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Pu-erh tea disc – rounded on one side and indented on the other
Just as there is a wide difference between bagged teas, the variety of pu-erh (puer, pu’er) tea cakes on the market is fairly astounding. Considering that some pu-erhs are considered collectibles, fakery has also come about. Knowing what to look for and how to make your selection is more important than ever.
Type of Tea Used in Pu-erh Cakes
Green. Black. White. Raw. Cooked. Uncooked. Whatever way they’re prepared, the leaves are those from the tea bush (Camellia Sinensis) and grown in the Yunnan Province of China (the regions of Simao, Xishuangbanna, Boshan, and Lincang) and can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD). Over the years pu-erh has been traded and used in bartering for goods, with the best being reserved for the Chinese Emperor. The popularity and high prices of older pu-erhs has resulted in truckloads of cheap green teas from nearby provinces being sneaked into the Yunnan area to be processed into tea cakes and sold as pu-erhs. The inferior quality of the tea leaves, though, results in a decidedly inferior tea.
Some Pu-erh Tea Cake Shapes
It’s not a rotted pumpkin. It’s a pu-erh tea cake!
It seems that the most common pu-erh tea cake shape is a disc about the same size as a frisbee. These are usually slightly rounded on the “top” side and have an indent on the “back” side. They are wrapped in paper in a neat pattern that fits the round shape, with the paper ends being tucked into that indent. Each tea vendor has their own printed labels and will mark on that label the year the cake was created.
Other popular shapes are bing (beeng) chas, tuochas, mushrooms, and bricks. You can also buy pu-erh in loose form, though some experts claim the flavor lacks the distinctive quality for which pu-erhs are known. There are also some that to me look like pumpkins or melons and others shaped into balls between the size of a baseball and a volleyball.
Brick tea cakes designs
Some Things to Look Out for
Check the wrapping to make sure it is intact before you open it. Since the tea leaves are steamed and then pressed into the cake and brick shapes, mold (in the form of odd, discolored spots and downy or furry coatings) is a key issue. Insect infestations are another common problem, and are evidenced by small holes or big cracks with fine dust particles in them. Both issues are caused by improper storage. The smell of bad pu-erh tea is usually moldy, rotten, and pungent with a sour undertone and off taste notes.
Older tea cakes may be naturally loose due to high oxidation and expansion of internal air pockets. The fake tea cakes that are supposed to be older may appear old but will be hard and compact. True older cakes will pry apart easily.
Pu-erh cakes are so special that they are often displayed in shop windows and on vendor sites on stands
Another issue shows up after steeping some of the leaves. Look for signs of decomposition resulting from high levels of bacteria that cause rapid decay. Also, the taste of a true pu-erh tea cake will be complex, ranging from lightly floral, heather, fruity, and honey-like to leather, harsh peat, tobacco, organics, wood, grass, and deep earth.
Award-winning Designs
Pu-erh has been around awhile, so you wouldn’t think there’d be all that much new when it comes to tea cake shapes and packaging, right? Well, actually, a tea vendor recently won several awards at the World Tea Expo for just that. They were judged “Best New Product 2012” for tea cakes shaped and wrapped like chocolate candy bars where you can snap off a single-serving section of tea leaves, and for tea balls (about 1” in diameter) in a bamboo canister, and finally for single-serving size discs in what looks like a Tootsie Roll wrapper. The innovation never ends!
Bottom Line
More and more, loose versions of Pu-erhs are available.
Yes, pu-erh tea cakes are not created equal, but with the right knowledge, you can make a wise choice!
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Pu-erh is one of those teas that can take multiple infusions and is often infused in smaller amounts. A lot of pu-erh is sold in large cakes where you have to break off a chunk to steep it. Some is sold in mini cakes (“tuochas”), which are sized about right for a small pot of tea. Recently, though, pu-erh has become available loose and even in teabags. For many of you, buying pu-erh loose in a pouch or tin may not seem kosher. However, the era of buying big cakes may be fading, especially as pu-erh gets more known and liked among tea drinkers — both veterans and newbies alike.
Golden Pu-erh Tea
I’ve been taking a pretty unorthodox approach to pu-erh, steeping longer than usual times, adding in cocoa powder, etc. So, steeping a loose pu-erh is right up my alley. Golden Pu-erh Loose Leaf Tea is one I tried a few months ago, with satisfying results.
We opened the wonderful plastic pouch and took a moment to smell the tea leaves, which were large pieces and had an aroma that was earthy yet sweet, not the damp half-composted leaves on the forest floor aroma of some other pu-erhs we have tried (not a bad aroma – just pointing out that this one is different).
Some people do a quick rinse of the leaves (about 30 seconds) and then dump out the liquid, but we chose not to. This meant that the first steep was more of a preparatory steep but was still drinkable. The liquid color was a dark reddish brown with an aroma that was earthy yet caramelly and a taste that was smooth and earthy with no bitterness. The second steep was the best, with a richness that the first one didn’t have yet still smooth and free of bitterness. The third and fourth steeps were both lighter overall, with the third having a gritty quality to the flavor (though not to the mouth feel) and the fourth being pretty faint in both color and flavor.
Not a bad yield, and one that makes the price per cup quite reasonable (18.75 cents per cupful as of the writing of this article).
Be wild. Be experimental. Go for some Golden Pu-erh!
See also:
The Mysterious World of Aged Pu-erh Tea
The Possibilities of Young Pu-erh Tea
Tea Experiment — “Mocha” Pu-erh
Pu-erh Roundup
A Touch of Pu-erh
Review — The English Tea Store’s Scottish Caramel Coffee Pu-Erh
Pu-erh Tea
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Scottish Caramel Toffee Pu-erh
Name: Scottish Caramel Toffee Pu-erh
Brand: English Tea Store
Type: Pu-erh, flavored
Form: Loose leaf
Review: I do confess that I don’t normally think of Scotland and pu-erh as having any sort of natural connection to each other, though perhaps that is due to a lack of imagination on my part. I’m glad, though, that someone was creative enough to create this blend of toffee pieces and shou (ripe) pu-erh tea, which I find very tasty indeed. The tea is priced right and can be infused more than once, making it a very good value indeed.
This isn’t a particularly sophisticated flavored tea and it doesn’t have a lot of depth or complexity. It is, however, an inspired flavor combination (kind of like peanut butter and chocolate). As the English Tea Store notes in its product description, the earthiness of pu-erh is actually a good match to the sweetness of toffee. The liquor is very dark brown, as is typical for a shou pu-erh, and medium bodied. For many people, this might be an acceptable coffee alternative, particularly if they are partial to flavored coffees.
Preparation Tips: I recommend 1.5 teaspoons of leaf to eight ounces of boiling water. A three minute steep worked well for me, but if you like a more aggressive flavor, up the steep time to five minutes. It tastes plenty sweet to me, but you may want to add some additional sweetening, as well as a bit of milk, for a more decadent cup. Scottish Caramel Toffee Pu-Erh is also good for more than one steep: I’d recommend upping the steep time 1-2 minutes for each successive infusion.
Serving Tips: There is no reason to serve this with food: It is flavorful enough on its own and would probably conflict with the flavor of most foodstuffs anyway. Save this tea for dessert or as a substitute for a sweet breakfast pastry.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Sticky Fingers Pumpkin Spice Scone Mix
Another trip around the sun, another Summer winding down, and another occasion to celebrate with tea: the Autumnal Equinox rolls around once more.
For those of you who don’t pay a lot of attention to the various phases of our journey through this solar system, I’ll give a brief rundown of what “Autumnal Equinox” is. (Those of you who already know this can skip to the next paragraph.) “Equinox” means equal. “Autumnal” means Autumn. Duh! Seriously, since our planet’s Equator (that imaginary line around the center of our globe) “tilts” so that we don’t directly face the sun, our days get shorter and longer (with our nights getting longer and shorter). At the Equinox, night hours and day hours are exactly 12 each. The Autumnal Equinox marks when the days start getting shorter and the nights longer (here in the Northern Hemisphere). With that in mind, let’s see how you can mark the occasion with tea.
Loose Organic Ceylon Tea
Shorter daylight hours means cooler temperatures, so all you iced tea fans might want to switch over to hot tea. Those of us who drink hot tea year round will be looking into some of the more “robust” tasting teas such as a malty Assam, a spicy Yunnan, the lightly smoky Keemun, or a basic black Ceylon. Don’t forget pu-erhs and Kenyans. Blends that contain any combination of these are also good choices. Or you could go for some spiced teas (often simply called “chais” here in the U.S. even though “chai” means “tea”) that have spices and flavors we tend to associate with Autumn here: cinnamon, apple, pumpkin, etc. (so far, I haven’t come across a corn flavored tea, even though corn is harvested this time of year).
This brings to mind foods that can be part of your tea time, including apple pie, pumpkin pie/scones/bread (or even all three), pecan tarts, cornbread with butter and honey (yum!), the list goes on and on.
In many school districts, kids are already back in school so you moms and/or dads who are at home during the day can have a self-pampering tea time. Light a scented candle, bake up some goodies, steep up your fave robust-tasting tea and say “Farewell” to another Summer.
Enjoy!
See also:
An Autumn Cup of Tea
Spicing Up Your Autumn Teatime
Fall Is Just Around the Corner
Yes, It’s Fall Teatime Again
Harvest Time Hurrahs!
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Pu-erh seems to be one of those love ’em or leave ’em teas. Some people say they taste like dirt. Other consider them heavenly. They can be purchased in cakes to enjoy now or to store in a safe place to age and improve over time. They also come in bricks and tuochas (little bird’s nests). More tea vendors have begun selling them loose in a pouch or tin or even in traditional teabags and sachets.
A cuppa with a touch of pu-erh
The good thing about the loose version is that you get to play around with blending them with other loose teas you may have on hand. Mine was, so I did.
Recently, I discovered that some pu-erh leftover from a sample pack went well with another tea blend (Keemun and Assam) I had. The leaf piece sizes were about the same, and both were fully-oxidized (that is, “black”) teas. That means both could take the same water temperature. While the kettle was coming to a boil, I mixed some of each tea type and put them in the pot to steep.
There was a voice in my head going, “What are you doing? You love that black tea blend. You’re gonna muck it up by adding some pu-erh? What if you don’t like it?” I found myself answering, “Well, I like that pu-erh, too, so if I add a touch of it to this black tea, what’s the risk? Besides, a bit of risk can be a good thing. We get a lot of new inventions that way.” And that voice says, “Like what?” But then the water in the kettle was boiling, so I had to pour and put the lid on the pot for the steeping. I set the timer for six minutes and began reflecting back over those fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants inventors responsible for some of the marvels we take for granted now.
Probably the biggest is the taming and controlling of electricity, then learning how to purposely generate and store it. This comes to mind in large part because my stove is electric and because of the increasing popularity of electric kettles. I think of Benjamin Franklin flying his kite in an electrical storm, and of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla with their competing theories of how best to generate and distribute electricity to brighten homes and improve lives. (Edison won out.)
Meanwhile, my tea had steeped and the great moment of truth had arrived. I poured a cuppa. It was dark brown in color and looked like coffee. I inhaled the aroma. The pu-erh character was definitely there but not so strong that you’d think you were in some primeval forest (one where the leaves lie thick between the tree trunks and, thanks to the sweet drops of rain they have soaked up through decades and possibly centuries, exude the aroma of their gentle decay that turns them into soil). I take a sip. The pu-erh flavor is there, too. But again not so overly strong, more like the breeze blowing through that forest and gathering up molecules of decaying leaf scent to carry along. In other words, it was great!
Time to try it with a bit of milk and some sweetener. Again, fabulous with a smoothness combining with the pu-erh flavor and that black tea blend. Rich and satisfying, each sip was a real treat. The risk paid off.
Do you have some pu-erh lying around, maybe some that a well-meaning friend gave you? Try mixing it with another black tea. It will add a nice touch to your cup — that pu-erh touch!
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Scottish Caramel Toffee Pu-erh Tea
I was having a twitter conversation with a dear tea friend recently,and I was mortified to hear they didn’t have a positive experience in a UK tearoom. As I had written, “what to look for in a good tearoom” in a previous post, I felt a strong urge to put the kettle on and reminisce about some of the great experiences I’ve had growing up in the UK.
(Kettle on: let’s begin). Tearoom conjures up so many different images to different people so let me start with an explanation by Wikipedia, which states that “A tea house or tearoom is a venue centered on drinking tea.” For some, this could be a Victorian style offering Afternoon Tea or High Tea; for others, this could be a place that sells purely tea and teawares; and for still others, it’s a place offering teas and light snacks.
In this post, I thought I would talk about two tearooms I’ve visited often in London, starting with Postcard Teas. If you log on to Twitter you’ll see some of their wonderful collection of teas on display. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Tim d’Offay, and it’s always a delight to speak with him, as I often leave his tearoom having learned something new. When you enter his tearoom, the way the teas and teawares are beautifully displayed makes you feel you’re in a modern art gallery. It really is serene!! Many people go to London for the shopping, and Postcard Teas is conveniently located very near to Bond Street — home to some of the most expensive designer shops in London. In keeping with the upmarket area, Tim sources a range of great teas himself. You’ll know exactly the name of the estate and place of production of each and every tea, which is not a statement that many tea companies can proudly proclaim. The range and quality of the teas are just exquisite, and I can’t wait to go back to London to try more of his teas.
Old Bond Street Mall in London, UK
(Kettle brewed to the correct temperature for Pu’erh, and now onto the tea making).
The next tearoom is located by another great tourist spot: St. Paul’s Cathedral and as well as having a large range of teas, they also have a selection of breakfast and light lunches on offer, too. When I lived in London, I would often arrange my lunch meetings there — a cup of tea, a freshly made sandwich or salad and maybe scone with jam and cream if I’m feeling particularly naughty. What I love about this place is the fun-aspect to their tea categories: serenitea; tranquilitea, activitea — I think you get the picture. :) We Are Tea is a great place to start your tea journey, as their tea selection is easily accessible to novice drinkers and can also keep the seasoned drinker interested. You can also follow their developments on Twitter.
The article was written with a lovely brewed cup of Pu’erh tea for inspiration.
Editor’s note: You don’t have to travel to London to get great teas that suit both a British and American palate!
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Golden Heaven Yunnan China Black Tea
Pu-erh can be a controversial tea: Many tea lovers are confused (at best) about how it is made, fraud in the sale of pu-erh remains a concern, and more than a few people simply don’t care for the stuff. I’m a pu-erh fan going back to my earliest days of tea drinking, but do admit that it is often an acquired taste, sometimes made more difficult by a lot of the intrigue that surrounds it. Pu-erh is made from tea leaves grown in China’s Yunnan Province, and is processed differently from other teas. Raw or “sheng” pu-erh is made from large tea leaves are often packed into cakes, nests and bricks, which are then aged, giving the tea a unique flavor. “Ripe” or “shou” pu-erh (also known as “cooked” pu-erh) undergoes a special process that simulates aging. Both varieties are enjoyed by many people, though pu-erh aficionados and purists have a definite bias toward sheng pu-erh.
Interested in trying this mysterious tea? Here are a few tips:
- Don’t Oversteep Pu-Erh: Many people who dislike pu-erh do so because they oversteeped the stuff. Pu-erh is often strongly flavored and, frankly, doesn’t taste much like “normal” tea. I recommend starting out brewing pu-erh in short steeps, so that you can taste its sweetness and earthy notes without feeling like you steeped into a barnyard.
- Do Try Flavored Pu-Erh: Don’t get me wrong: I am still an advocate of plain, unflavored teas. But pu-erh can be an interesting base for chocolate orcaramel flavors, often resulting in a flavored tea with more depth than those prepared with a standard black tea.
- Be a Skeptic: Ask questions about the pu-erh that you buy, particularly if the vendor makes a lot of claims about its pedigree. There are plenty of tasty, inexpensive pu-erhs on the market, so take your time in selecting a merchant of collection-quality pu-erh.
- Hang on to Pu-Erh: Most teas taste better when fresh, but pu-erh can age over time. If you find a pu-erh that you like, hold on to at least some of it. Then break some of it out every year to see how its flavors have changed.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Fakery abounds in the tea world, as with many other products. Why not? Expensive teas, commanding prices in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars, are as tempting to counterfeiters as are the works of Gucci and other designers. They say that knowledge is power, though, so with a bit of knowledge, you can tell which tea is fake and which is real, just as the experts on Antiques Roadshow can tell the real Paul Revere pewter mug from the fake.
One point to clarify first here is that by “fake tea” I am not meaning plastic, silk, or other such materials that fake flowers are made of. Tea fakery is about real tea, but with a fake “pedigree.” Now that we have that straight, on to the details.
Darjeeling Tea logo
The tea source and what the tea is labeled to be are key factors in its authenticity. For example, a special oolong from Darjeeling, to be authentic, should meet certain criteria, such as being grown at a high altitude where there’s not too much heat and average temperatures remain in the 5–20°C range throughout the season and coming from old Camellia Sinensis bushes from China. The Darjeeling Tea Association certifies this, so look for their logo on the package.
A special green tea from China called Dragonwell (or Longjing) is another example. It has such a high reputation that it’s no surprise when teas of lesser quality come on the market bearing that name. (One story is floating around out there about someone paying $14,000 for a mere handful of this tea.) The original Dragonwell came from the Lion Peak Mountain in West Lake (Xihu), China, but is now cultivated in other parts of the country. The processing of the tea leaves nowadays is what makes it authentic Dragonwell, with at least 100 different known types (plus a lot of fakes). The best kind is made from the two-leaves-and-a-bud combo harvested during the first 2 weeks in the Spring growing season. The second best is that harvested during the next 4 weeks. The tea bushes rest the remainder of the year, one reason this tea is so expensive and thus spurring imitation.
Wu Yi tea, also known as the slimming tea, is another target for fakers. It’s supposed to be a very special type of oolong from the Wu Yi Mountain in China and helps you lose weight, so of course every oolong out there is being labeled as “wu yi” or “slimming tea.” That brings up another type of tea fakery: fake health claims. Everything from bad breath to smelly feet have a tea that someone claims will cure it. Reminds me of snakeoil salesmen (as portrayed in the movies) claiming their potion would cure whatever ails you.
Golden Moon Tea Pu-erh
Pu-erh fakery is a big issue. For many generations, they have been prized in China and even considered investments. Lately, pu-erhs have gotten into high demand in the U.S. and elsewhere, increasing the attraction to counterfeiters. Labeling, wrapping technique, and the appearance of the tea cake are all signs of whether the tea is a true pu-erh or an imitation. However, your best bet is to deal with tea vendors you know as reputable, especially if you are buying the tea with the idea of storing it for later. That brings me to still another form of fakery: fake tea vendors. Sites spring up online overnight. Then, they get caught, close that site, and open another under a different name. (One such company sent me samples to review. When I discovered they were the “fade into the night” types, I declined to promote their teas.)
One final form of tea fakery is the fake review. Not every tea is going to please every tea drinker. If you see nothing but glowing reviews for a tea, especially on sites that feature a sort of group approach to tea reviews, some of those reviews could be “planted” by the tea vendor or bad reviews could have been “scrubbed.” Health claim reviews have been known to be a bit “doctored” (I know, bad pun!), too, so beware.
The bottom line: be a knowledgeable tea consumer.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Young Pu-erh
Arguably one of the most misunderstood and yet expensive teas around, pu-erh (also spelled “puer,” “pu-er,” etc.) is well worth a try.
First of all, you can get multiple infusions out of most pu-erhs, even flavored ones. That makes them a good value. Or you can choose to do one strong infusion (lots of flexibility here) for a really strong, dark cupful. Second, there are a variety of pu-erhs, including aged, wet-stored (quickly oxidized), and dry-stored (slowly oxidized), so you have plenty of options and after a bit of sampling can find the one that is perfect for you.
Types of pu-erhs:
Green (“raw”) — A pleasure enjoyed by the Chinese for about 2,000 years, first only by the emperors and then by the general population, becoming so treasured that it is considered an investment by some. Unlike regular green teas, these are not baked to stop microbial action. They get better as they age, with the ones younger than 5 years being slightly bitter and the older ones getting smoother, sweeter and changing color from light yellow to dark amber. They can be aged up to 65 years.
Black (“ripe” or “mature”) — A relatively recent development, dating from 1973. An example is Young Pu-erh Loose Leaf Tea where the tea cake has been broken up to make your tea steeping easier — no special handling needed, just steep as you would any other black tea. A similar version is Golden Moon Loose Leaf Pu-erh Tea. Or go with a tuocha pu-erh (some shaped like a little bird’s nest, about 3/4ths of an inch across, others in squares weighing about 6 grams each) — it needs a quick rinse before steeping but is generally good for several infusions. Then, there are the big cakes that, if properly stored (up to as much as 25 years), get better tasting. The older, the more expensive, generally speaking.
Flavored — To get some reluctant tea drinkers over the hump of trying pu-erh or getting past the earthy flavor (some say it’s like dirt), tea vendors have started using pu-erh as the base for flavored blends. If they pick flavors that go well with the flavor of the pu-erh, great. In fact, some I’ve tried are so yummy that a cupful (or 2 or 3) can be better for dessert than, well, dessert! And lots fewer calories, too. With bad flavorings, it can be like masking the smell of that fish you fried for dinner last night with one of those floral-scented sprays (yeah, I saw it in a commercial, but it’s still true here). Some flavorings that seem to work well: caramel and toffee like in the Scottish Caramel Toffee Pu-erh, orange peel/raspberry/cornflower blossoms (the combo seems to bring out cocoa-ish notes in the pu-erh), and of course cinnamon and citrus for a spicy kick like you find in Golden Moon Pu-erh Chai Tea. Personally, I find a bit of milk and sweetener can add the perfect touch. Don’t overdo, though, or you’ll smother that distinctive Pu-erh taste. And then, there is my “mocha” pu-erh recipe, for what it’s worth. There are also pu-erhs aged in stuff like orange peels, absorbing flavors from the peel.
I know I keep going on about steeping teas loose and the torture those tea leaves endure in an infuser, but this one is really really better loose. If you just can’t bring yourself to deal with the leaf pieces all over or if you like to steep in a mug instead of a teapot, use the largest infuser basket (not one of those ball things) that you can fit into your mug or pot. Give the tea (and any added flavorings) a real chance to mingle with the water. This is true both of those pu-erhs in a large cake form or the tuocha pu-erhs.
Beware of imitations, though. As with any rare and pricey commodity, such as Gucci handbags, knockoffs are all around. Happy hunting!
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Trying some Young Pu-erh awhile back and then looking into various chocolate teas gave me an idea: chocolate pu-erh. Actually, considering the caffeine content which is close to a cuppa coffee, the beverage hubby and I concocted (after a bit of experimenting) is better called “mocha” pu-erh.
There is a chocolate pu-erh or two on the market and certainly a plethora of teas with some sort of chocolate flavoring added to them. So why not just have one of these? Simple: they don’t have a good chocolate flavor balanced with the tea flavor. A good shot of caffeine was a goal, too. We weren’t looking for caffeine at espresso level (about 500g is one of those little cupfuls), nor even regular coffee (90g in an 8-oz cup) — more the level of the South American herbal guayusa (about 50g per 8-oz cup). Actually, we were more interested in combining that distinct earthy taste of the pu-erh with the rich, smooth, sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet taste and texture of chocolate.
NOTE: This isn’t a true mocha beverage. True mocha is a rich Arabian coffee. Mocha beverages in the U.S. are basically those that have some coffee in them usually combined with chocolate.
We started our experiment the way some of you may start creating some special dish that is all your own: find a similar recipe and work from there. We started with a chocolate tea recipe whose concept was pretty simple: an equal quantity of steeped tea and of milk (whole milk is strongly recommended), plus some form of chocolate, either syrup, cocoa powder, or (as professionals use) cocoa nibs. Optional is a big dollop of whipped cream on top of the hot beverage in the mug.
However, our recipe ended up a bit different, as you will soon find out. Happens a lot in kitchen experiments. Tea is no exception.
We started with 1 cup of water and a teaspoon of Young Pu-erh dry tea leaves. We steeped this for 8 minutes (you could steep for as long as 10 minutes if you want a stronger tea taste) and strained it into a measuring cup. [The secret here is to steep up the pu-erh fairly strong. The Young Pu-erh is not in a brick, cake, or tuocha (mini-cake), so it is easy to use. I do not “rinse” this tea, as is recommended for other pu-erhs. (See Part I and Part II of my review of this tea.)]
Then, we put 1 cup of whole milk in a saucepan and heated it on the stove to just when the simmer started. At that point, we added the steeped pu-erh liquid and stirred to be sure it was well blended with the milk. We simmered this combo for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to be sure the milk did not burn on the bottom of the pan. So far, so good.
Here comes the tricky part and where following the chocolate tea recipe we found led us astray. That recipe called for 4 ounces of chocolate (an ounce per cupful). We stirred into the saucepan a full 2.5-ounce package of a locally-available cocoa mix, whisking as we added the dry powder, about a third at a time. (If you decide to use chocolate syrup instead, be sure that it melts completely.) We removed the pot from the stove and prepared to taste our latest concoction.
First, the aroma: very chocolaty. Then, the taste: very chocolaty — very very!
Now, I have to pause here to point out something important: hubby and I tend to like straight teas without flavorings because too many times the flavor of the tea gets “drowned out” by those additives. Here the flavor of the pu-erh, which was pretty strong, was not just drowned but totally washed out to sea. Just a bit of flotsam on the foamy brine. Uh, well, anyway, it was way too chocolaty. What to do? What to do?
Dilute!
We steeped another cup of Young Pu-erh and added it to the mix, simmering a minute or two to make sure it was hot. Then, another taste test. Still chocolaty but the earthy pu-erh flavor was coming through. We contemplated steeping another cup of pu-erh but opted not to. Good thing because as the mix cooled slightly, the chocolate flavor subdued a bit so that it was more balanced with the earthiness.
We also opted to skip the whipped cream, thinking it would have been a bit much under the circumstances.
To sum up, use twice as much pu-erh liquid as milk, and go easy on the chocolate. We recommend that you start with about an ounce of chocolate to 2 cups of tea and 1 cup of milk. Do a taste test. Add a little more chocolate if needed and taste again. Repeat until you get that balance of earthiness with chocolaty-ness. If you’re feeling a bit silly, bob one of those big-sized marshmallows in your mug.
Warning: This hot beverage has been shown to be habit-forming and even downright addictive, but oh so worth it!
Enjoy!
Don’t miss A.C.’s blog, Tea Time with A.C. Cargill!
