How to Brew Pu-erh Tea? How to brew Pu-erh tea step by step

Tea Properties of Pu-erh

The brewing of pu-erh tea should be focused on the different tea properties of "new tea, old tea, raw tea and ripe tea". This article also introduces six brewing techniques to help you bring out the true taste of tea.

1. New Tea

The tea is very close to green tea and should be brewed to avoid the "cooked soup taste", so the water temperature should be slightly lower and the soup should come out faster. The key is to grasp the characteristics of the raw material, such as tea tree varieties, tea area characteristics, age, ecology and so on. In principle, the water temperature should be slightly lower for strong flavours and the steeping time should be shorter, while the opposite is true for lighter flavours.

2、Newly ripened tea

Under normal circumstances, new tea has some shortcomings compared to old tea, such as the tea broth is not bright enough, the aroma is not pure enough, the taste is not mellow enough, and often with some not very pleasant feelings, such as "heap taste" and heavy bitterness and astringency, etc. The water leachate of new ripe tea dissolves very quickly, so try to avoid the shortcomings, by Washing the tea at a high temperature to remove impurities, brewing at a slightly lower temperature, and brewing at a slightly faster pace to avoid bitterness and a "saucy soup". Brewing and drinking new tea in its entirety (from strong to light to tasteless) will determine the storage value of the tea and whether it has potential or not - this is a separate issue, so I won't go into it here.

3、Old raw tea, old ripe tea

Old tea generally requires high temperature waking and high temperature brewing. Relatively speaking, the amount of tea to be thrown into old raw tea is lower than that of old ripe tea, while the brewing water temperature for old ripe tea is slightly higher. For many old raw teas, opening the lid between brewing and steeping to cool down the leaf base slightly before refilling will give it a different feel, try it.

Six Puerh Brewing Tips

After years of time, some old teas have an odour due to improper storage, we can try to exclude it by high temperature and washing the tea several times, and choosing a purple sand pot for brewing also has a very good corrective effect on the odour.

1. The degree of tightness and heaviness of the ropes

Generally speaking, a tighter and heavier tea has a smaller amount of tea, and the brewing water temperature is slightly higher, as the high water temperature can fully wake up the tea. As soon as the tight knotted tea breaks up, the dissolution rate will be very fast, so the amount of tea to be cast should be relatively small. For some years of tight knotted heavy tea, you should pay attention to control the rhythm of brewing, usually "tight in the front and loose at the end", wash the tea slowly, the soup is fast, after a few bubbles of fast soup, you can slow down the rhythm, let the tea rest and rest, you will be surprised to find a good cup of tea in your hands again.

2、Roughness and Tenderness

The more delicate pu'er (e.g. palace pu'er) is not resistant to brewing, the more you can use the "stay root brewing method", i.e. each bubble of tea soup is not exhausted, in order to maintain the stability of its taste; the water temperature should also be properly controlled to avoid "boiling tea", especially to eliminate high temperature, multiple times, long time washing of tea that leads to The water temperature should also be properly controlled to avoid "boiling" the tea, especially to avoid high temperature, multiple washing and prolonged washing of the tea which leads to unnecessary loss of the active ingredients in the tea, losing its taste and drinking value.

Coarse old tea should be greatly increased due to the reduction of inclusions, and the brewing time should be extended, so that high temperature brewing and even boiling can be used.

3、The degree of fermentation

Over-fermented tea leaves have a light taste and need to be brewed with boiling water and extended steeping time, while the opposite is true: the soup should come out quickly, otherwise it will be as thick as a sauce and difficult to eat.

4、Uniformity and fragmentation

If the tea leaves are crumbly, the leachate will dissolve quickly and the soup will come out relatively fast.

5、Storage condition

With good raw materials, good processing and good storage, the tea will be the best to brew, with the right strength and lightness, and will taste good in any brew. If there is a slight problem in storage, such as a slight odour, then the number of tea washing can be increased appropriately. If the tea has deteriorated due to improper storage, even the most expensive tea will no longer be of value for drinking.

6、The amount of tea

This is a relative issue, depending on the drinking habits of the drinker, the number of drinkers and the size of the appliance. Generally speaking, raw tea is less than ripe tea, new tea is less than old tea, and delicate tea is less than coarse old tea. For particularly coarse and old teas, it is sufficient to throw in more tea and continue brewing. So there is no need to be careful when deciding on the amount of tea to throw in.

How to brew an attractive ripe pu soup colour?

The fermented soup of ripe pu is dark and chestnut in colour, so it is important to know how to brew it in a way that does not scare tea drinkers

1. Place one or two grams less tea than you would normally.
2. Be gentle, do not roll the tea leaves over.
3. The water should be injected and discharged immediately.
4. Use the even cup, once the soup is heavy, do not divide the tea, then quickly brew a water into the even cup and then divide the soup.
5. Some cooked pu-erh tea can be brewed with some raw pu-erh tea.

A few small details of making Pu-erh tea

1. If it is a cake, brick or tuo type tightly pressed tea, when you break down the small pieces into the pot, please enter some of the more scattered ones to facilitate the stable and even taste between the soup and water.
2. Please leave half a minute for the tea to wake up after the first brew.
3. If not necessary, please do not pour boiling water into the centre of the pot, but gently pour it along the edge of the pot to give people a relaxed and calm feeling.
4. It is best not to leave too much time between each brew.

Brewing Tips

We have already given a basic introduction to the brewing of pu-erh tea, here we will introduce some common brewing techniques, as the same pu-erh tea often feels different when brewed with different techniques. When you are baffled by the fact that you cannot brew the true taste of the tea, you may wish to try to change the brewing techniques in response to its strengths and weaknesses, and you will often be surprised in the process of pondering.

1. work bubble method

It's similar to the oolong tea bubble method, each bubble tea soup out, do not leave tea root. The characteristic of this bubble is that you can appreciate the changes in the waterway of a tea, see if it is durable, and experience the different changes in soup colour, aroma, taste and so on in each bubble.

2. stay root bubble method

That is, after washing the tea from the beginning to the end of the bubble will be part of the tea soup left in the teapot, not to pour the tea soup dry. Generally take "leave two out of eight" or "leave half out of half". Refill the pot with water after each brew until the tea leaves have paled - at this point, it can be smothered for a long time. This method allows you to adjust the taste of the tea from start to finish, making the changes in each brew less abrupt.

3. Boiling method

This method is suitable for teas with older materials, for example, those that have undergone a light tide process. If you use Western-style glassware, you can see the dynamic image of the water rolling and the tea floating, and you can also enjoy the process of how the colour of the tea broth is permeated one by one, which can add a lot of fun. If you use the pottery with minority colours, it is another flavor.

4. Special brewing method

Some highly fragrant and weak tea products are brewed in a very special way, with a high temperature and fast tea washing, the first bubble is slightly stifled, combined with "stay root bubble method", subsequent brewing is fast in and fast out.

5. Correction method

For older tea products with a slightly mixed taste but good internal quality, the tea washing and the first two bubbles can be processed at a high temperature, and the subsequent brewing will be processed by significantly lowering the temperature and smothering; for new tea products with good quality but insufficient aroma and soup colour, the tea washing will be slightly smothered at a high temperature, and the rhythm will be accelerated when brewing.

6. Top brewing method

Use a lidded bowl when brewing tea, use a zisha pot as a fair cup. Covered bowl high temperature high rushing tumbling, release the true taste of tea, and then use the zisha pot can remove the odour, gathering incense containing Shu to make the flavor not lost.