Pu-erh tea infusion method
For those that have not tried raw puerh tea before, the infusion process is somewhat different than other teas. Here is a method that I have borrowed from Yunnan Sourcing site that works well for me:
"Pu-erh tea brewing is not so different from oolong teas. You want the water as hot as possible when you pour it into the pot. If you are going to use yixing, I would dedicate one pot for ripe pu-erh and another for raw. Up to you.
With pu-erhs I typically wash the leaves twice for period of about 20 seconds each time. The third infusion is to be drank. The first two infusions wash the leaves and prime them, use the tea water to wash the cups. The third and fourth infusions don't require long infusions times at all (20 seconds or less).
Pay attention to the taste and the infused liquor of the tea through succesive infusions, as the leaves "give it up" you will want to extend infusion times to get more out of the leaves. Most Pu-erhs can be infused anywhere between 10 and 20 times.
When prying leaves from a cake or brick, try to remove layer by layer and avoid breaking the tea leaves too much, broken up leaves when brewed will become bitter.
Another factor worth mentioning that will affect the outcome of your brew is how much tea you decide to use. Although many people measure weight (tea) versus volume (water), I prefer an intuitive approach, filling the the tea pot to about a quarter of its volume with leaves. Notice how tightly compressed Pu-erhs will expand more when infused than those that are less tightly compressed. Pay attention to the gradual expansion of the leaves and the flavor that comes out of them.
Try “tweaking” the different variables I’ve mentioned and pay attention to the result, this is part of the enjoyment of discovering Pu-erh!"
Enjoy,
Steve
Selecting and preparing your Yixing tea ware
Often folks use Yixing Teapots for infusing their Pu-erh and Oolong teas. In addition, most use a different pot for each different type of tea. This includes using a different pots for green pu-erh and ripe pu-erh. This is because these pots do not have a glaze on them and they tend to absorb the flavors of the tea being infused in them. While I was looking for information on these traditional Chinese teapots, I found the following information on the Seven Cups Fine Chinese Teas - Green Tea, Wulong (Oolong), Tea, Puer Tea, White Tea, Jasmine Tea, Black Tea, Yixing Pots site. Hope you enjoy!
"Choosing Your Zisha Yixing Teapot
Zisha teapots are very popular among collectors, but although a respected art form these fine ceramic pieces are not just for decoration. The pot exists as a partner to the tea and should be used and enjoyed.In general there are five styles of zisha tea ware and through experience and time you will slowly begin to discover what pot best suits your personal style and needs.
Round Tea Pot: This is generally considered a feminine design. The open structure is great for the use of tightly packed oolong teas like Monkey Picked because the space allows for the full opening of the leaves.
Square Tea Pot: A masculine design that is extremely difficult to make. If not assembled correctly the firing process can easily distort the angles of a square pot ruining the overall design. The walls are generally thicker so these tea pots are good for strongly oxidized teas that require a higher water temperature to get a full flavored infusion.
Ribbed Tea Pot: This is a very difficult design that is similar in shape to a round tea pot. It takes a very skilled craftsperson to create a ribbed tea pot that is perfectly matched between the body, lid, and spout.
Nature and Mythology Motifs: To beginning tea drinkers these tea pots are very appealing because they require little knowledge of tea to be appreciated. Often depicting common animals and mythology, these pots are delightful to look at.
Tea Ware Replications: It has become increasingly popular for zisha potters to recreate famous historical tea sets that had been constructed from various other materials. This type of tea set is used mostly for display.
Steps to prepare your new Zisha Yixing Pot
There are two ways to prepare a zisha tea pot for use. One requires boiling the entire pot in water, but unless you are experienced with this process it is easy to damage the delicate structure of your pot. We recommend the method described below because it is both safe and effective.
Pour room temperature water inside your tea pot and let sit for 4-5 hours.
Pour the water out and add boiling water to the inside of your pot. Let the water soak until the water decreases to room temperature.
Choose the type of tea that you would like to enjoy in your new pot. Place some tea leaves inside the pot and pour boiling water inside. Let the water cool to room temperature then pour out.
Add water again to the same batch of leaves and let it cool for a second time, once cool discard both water and tea.
Your pot is ready to be used. "
Pu-erh History and Culture
I have borrowed this from Pu-erh, A Westerner's Quest
"Puerh History and Culture
Puerh History
Preface
As with most things Chinese that have been translated for the Western World many things get lost in the translation, many concepts are incomprehensible to the Western mind, and many misunderstandings are perpetuated. In addition to those difficulties Puerh History is often debated, argued over, and mis-communicated even in Chinese circles. There are many books on Puerh History written in Chinese and very few of them agree with one another. So please keep all of this in mind as you read the following accounts, or any others for that matter! I have collected this data from many sources over many years. Portions of the Historical facts on this particular page came from a friend of mine who paid to have the original Chinese text from various Puerh Bingchas translated.
The Tea Horse Caravans
One of the more colorful aspects of Puerh history is the Tea Horse Roads and the Caravans that traversed them. Tea products made in Yunnan were transported by mules and horses in long Caravans along established routes that became known as the Tea Horse Roads. Traders from Tibet, Laos, Burma, etc would trade for tea in the tea markets of Pu-erh County and then hire the Caravans to carry the tea back to their respective homes.
It was the logistics of transporting tea via these Caravans that inspired merchants to start compressing the tea in the first place, it was easier to handle and they were able to get more tea on each horse that way. This form of transportation was relatively cheap, but the transportation lead time was quite long since the Caravans traveled very long distances at a very slow speed. It was quite by accident that they discovered that Pu-erh actually tasted better at the end of the journey than at the beginning. Recently experiments have taken place that retraced the old routes via horseback. They loaded up the horses with tea and modern instruments to measure the temperature, humidity, etc that the tea was exposed to in hopes of understanding the aging process better.
During Ming and Qing Dynasty there were five main "Tea-Horse Roads". The first and most traveled one is from Pu Erh (the place) to Kunming and then to other inland provinces in China, all the way through Beijing. This route was later extended to reach Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. The second Tea Horse Road is from Pu Erh to Xia-Guan and eventually to Tibet. This route later connected to Nepal. The third one reached Vietnam. The fourth one reached Burma. The fifth one reached Laos. This was a major form of trade in those days and Pu-erh was literally traded as a form of currency.
Though the Caravans no longer exist, the rich culture and history prevails to this day. The old tea Horse Roads are quite the tourist attraction in China and you can still find remnants of three well-maintained routes today in Pu-Erh County. Many footprints of mules and horses can be found on those roads, as well as sign posts, and other famous landmarks. These are the roads that made Pu-erh famous.
Noteworthy Facts
* The most classical Puerh Tea is the Bingcha, recorded in Yong-Zheng 13th year in Qing Dynasty (1735). Each tea cake weighs 7 Liang (357 grams). Seven cakes make 1 Tong (wrapped in leaves), weighing 49 Liang. It was sold in nice places and also was exported abroad. It was re-named as "Yunnan Qizi bingcha - Yunnan seven cake tea" during the Cutural revolution.
* Head Tea (aka Golden Melon) is shaped like a ball, weighing between 2 Liangs and 10 Jins ( 1 Jin = 500 grams). They were mainly for domestic trade or serving as tributes to emperors. Stacks of Golden Melons progressing in size from gigantic to small are considered to be a status symbol.
* Mushroom shaped tea appeared in 1912. It was invented at that time in order to prevent the tea from going mouldy during the transportation. It was produced in Xia-Guan and Fo-Hai (two cities in south China) with the trademark "Bao-Yan". The production was then stopped in 1966. In 1986, the production was resumed due to the request of Buddhists in Tibet.
* In 1940, the Chinese State owned company CNNP started to manufacture Pu Erh Tea with a trademark "Zhong-Cha" at the Fo-Hai Tea Factory (now called "Meng-Hai Tea Factory"). Later, Yun-Nan Tea Company and Guang-Dong Tea Company also produced the same brand and started to export abroad. There were varieties such as red-label, green-label, yellow-label, small-letter and big-letter etc.
* Brick Tea was mainly produced in the Si-Chuang province prior to 1949. It is now also available in other provinces as well.
* Standard Tuocha tea were defined to weigh 100 gram each. Five make 1 Tong.
* Black Puerh Tea was invented by Kunming Tea Factory in 1972/73 and was manufactured in Xia-Guan Tea Factory ever since 1976. It is now manufactured in many different factories and is by far the most popular type of puerh sold.
* Yunnan Tea Company standardized the trade number for Pu Erh Tea in 1976 for the purpose of export. Each bingcha has 4 digits: the first 2 digits indicate the manufacturing year, the third digit indicates the leaf grade, the last digit indicates the tea factory (e.g. Kun-Ming 1, Meng-Hai 2, Xia-Guan 3, Pu Erh 4). The loose-leaf tea has 5 digits with the third and fourth indicating the class level of raw materials. Examples of early trade numbers for Puerh Tea are 7452, 7562, 7572, 75671, 76563.
* Meng-Hai Tea Factory started to use the trademark "Da-Yi" around 1978. Xia-Guan Tea Factory started to register the trademarks "Song-He" and "Nan-Zhao" in 1992.
* At the beginning of 1990s, many small tea factories were born. Some of them started to use class level 3 (or even higher) raw tea (which was only available for emperors in the past) instead of level 6 (or even lower) raw tea (which was the traditional material for producing Pu Erh Tea).
Puerh in the future
Today the emphasis is twofold. On one hand a significant amount of scientific research is being done on the effects of puerh on the human body, the microbial activity involved, and the science of developing mature puerh faster. On the other hand recent economic affluence has created a new middle class in China. Consuming Pu Erh Tea has become a symbol of achievement. This new middle class has created an unprecedented demand for quality Puerh, which in turn has put pressure on the factories to produce more tea even faster. New research facilities have been commissioned to further the processing techniques with an emphasis on scientific theory, manufacturing technology, quality and economics."
Enjoy!
Steve
Reduced prices on this Group buy
OK, all of the new teas have now arrived!
After doing a final round of calculations, due to the good pricing that I received from Scott at YSLLC, I am reducing prices from the original post by approximately 10%. See below:
Green Pu-erh teas in 25 gram samples:
2000 Fu Hai "7536" Green Mark Raw Aged Pu-erh tea cake - $4.75
2000 Long Yuan Hao - Yi Wu Mountain Raw Pu-erh tea - $5.30
2003 CNNP "Yi Wu High Mountain Wild Arbor" Raw Pu-erh - $3.00
2003 Jing Mai Round Cake * Tai Lian Tea Factory - $4.50
2005 Xiaguan Ancient Wild Tree Raw Pu-erh tea - $3.60
2005 Lincang Tea Co "Gu Shu Zhen Pin" Pu-erh tea - $2.35
2006 Mengku Certified Organic Single-Estate Pu-erh Tea - $2.75
2006 Fu Cha Ju * Ai Lao Mountain * Raw Pu-erh Tea - $3.10
2007 Xi-Zhi Hao * Classic 8582 * Raw Pu-erh Cake - $2.75
2008 Lao Ban Zhang Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea cake - $3.15
2008 Hai Lang Hao * Lao Ban Zhang & Man'E Ancient Arbor cake - $4.55
Ripe Pu-erh teas in 25 gram samples:
1997 Xiaguan Aged Ripe Pu-erh Tea Brick - $7.70
2000 Langhe Tea Factory * Aged Ripe tea of Menghai - $4.50
2000 Zhong Cha * Simao Gu Pu-er Ripe Pu-erh tea cake - $3.55
2001 White Dragon of Jinggu Ripe Pu-erh tea - $3.55
Oolong teas in 25 gram samples:
Big Red Robe Wu Yi Rock Tea Fujian Oolong - $2.25
Premium Tie Guan Yin of Anxi Oolong Tea - $3.85
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Second Group Buy - some pics
OK, you all have to promise NOT to laugh if one or two of these pictures is upside down or sideways (I don't read Chinese) but here are the recent acquisitions that are available as sample or cakes/brick purchases. Thought you might enjoy some good ol' tea porn!
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2008 Lao Ban Zhang Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea cake
2008 Lao Ban Zhang Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea cake. Here is the description from Scott's site: "Members of the Mengku Tea Factory made an expedition to remote area near Banzhang mountain to obtain the leaves for these cakes. The leaves are from trees 400 to 500 years old that were heavily cut during the Cultural Revolution. The trunk is still intact and in the 35 years since the trees have continued to grow and produce excellent quality Pu-erh with that special Banzhang taste and penetrating perfume-like aroma. When brewed is golden yellow and takes 15 or more infusions, each infusion with it's own taste and gradually less bitter and ineffably sweet.
The cakes are made from the highest grade Ban Zhang raw material and are entirely spring 2008 production. The price of premium Ban Zhang raw material has surpassed other tea mountains, because it is the most sought after. Many producers use just 10% to 20% Ban Zhang material to give their blended cakes enough "oomph" to make them taste good.
A little more background. I have known these sellers since 2005. They were one of the earliest distributors of Shuangjiang Mengku tea in Kunming and were my suppliers for Mengku products in 2005 and 2006. The Lao Ban Zhang teas were something that they did themselves as a side-project. Since they did not identify their teas, I just started calling the teas "Mengku Lao Ban Zhang". They started sourcing teas from this area of Ban Zhang in 2003, again in 2005. In 2007, they produced a Lao Ban Zhang tea of spring material and used the "Chun Jian" style wrapper of Shuangjiang Mengku but instead of "chun jian" written on the wrapper, it was written "Lao Ban Zhang". This wrapper was produced in very limited quantities and was sold entirely to "Bank of China - Yunnan Branch" for gifting purposes.
2008 Update!!!
This year's wrapper is simple in design with the 禅 symbol in the middle.禅 meaning is: [chán] meditation, Zen, Dhyana. It is often used in tandem with the character 坐 [zuò] sit;（坐禅), the two of which together mean "sitting in meditation" or Zen Buddhism.You might want to have a sit down after drinking a round of this "cha qi" rich tea!
This cake is 100% Ban Zhang Wild Ancient Arbor material!
Product Name: Lao Ban Zhang Brick
Harvest time: Spring 2008
Ingredients: Sun-dried Pu-erh from centuries old trees at Lao Ban Zhang
Produced by Members of Mengku Shuangjiang Tea Factory"
I like this tea a lot. I will try and provide more of a description later when I have experienced a few more infusions.
2 Attachment(s)
2008 Hai Lang Hao, Lao Ban Zhang & Man'E Ancient Arbor tea
I find this to be an excellent 2008 tea. From Scott's site:
"This is the second and final Hai Lang Hao production of 2008! It is also his most premium wild arbor tea since his 2006 Lao Ban Zhang production which has become legendary. This tea cake is produced from ancient wild arbor tea trees from Lao Ban Zhang village and from neighboring Lao Man'E village. Both villages are in the Bu Lang mountain range in the far south-west corner of Menghai county. Tea is entirely first flush of Spring 2008. These two villages are about 15 kilometers from each other, both producing strong and pungent teas as is characteristic of Bu Lang mountain area teas. Hai Lang decided to the blend 50/50 the teas from these two villages to keep the cost of the cake within the reach of tea lovers everywhere, while offering an incredible tea cake that will satisfy even the most discriminating tea heads. Just 235 kilos were produced in total. Supplies are very limited!
Hai Lang's commentary on this tea: The tea leaves are brownish-green, plump and full with prominent white hairs on many of these orderly bud/leaf sets. After rinsing for the first time (and after) there is a high level of tea fragrance. The bottom of the cup frangrance lasts a long time, even after the cup has become cold you will notice a persistent thick aroma. In the strainer you might notice some slightly burnt leaf edges that separate during brewing (This attests to its hand-process kill-green process). The brewed tea has a fresh light energy to it, the taste comes quickly to the mouth, a mouth-watering effect is quickly experienced. The "cha qi" is strong, vigorous, and bitter. The brewed tea soup is bright golden-yellow with a touch of amber hues. The brewed leaves are largely intact, plump, structurally strong. After a few months, after the water vapor (from the pressing process) dissipates, the texture of the flavor and its outward appearance will improve dramatically!
For more information on Lao Man'E village please check out this informative article by Jason Fasi called Lao Man'E: A Bulang Village in Transformation which is based on Brian Kirbis' research in Lao Man'E village and is featured in the free online magazine called The Leaf."
