Personal puerh tips
Apologies if this reiterates a previous discussion; I did some hunting around and couldn’t find a similar thread.
I was wondering if anyone has their own puerh tricks and tips they use when brewing. I have seen several pop up in the midst of other discussions, such as the following:
- breaking up the leaf and letting sit in a clay pot for a few days before brewing
- waiting a few minutes after the rinse to let the leaves absorb moisture
- taking the lid off of the pot/gaiwan between steeps
- various recommendations for leaf ratios, steep times, etc.
- pouring hot water over the pot during brews
- some even have a particular way of loading the pot – small and broken leaves in the middle surrounded by larger whole leaves
It’s fun to see how other people get the most out of their puerh. I can’t say I have any tips myself, although I do leave the lid off between brews. I also tend to brew longer than “flash steeps,” particularly for ripe puerh. Better flavors and more body.
One other interesting note, but not really a tip: my puerh discovery began back in 2010 during a stay with a family in Guangxi province. On the last day, the father (originally from Guangdong) treated me to a tea ceremony. While brewing up some tasty puerh (20 sec steeps, by the way), he punctuated every steep with some raw walnuts that we munched on. It was a wonderful accompaniment to the tea.
Anyway, happy brewing!
I don’t drink puerh consistently but when I do, I prefer less leaf than is usually called for. That’s because I tend to like lighter teas like greens, whites, & light oolongs. I also do anywhere from 2-5 rinses to get to the “good stuff” sooner because I never go 10+ infusions at anytime. I also take off the lid during steeps like you and waiting a bit after the rinse. I like your idea of breaking up the leaf and letting it sit in a clay pot to air a few days before. I need to try that.
Reading your comment, I just realized that I DO drink the rinse for raw puerh. I will at least taste the rinse from factory teas, and will consume the whole thing if the cake is a non-factory craft production. I have found that there are consistently notes in the rinse that are not present even in the first infusion. It also warms up my palate and allows it to more effectively get to know the tea. But – you are right on with the volume issue. I’m usually floating out of the room by the end of a good puerh session!
Rest the tea after it ravels for at least 2 weeks before drinking. I think you adding a few days broken up will be enhanced more with some additional time.
Agree about the rest time after travel. But I have heard of some folks who claim that further airing out the tea every time before you drink it helps. So, beyond the travel rest period, they will air out for a few days what they plan on brewing before every session. I tried it a couple of times and did not notice any difference.
1 good rinse then a nice flash steep that I drink then slowly increasing the times of the steeps, till it loses flavor and color.
I will sit there and drink the tea all day which is one of the reasons my tea backlog is stacking up, I keep buying but I will drink a tea till the flavor gets too weak.
Im holding off drinking my Pu’reh’s for now as I just ordered a yixing pot and want to wait to see if this improves the tea.
I’ve noticed a difference between a gaiwan and a clay pot. Not better, not worse, but different. Some teas I prefer with a gaiwan, others come out better in yixing. All in all, I think it was a worthwhile investment. You get two different experiences from the same tea. Just be prepared to lose a little something in your brews from time to time as your clay becomes seasoned.
Yeah im wondering about that, ive heard that Yixing because of the seasoning takes off the rough edges of young raw’s. I ordered 2 pots, one for ripe one for raws.
I would agree about rounding off the edges, but sometimes you can lose some of the higher notes like floral, sweet, fruity, etc. Sometimes it happens, sometimes not. So, it just depends on the tea and what you want (or don’t want!) out of it. I can say that my ripe puerh really have benefited from clay. I can’t think of any ripes that I prefer in a gaiwan. Anyway, enjoy your new pots!
One thing I do with all my teas lately, if I remember, is cold brew the last steep when it either shows signs that I can’t get much more out of the leaves… or I run out of time/can’t take any more during the session but don’t want to throw out the leaves. (ie. start off the last infusion with hot water and then toss it in the fridge)
Also, great advice! I also love smelling the lid of the pot or gaiwan, it always gives me a clue as to what notes I might find :)
and I didn’t know about the broken leaves in the middle!
I tried cold-brewing the spent puerh leaves once. It was interesting! Definitely worthwhile for a cheapskate like me who always feels bad throwing leaves away even once they’re spent! I’ll have to go back to doing that for some of my favorites.
Same here! for awhile there I stopped doing that because my cupboard got out of hand and I needed to get through as much as possible… cold brews got to be too much. Now I’m getting back into it, and I realize how much I missed the experimentation factor :)
You can also brew in a coffee press. Just put the leaves on top of the filter so you lift them up from the bottom of the press. This works if you don’t have a puerh specific brewing accessory.
When resting dryer stored puer, add humidity. E.g. rise a gaiwan with boiling water, then immediately dump in the tea and rest for a few days. Can also add humidity to a tea that is already resting by removing the lid, and holding the lid over the steam from a kettle for a few seconds (be careful not to burn your hand), then immediately replacing.
This is a mold risk and does also risk adding some wet storage flavor to the tea, but In my experience if the tea was already pretty dry, then neither of these are likely.
This man has a pretty solid technique. He makes me look like a caveman banging some rocks together as I brew!
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