.  Like ctviggen, I prefer my brew at around 190-195F., but often you read to brew it as hot as possible.

If you want to kill a half hour, this Youtube tour of Beijing's tea market led by an English tea merchant is an interesting look at how deeply the Chinese are into their tea culture. Whatever our hobbies may be, humans are gonna carry it to the Nth degree of refinement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf_7PQBVxIQ

[kmmd]

That looks like a really nice brick of tea.   You can also mix the leaves with chrysanthemum which will give you a popular tea when eating dim sum.  This is known as kook po cha.

I’m also a fan of jasmine and ti kwan yin oolong. 

[jseipp]

Pu'er is wonderful, different to that we often think of as tea.

Chinese folks emphasize washing the tea. Caffeine is really soluble in hot water and will wash out quickly -- you can enjoy an entire evening of tea without taking in too much.

[S Clark]

Very interesting, and thanks for the responses.  My usual hot tea is jasmine.  I occasionally get in the mood for something late at night, and a cup of #1 grade jasmine is just the thing.  But this is an entirely different beast.  I've been watching videos to learn that this is also a rabbit hole of it's own into which you can fall.  One guy was talking about auction prices for vintage bricks over ten grand  .   And I thought I was a bit crazy for having a couple of bottles of vintage madeira laid aside. 

[shooter]

Pu’er tea Is a fermented black tea, drink it can also lower blood pressure and other health benefits, very strong in caffeine though, I don’t drink it at night.

[SET Man]

Hey!

   I love Pu'erh tea. I was introduced to it some years ago at my favorite coffee and tea store here in NYC.

    Since then it had been my stable of which I switch between my favorites like Japanese Sencha green tea and Chai mix. And it is big plus once I learned that is great for digestive and high blood pressure. A cake of Pu-erh last me a long time since I only a bit each time and I usually reuse it twice before I tosh it. The cake that I have now is darker and seem denser than the one you have there.

   Well, not everyone like the taste of this tea, especially with first brew. I usually put a bit of honey and lime juice in mine.

Take care,
Buddy

 

[Photon46]

Pu'er is wonderful, different to that we often think of as tea.

Chinese folks emphasize washing the tea. Caffeine is really soluble in hot water and will wash out quickly -- you can enjoy an entire evening of tea without taking in too much.

Caffeine is indeed extremely soluble in hot water but the idea that the majority of caffeine washes out of tea quickly has been disproven by research. I don't have the link at hand, but I ran across a study supervised by a chemistry professor who needed a summer research project for his grad students. So he put them to work analyzing how much caffeine was washed out of different tea types after various lengths of brewing times. He was very surprised at how much caffeine remained in tea after being brewed. Bottom line was he said that it was incorrect to assume that you were consuming little caffeine after the initial brew and one could expect to consume about 50% as much caffeine in the re-brew (subject to variations in different teas and processing methods.) Even green teas retained quite a bit of caffeine.

[S Clark]

Ok guys.  How do you brew this stuff.  I've seen the videos with a Chinese girl with a different cup and utensil for each time she touches the tea... that's not going to happen.   
So how is it done outside mainland China? Got the 195*-200* covered.   How much tea? How much water?  What utensils?

[shooter]

I use a large porcelain cup with removable strainer, mine are loose tea not a brick, use about one heaping table spoon, 1st brew 1 minute,  add 15 to 30 seconds the next time and so on, mine will brew about 5 to 6 times.

[Photon46]

Ok guys.  How do you brew this stuff.  I've seen the videos with a Chinese girl with a different cup and utensil for each time she touches the tea... that's not going to happen.   
So how is it done outside mainland China? Got the 195*-200* covered.   How much tea? How much water?  What utensils?

I agree, the traditional brewing method is time consuming and complicated. Pu-erh is a strong tea so I use less pu-erh than other types of tea. Start with about 5 grams to brew a 10-12 oz mug of tea and adjust to your taste. There's no right or wrong, just experiment with the amount of tea and steep time to see what tastes best to you. Although one often reads not to use metal brewing containers, I have found that a two quart stainless saucepan works fine. I imagine aluminum or ferrous metals would impart an off flavor to the tea. I strain the tea through a fine mesh strainer into the drinking mug. You can order tea brewing cups like shooter mentions off eBay or in an Asian grocery store.