How to brew compressed puer in tablets and briquettes: the rules and nuances of brewing tea

To achieve the exquisite aroma with which the drink became famous all over the world, you need to know how to properly brew pressed Chinese puer tea in tablets and briquettes at home. That's what we're going to talk about.

 

What a drink is

It can be divided into two groups. Despite the fact that the raw materials are taken from one tea tree, the varieties differ in color, smell and taste. It's all about manufacturing technology.

Traditional pu & ndash; Shen. Young, recently torn leaves undergo natural fermentation and drying. After collection, they are left in the sun and then pressed.

Due to the shade of the sheet, it began to be equated with green. Light infusion has a yellowish color. The aroma is rich in fruit notes, and the taste is sour.

Another kind of puer & ndash; Shue. These are tea leaves that have undergone additional processing. Dried leaves are laid out and poured with water. Under the influence of temperature and humidity, the fermentation process begins. It is this process that causes the dark shade of the drink, it also changes the characteristics of tea.

Types of Pressed Puer

Sheets used in preparation have the form of compacted washers. They differ in their structure, depending on the area of ​ ​ production, as well as on the variety of tree or shrub.

By form:

• Point. It is a cup-like recessed tortilla. Weighs from a few grams to 3 kg.
• Fan Cha. A square with a Chinese character on top.
• Juan Cha resembles a brick in outline.
• Jin Cha. When you look at this figure, you immediately remember the forest mushroom. Already in this state, tea is brought straight from Tibet.
• Jian Gua. The workpiece looks like a pumpkin, and its history dates back to ancient times. Such products used to be brought to the imperial court.
• Bin Cha. It is made from the leaves of old trees and has the shape of a cake. There are varieties by weight: from 100 grams to 5 kilograms.

When deciding to try any of the described types, it is important to purchase a quality product in order to really enjoy the taste.

 

How to make pressed puer pancakes

Compacted raw materials have one surprising feature: the more years they have been aged, the better their taste characteristics become.

Usually tea is found in the form of washers of a wide variety of sizes.

To feel all & laquo; wealth & raquo; aroma and taste of this drink, it is necessary to adhere to a special brewing technology.

We need a board and a knife to cut the workpiece. All briquettes are so tightly pressed that separate a small piece of & ndash; the task is not easy.

For beginners without these tools, you can go the other way: hold the tortilla over the steam, and then chop off the required amount using a fork or a regular kitchen knife. You can buy a special & nbsp; puer knife from our online store.

Try not to break the sheets, but to cut them off with records, otherwise they will acquire unpleasant bitterness.

So, for 150 milliliters of water, we separate 10-12 grams of tea leaf.

Let's start warming up the containers: rinse the teapot with boiling water along with the cups.

Note that you need to take clay dishes, as this material retains heat better. But a ceramic teapot is also suitable.

Heat the liquid to 90 & deg; C, do not bring to a boil. Then you should rinse the brew, so you can get rid of dust, and the smell will become much richer.

To do this, fill in the raw materials and drain in a couple of minutes.

Fill the vessel. Every stage has to be & laquo; fast & raquo;. That means just a minute is enough to convey saturation. It is important not to overexpose, as the infusion will begin to bitter, and its excessive concentration will also become noticeable.

Attention is also paid to how the drink is drained. To do this, you need to have a strainer so that tea dust particles do not get into the cups.

You can brew one piece up to seven times. However, each subsequent brew must be held for 15 seconds longer.

How to properly brew pressed puer tea in a tablet: instructions

Puer is quite expensive tea, since its aging period can be significantly more than 10 years. But to prevent prices from hitting your pockets hard, the leaves are pressed into small tablets.

The preparation process is divided into several stages:

• Prepare a clay or ceramic kettle. To do this, we pour boiling water over it to warm it up and disinfect it.
• Carefully knead the workpiece, trying not to damage the compacted sheets. The more they are broken, the more bitter the drink will be.
• We pour raw materials into a vessel and fill.
• After 20 seconds, drain the water to clean the product of dust.
• Then refill the teapot with water and infuse for one minute.
• It is better to immediately pour the contents into cups, as the infusion can be overexposed, which will negatively affect its taste.

But there are some nuances. It is important to observe them in order to make the infusion as tasty and fragrant as possible.

First of all, it concerns temperature. The recipes indicate general indicators. But you need to focus on shutter speed.

And for greater clarity, we attach a video of how to brew pressed pu'er tea.

Cooking features

Three important components of any instruction & ndash; products, water and utensils used for tea treatment.

As for compacted raw materials, when buying, you should pay attention to the absence of garbage: cuttings and dust. All cups must be approximately the same size.

The date of manufacture is also important, namely the month & ndash; spring, early or mid-summer. Raw materials collected later, and even more so in the autumn, are unsuitable for brewing.

Another & ndash; fragrance. In high-quality products, it is dense and pleasant. The smell is not harsh or extraneous.

Utensils

According to Tibetan traditions, an Isin clay kettle is used.

But it can be a guywan or a regular cup.

The peculiarity of clay dishes is that they have a porous structure, so that tea breathes when cooked, and the temperature remains optimal in the meantime.

By the way, in the East it is not customary to wash the container. Indeed, with its repeated use, the walls absorb a unique aroma, thereby making the drink tastier.

Single condition & ndash; only use the vessel for one type of tea.

If you do not want to adhere to this rule, then in no case should you use detergent to wash the teapot. It is better to use soda or salt.

However, it will be more useful for beginners to take a glass or porcelain kettle for the first time. And a nice addition will be that thanks to the transparency of the dishes, it will be clearly visible how the leaves open, the shade of the drink changes.

Water

Main criterion & ndash; it's soft and clean. In no case should tap water be used. It contains a huge amount of potassium and magnesium particles, as well as lime. In big cities, it gives off bleach after disinfecting it.

If you cannot use spring water, you can use bottled water or run tap water through a filter.

Cooking technique

The process when pressed pu-erh is turned into an exquisite drink consists of several stages. Let's take a closer look.

Chipping

This step can be skipped if the workpiece is a tablet or washer. In other cases, it is necessary to arm yourself with a special knife that does not tear the leaves. If this is not the case, then a kitchen knife is suitable.

The shape of the compacted brew is completely different: from a cake to bricks with an imprint of hieroglyphs.

Therefore, the piece must be measured & laquo; by eye & raquo;. But approximately it should be equal to 1.5 teaspoons or 10-12 grams.

You need to break off with plates and try not to break the leaves. Excess damage will give the drink bitter shades, which will prevent you from fully feeling the sophistication of the taste of pu'er.

Put the disconnected piece in a kettle, previously heated with boiling water (see the instructions above). It is also recommended to slightly separate the product with a knife so that the brewing is much faster.

Water heating and leaf cleaning

Pressed tea sold in tablets or briquettes is divided into three categories depending on the fermentation method and the brewing age. It is very important to observe the temperature of the liquid taking into account these characteristics. Namely:

• for a relatively young workpiece, boiling water from 80 to 90 & deg; C;
• PuER needs 85-95 & deg; C;
• leaflets collected from the oldest trees are brewed in 98 & deg; C.

Wash the teabags before the procedure. This is done not only to wash off the dust that appeared during the delivery of products, but also so that, under the influence of moisture, the leaves begin to gradually open and & laquo; breathe & raquo;.

Hot water is poured into the kettle with puer, and after 15 seconds it is drained into cups. This is necessary so that the containers are warmed up before the immediate pouring of the finished drink.

Preparation

At first glance, brewing seems like an obvious step that does not require special conditions. But still, some nuances exist:

• Water should be poured into the kettle from a certain height. It is believed that the jet will be enriched with oxygen during the time it reaches the container.
• The waiting time is usually one minute. However, more accurate indicators are identified experimentally and come with experience.
• One piece can be used up to seven times without losing its performance. The main requirement is to increase the duration of the next infusion procedure by 10-15 seconds.
• Bitterness indicates that the tea was overexposed. It is believed that such a pu'er can be harmful to health.

How to file

According to the traditions of Tibet, tea is poured into the Vessel of Justice. This is necessary for an even distribution of the strength before pouring into the pialki. So, every cup is & laquo; fair & raquo; is saturated with aroma and taste.

If there is no desire to strictly follow the Tibetan canons, then the brew should be poured immediately after readiness. There should not be a single drop left in the kettle, otherwise the next time you cook, the Pu'er will start to get bitter.

Use it differently, depending on the species. So, weakly fermented Shen can be drunk at any time. The only condition is & ndash; if applied in the evening, then be sure to at least an hour before bedtime. But it is worth refraining from it during meals or on an empty stomach.

Shu & ndash; a more concentrated variety. Therefore, if you are going to sleep at night, then postpone tea until the morning, as the increased caffeine and tannin content will disrupt sleep.

For the same reason, you should be careful if you have health problems. Substances can cause serious stress on the heart, cause migraines or psychological discomfort. But during meals, this type is useful, as it helps to better absorb it.

At a Glance

• Basic water requirement & ndash; purity. Never use tap water.
• You do not need a special knife to make tablets. It is used only to separate leaflets from cakes, and the tableted variety is made to cook it whole.
• If the decoction has a mustard, then it was overexposed.
• It is not recommended to drink an infusion at night, as the presence of caffeine and tannin in large quantities will not let you fall asleep.

Contraindications

The benefits of pu-erh are amazing.

Due to its composition, it has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, stimulates metabolism, and lowers the degree of cholesterol in the blood.

In addition, tea has a positive effect on mood.

It increases endorphins in the body and is recommended for use by those suffering from depression or stress.

But there are cases when drinking an infusion is not worth it:

• On an empty stomach. This is due to the fact that in this way you can cause irritation of the mucous membrane.
• During pregnancy, this infusion & ndash; not the best option. The fact is that its effect on the body can not always be accurately predicted, so it is better to refrain.
• Hypertension because tincture increases blood pressure.
• It should not be used as a medicine, as it can only worsen the condition further.
• Use is prohibited for stomach or duodenal ulcers.
• At elevated body temperature. Since it not only does not help reduce it, but also contributes to dehydration.
• In the presence of gallstones or kidney stones. The decoction has a powerful diuretic effect, which can cause their movement.

Let's summarize

Brewing pressed puer at home is effortless and the technology itself is not complicated.

This is an amazing tea worth spending time and money on. After all, the range of various varieties, its useful qualities, and even more exciting cooking process & ndash; a way to really enjoy the Chinese brew.