How to loosen a puer tea cake or puer tea brick - Black puer tea cakes and black puer tea bricks may be loosened by either using your hand to break off a piece, or by using a puer pick or butter knife to loosen tea from the edge of the cake or brick. To loosen a green puer tea cake or a green puer tea brick, we recommend using a puer tea pick or a butter knife.
In this video, Yang Su shows how to loosen a puer tea cake or puer tea brick.
Click photo below to view video.
Storage - Puer tea, like a fine wine, improves with age. Allow it to breathe and store it at a moderate temperature and humidity. Do not store the tea in the refrigerator, in direct sunlight, or in a sealed bag. For long term storage, avoid storing the tea where strong food smells exist.
Store puer tea in an Yixing container at least two weeks prior to drinking to improve its flavor. Yixing containers and teapots are unglazed, which allows them to breathe. Tea cakes and tea bricks may be loosened prior to placing them in the container. Tuocha may be placed in the container without loosening them. Click here for our yixing container selection.
If you do not have an Yixing container, loose tea may be stored by placing it in a ceramic container with a cover that is not airtight. Another excellent storage method is to age loose tea and tea cakes in a paper bag.
Spring water - For best results, we recommend using spring water to make your tea.
Floral puer - Certain types of flowers may be added to puer tea to offer a variety in flavor and aroma.
How would you like your tea? - Milk, honey, and sugar may be added to puer tea if desired. Traditionally, Chinese people drink puer tea plain.
Iced Tea - Puer tea makes a delicious iced tea. Black or green puer may be used, but we recommend the use of black puer to make iced tea. Directions to make iced tea:
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon tea (5 grams), 4 cups (1 liter or 32oz) of water, ice
Boil water in an uncovered pot.
Quickly rinse tea in strainer with hot water. Discard rinse water.
Add washed tea to boiling water.
Turn heat to medium low, cook 10-15 minutes.
Remove tea leaves.
Cool down, add ice.
Puer Combinations - Different ages of tea may be combined. For example, a 2005 black puer may be combined with a 2000 black puer. Black puer may be combined with green puer. For example, a 2006 black puer may be combined with a 1995 green puer.
