How to brew and drink pu-erh: description and tips for making Chinese tea

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

In the southwestern part of China, where the province of Yunnan is located, a special kind of tea is produced, called pu-erh. Only specially trained people can make it, since a huge amount of effort is required to endow it with an original rich taste and aroma, as if breathing antiquity. Now more and more people have begun to enjoy this drink. But in order to feel its taste, it is important to know how to properly brew and drink pu-erh tea, which will be discussed in this article.

A little about the variety

Before we turn to information on how to brew and drink pu-erh at home, we need to know a little about the tea itself. It belongs to the group of fermented teas, which are distinguished by a huge number of useful properties. With proper preparation, it can even reduce your weight, since pu-erh is able to melt the fat accumulated in the body.

The tea has a nice deep reddish brown hue, and its taste is quite mild, but at the same time gives off earthy notes. However, before the immediateusing pu-erh, it is best to rinse a little to wash out all the impurities that were applied during processing of the leaves.

Place of origin

The question of how to drink Pu-erh tea is very important, as this art has evolved over thousands of years. That is how many years the history of this drink has, which is produced in only one place in the world - the Chinese province of Yunnan.

In fact, this region has long been considered a real Mecca of tea, because it produces some of the world's most famous varieties. In addition, it is worth noting that pu-erh is one of the aged teas. And in some way it resembles vintage wines, because in order to get its special aroma and color, it must first be ripened.

Chinese brewing method

There are several ways to properly brew and drink pu-erh, which will be discussed in this article. However, first of all, let's consider the Chinese method, since it best reveals all the desired taste qualities of the drink.

So, for brewing you will need a glass teapot. And if possible, it would be even better to purchase a special small teapot made of Yixing clay.

Preparatory stage

Here we will consider the preparation of a drink in a clay teapot, since experts on how to drink Puer tea correctly agree that this is the best way. The following sequence of actions should be observed:

1. The first thing to do when brewing pu-erh is to prepare a teapot. To do this, you first need to warm it up a little. This is easy to do, just pour boiling water over the kettle. Moreover, not only the teapot should be warm, but also the filter, serving jug and cups.
2. After that, it is necessary to rinse the tea leaves. To do this, put pu-erh in a teapot and pour a little boiling water over it. Do not use a large amount of water, as it is enough just to cover the leaves with liquid. This will be the first rinse, so it should not last more than a couple of seconds.
3. The need for a second rinse depends on what kind of pu-erh is used. If it is raw tea, then one rinse will be enough, but if it is a ripe variety, then you need to rinse twice.

Preparing tea

The preparatory phase is over, now you should move on to the next step of brewing pu-erh tea. To do this, the required amount of boiling water is poured into the kettle, and the container is covered with a lid on top. After that, the lid is also washed with a small amount of boiling water. This helps to maintain the desired temperature in the brewer. After the water on the lid of the teapot has dried, which usually takes about 10-20 seconds, you can start pouring the drink for drinking.

It should be remembered that in this way pu-erh can be brewed several times, and the better the quality of the leaves, the more infusions are allowed. However, the best option would be not to brew tea more than 10 times, because after that the drink will gradually lose itsits properties. It should be noted that with each new brewing, pu-erh should be infused for about 5-10 seconds longer.

Traditional Chinese ceremony

If you want to have a real Chinese tea ceremony for pu-erh, then you will additionally need to purchase a few more additional accessories. These include the gaiwan, which is a bowl with a lid that is used to store tea and brew the leaves. In addition, you will also need an "honest cup" into which the tea is poured before it is poured into the cups. And the last thing you need is not pressed pu-erh leaves, but tear-off ones.

The temperature of the water is very important for the Chinese ceremony - it should be approximately 100 degrees Celsius. The brewed beverage will have a bright red-brown color and a very deep and earthy yet mild taste. Pu-erh prepared in this way changes its character and aroma with each brewing, so the drink will constantly change.

European way of brewing

Those who are interested in how to drink Chinese Pu-erh tea, but do not want to spend time on the Chinese way of brewing, can prepare a drink in European style. A similar method is much simpler, so to get a cup of fragrant and tasty tea you will need:

1. Select the appropriate grade of pu-erh and place it in the teapot.
2. Rinse the leaves several times with hot water. The procedure should take onlya few seconds, and after each of them you need to pour water to free the leaves from all impurities.
3. Add the right amount of boiling water to brew tea. It is best to choose purified water or fresh spring water. It should be noted that the higher the water temperature, the stronger the drink will be, so you can experiment with the depth of aroma and taste.
4. It takes about a couple of minutes to brew Pu-erh, although you can increase the time if desired, depending on your own preferences.

This way of drinking pu-erh is easier for people because it does not require the purchase of special utensils and skips several steps typical of the Chinese way.

Benefits of pu-erh tea

All those who are interested in drinking pu-erh should know that this drink is not only excellent in taste, but also has great benefits. It is especially popular with women who want to preserve their beauty for many years, because it improves the condition of the skin and hair. In addition, the drink is excellent for those who want to lose excess weight, as it improves the effect of diet and exercise in burning body fat. In addition, scientists have found that the constant addition of pu-erh tea to your diet helps to reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood.

How to drink pu-erh with milk

Now many people are trying to come up with new ways to consume this wonderful drink. Usually they do not take root due to the fact that tea itself is veryfragrant. However, one option is very popular. This is a pu-erh recipe with bee honey and milk.

To prepare it, you will need to first brew tea twice with hot water, and then spread the boiled leaves into cups. After that, they are poured with hot milk. The drink should be allowed to cool slightly, and only then add honey. Everything is well mixed and drunk warm.

This pu-erh recipe is significantly different from the classic one, so the taste is softer and sweeter. Such a drink is excellent during a cold, and also removes harmful toxins from the body.

Conclusion

There are several ways how different people around the world drink pu-erh. This proves that this type of tea is becoming more and more popular. And this is quite understandable, because it is not only very tasty, but also helps to lose weight and improves skin tone. In addition, pu-erh tea is excellent at helping to calm the raging intestines.

For thousands of years, this type of tea was considered a real treasure and treasure of China - for a long time it was even used as a currency. So it’s worth brewing it right at least once in your life and enjoying the original flavor and aroma combination of a drink that definitely leaves no one indifferent. Be sure to experiment with different types of pu-erh to find the one that suits you best.