How To Brew Puerh:

Brewing Puerh tea is, at its heart, very simple. There are several basic steps:

1. When the bricks are tightly pressed it is best to use a strong spike to carefully pry out some leaves. The technique that works best is to insert the spike or knife into the edge of the brick and then gently work it up and down until the tea loosens and falls off.
2. Heat good-tasting filtered water.
3. Add tea to pot about 3-5 grams per serving of tea (the amount depends upon type of puerh) to your teapot.
4. Pour boiling water over tea to rinse.
5. Allow leaves to unfurl for 10-15 seconds to rinse of caffine and any bitterness.
6. Pour of tea into cups to pre-heat then discard. Take time to smell the aroma of the tea after the cup is emptied and cooled slightly.
7. Pour boiling water over tea to fill pot, Puerh is the only tea that should be made with boiling water.
8. Steep for 30 seconds, strain the tea directly into cups,
9. Or decant tea through strainer into glass or porcelin server.
10. Ensure all water is poured from pot to prevent over steeping
11. Re-steep allowing an additional 5 seconds for each extra steep.
12. Puerh will re-steep up to 15+ times
13. Steep for 35 seconds for second steep. Once the tea seems ready to you, pour and taste. If necessary, adjust the steeping time for a stronger taste. The Tibetans are famous for brewing their Puerh teas overnight to make their famous Soo Jah (Yak Butter and Salt Tea).

Storing and Aging Puerh Tea

Puerh is special in that the quality and value improves with age. The older it is the better. This is especially true with Sheng Puerh. After going through the natural post fermentation from years of aging, this tea develops a very desirable and special kind of taste and fragrance found only in aged Puerh.

If you are interested in If you are interested in storing and aging your Puerh, we recommend you choose the compressed type (tea cake, brick, tou cha etc). It is not difficult to store Puerh tea at all.

Here are a few guidelines:

• Keep away from sunlight and heat.
• Clean and dry environment.
• Keep away from places with strong odours.

Provide good ventilation. Unlike other types of tea, Puerh requires ventilation in order to age.

Puerh Brewing Notes

The charts above offer some additional general brewing guidelines when using traditional Asian teaware, but the method should be similar for all tea pots. For each of these teas, rinse teaware to preheat before brewing.

Tea Tip For a Better Puerh Brew:

There are variations according to the type of Puerh. As a general rule, please pay attention to the following:

Teapot: Choose a teapot, covered cup, or glass, and preheat with hot water. Use a strainer to prevent leaves from entering the cup or spout.

Tea: Brew teas loose in tea pot, not in a small tea ball or infuser. This allows the leaves to open fully and release all their flavor. We use 3-5 grams of tea for 180 - 250ml of water.

Water: Start with good-tasting water, such as spring or filtered. Avoid tap water; it may contain chemicals which will affect the taste of the tea.

Suggested Temperature: Puerh, full rolling boil (100°C).

Steeping Time: Until you are familiar with your Puerh, steep for a 30 seconds or less, then try a sip. Pay attention to taste rather than colour. When the tea tastes right to you, serve or decant off all the liquid into second pot to avoid oversteeping. Puerh teas are very robust and are meant to be infused 10-15 times. Increase steeping time by approx 5 seconds for subsequent infusions.

Experiment: Feel free to experiment with water temperature, brewing time, and proportion of tea to water. Watch the leaves unfurl and savor the aroma. Remember, our guidelines are just that. Enjoy.