As there are many types of Green, Oolong and White teas, there are also a dark assortment of Pu-erhs. But what the heck is a “Pu-erh” anyhow? I had to check out three different YouTube videos to figure out the correct way to say it (poo-air). They certainly aren’t well known in the United States, but are becoming more popular in recent years. The simple answer is that this tea is usually a black tea that is compressed in some sort of shape and then set aside to age. Those who prefer darker black teas should enjoy these.
I recently bought some loose Pu-erh aged from 2005. The taste really threw me. It tasted like I was sampling a bitter, woodsy sludge factory. I tried steeping it in many different ways but with the same bitter sludgy outcome! After reading up on different varieties of Pu-erhs I figured I must have purchased a bad batch, so I decided to try a tea by Rishi called Pu-erh Tuo Chi. This turned out to be a much better tasting tea than my first adventure into the dark woodsy world of Pu-erh.
Here is the rundown of the opening and steeping:
After you get past the wrapping and open the canister you will find the tea wrapped in it’s own paper/cloth.
A close up inside the canister. By clicking on the image it will open up full size, showing the little hairs on the wrappings.
The compressed cake is good for one cup. In China you will more commonly find larger cakes of compressed tea the size of a dinner plate. This will be broken apart into smaller chunks and steeped.
I heat up my trusty cup of water until I get it to a boil. I drop in the tea cake and let it sit for approximately 3 minutes. The cake slowly broke apart and started to turn the water a reddish brown.
After a minute and a half most of the tea cake had broken up. At this point I stirred the water a bit to mix the aged leaves with the hot water.
After the three minutes I poured the tea into a strainer I use for most of my green and black teas
The first taste of this dark tea is woodsy and smooth. Much better than the earlier pu-erh I had tried. I think anyone who likes black teas will find this enjoyable.
Dangerous? no.
Mysterious? yes.
A drink to put hair on Hulk Hogans chest? Most likely.
