Pu-erh brewing question

[Barbash]

Hello everyone.

While I do not spend much time on this part of B&B I have been an avid tea drinker for a while now, but mainly Oolong and Black teas. My coworker brewed me a wonderful cup of 210 Menghai 7562 ripe pu-erh the other day and it has sparked my interested in trying some other Pu-erh teas.

My question is really about the best pot to brew this tea with. I have a 340 Kamjove Tea Maker at work that has served me well for the past year plus and wanted to see if this would be ok for Pu-erh brewing as well? I have a Gaiwan and Cha Hai that I can use at home, but with limited space at work it has always been easier to use the Kamjove.

Thanks for the help.

 

[ouch]

You can use those for your cooked pu'er. Before I'd change the equipment, I'd change to sheng.

 

[Barbash]

You can use those for your cooked pu'er. Before I'd change the equipment, I'd change to sheng.

Thank you, but what is sheng?

 

[Doc4]

Thank you, but what is sheng?

It's the 'raw' or 'uncooked' pu-erh tea.

 

[Barbash]

It's the 'raw' or 'uncooked' pu-erh tea.

Thank you. I planned on picking up samples of a few different raw and ripe pu-erh.

 

[AjaxLepinski]

Speaking about brewing pu-ehr...
Is it heresy to brew the ripe version for 3 minutes and add lemon?
It sure does taste good when brewed strong with a squeeze of citrus!

 

[nff]

brew your tea the way you want.. it is the consesnsus tho to brew it gong fu style and brew many times. for example your kimojove brewer holds say 250ml depending on how much you want to drink the usual ratio is 6-8g/150ml for a minimum of 5-8 infusions. so if your going to brew the full 250ml you'd put about 12-15g of pu-erh. then brew it gong fu style. start out with short infusions then slowly add time to them say first infusion is either a flash infusion or say 10s second could be 15-20s third 30s 4th 45s 5th 1m so on so forth. you will get a much better flavor profile this way. you get to experience how the tea changes over the course of the session.

also rinse your pu-erh. sheng you can get away with rinsing once but shou (cooked) should be rinsed at least twice.

 

[Barbash]

brew your tea the way you want.. it is the consesnsus tho to brew it gong fu style and brew many times. for example your kimojove brewer holds say 250ml depending on how much you want to drink the usual ratio is 6-8g/150ml for a minimum of 5-8 infusions. so if your going to brew the full 250ml you'd put about 12-15g of pu-erh. then brew it gong fu style. start out with short infusions then slowly add time to them say first infusion is either a flash infusion or say 10s second could be 15-20s third 30s 4th 45s 5th 1m so on so forth. you will get a much better flavor profile this way. you get to experience how the tea changes over the course of the session.

also rinse your pu-erh. sheng you can get away with rinsing once but shou (cooked) should be rinsed at least twice.

Thanks for all the information nff.

 

[gimpochin]

When i first came to HK mid 1965, i was surprised at the number of shop merchants drank their tea from a tall water glass. Seems they dropped a few pinches of tea leaves into the glass and added hot water. While brewing the tea would settle at the bottom . Towards the last they would sip and sift it through the front teeth.

 

[PinoySteel]

^ That's a very HK way of drinking tea and some in the online tea community call it 'grandpa style.'

When drinking shu pu erh (or even aged sheng), you want to rinse it twice. I don't know how a Kamjove tea maker works, but I use a Yixing teapot for my shu pu erh and before my first brew, I use two fast flash rinses of the leaves after preheating the pot with boiling water. Also I'd be careful with the Menghai shu as they often have bits of green dental floss-looking string in them.

As for three-minute brews with a squeeze of lemon, unless you're drinking very expensive sheng, I don't see anything wrong with brewing your tea that way, although I'd still rinse the ol' shu. It is piled and fermented on a warehouse floor, so a couple of rinses definitely doesn't hurt. Lemon is an interesting additive. Here in Hong Kong, shu pu erh is mixed with black (red) tea, e.g., Lipton, and drank with evaporated milk. It's also popular to mix in chrysanthemum buds here for a 'fresher' taste. I like the lemon idea and may just give that a whirl.

 

[AjaxLepinski]

I love all the old 1970's HK kung fu movies like The Five Deadly Venoms!
It's my understanding that, in HK and other Asian countries, they love to put vodka in those tall glasses of tea!
Making hard-boiled-eggs in tea is also popular and Deviled Eggs are great when made that way.

I was at work a week or so ago, brewing a cup of 2008 Menghai King of Bu Lang Ripe Pu-ehr, when a phone call came in.
By the time I got back to the tea, at least 4 minutes had passed. Normally, I give my Pu-ehr a quick rinse and a 1 min brew.
Because, it was so strong, I added some sweetener and, on a what-the-heck, I added lemon. I've been drinking it strong, with lemon ever since.

 

[Doc4]

Speaking about brewing pu-ehr...
Is it heresy to brew the ripe version for 3 minutes and add lemon?
It sure does taste good when brewed strong with a squeeze of citrus!

"Won't make it any worse, that's for sure."

--Ouch.



However you like it is going to be good for you. Now, I wouldn't make mulled wine with Château Latour (well, maybe the 1987, but otherwise ...), and if I were Tricky Dicky I wouldn't be adding lemon to my Da Hong Pao, but shu is just shu and that's just fine.

 

[AjaxLepinski]

Now, I wouldn't make mulled wine with Château Latour (well, maybe the 1987, but otherwise ...), and if I were Tricky Dicky I wouldn't be adding lemon to my Da Hong Pao, but shu is just shu and that's just fine.

Ooof! A mulled $8.00 bottle of Merlot certainly won't produce as many gasps of horror as mulling an old Bordeaux.
Lemon in Red Robe? ...don't give me any ideas!

 

[PinoySteel]

Never seen vodka or bai jiu (white liquor) added to tea, but sweetened jasmine green tea with scotch is very popular in HK. Being a rum drinker, I may have to try mixing rum with my favorite oolongs! Incidentally, while in the throes of yesterday's RBAD (razor blade acquisition disorder), I came across a funny little store that specialized in armagnac and pu erh!

Normally if we overbrew tea here, we just dilute it with more water.

Drinking '95 dry stored 7542 with wet stored loose Menghai shu today (50:50) and they work beautifully together

 

[AjaxLepinski]

Oolong and vodka is popular in Japan as a "last one" for the evening. They really know how to party in Japan!
Rum, rum, rum, rum - I'll drink anything you put in front of me

Armagnac and pu ehr in one store? That is totally awesome! HK is truly the epicenter of civilization!

 

[PinoySteel]

Interesting, all this love for vodka! I'd be more likely to use traditional spirits like bai jiu and shoju with Chinese and Japanese teas.

I'll pretty much drink anything too, including fermented palm sap with added tree bark (aka tuba/bahalina in the Philippines). Drinking medicinal Chinese wine with cordyceps and tokay geckos today. I didn't realize there was such a problem with overharvesting of the geckos today, so I won't consume it too often. The wine is incredible stuff though!

The armagnac and pu store was down a side street that was full of market stall-type vendors and really stuck out because it looked very fancy: very large by HK standards with lots of spotlights and dark hardwood. I'd already bought a bunch of shaving stuff for the day, so I didn't go in, but I did check out the armagnac and pu they had on display right outside.

I see you're from LI: I used to live there myself (around New Hyde Park).

 

[AjaxLepinski]

It's a coincidence but, I had a glass of shoju on the rocks for lunch on Friday! It's amazing what can be done with a humble sweet potato!
I'm from Massapequa... small world!

 

[PinoySteel]

That it is. Liquid lunch?

 

[AjaxLepinski]

Nah, I can't have more than one adult beverage at lunch. More than one and I may wind up punching my boss in the nose!
After visiting a client in Manhattan, I passed a funky sushi restaurant and decided to stop in for lunch.
I hadn't had shoju in a number of years and since it was on the menue...

 

[PinoySteel]

Yup, alcohol and bopping on your boss on the nose probably wouldn't help with your career goals

I usually drink Korean shochu at Korean restaurants with my brother. He was in Korea last year and was amazed at how much the locals were putting away!