Shu Puerh Minicake
If you want to understand what tea connoisseurs get so excited about, start here. Puerh belongs to the world of dark tea, and dark tea is where things get serious: the great aged cakes are genuine collectors' items, kept in special warehouses, traded and cellared much like fine wine, and prized as much for their rarity as for their taste. These little mini cakes are the perfect way to dip a toe into that world without buying a whole cellar.
First, a useful bit of untangling. Most people assume "Puerh" is a type of tea. It is not; it is a place, a town in Yunnan in south-west China. The type is dark tea, which is the tea world's name for tea that has been fermented (see my guide to the types of tea). Puerh is simply the most famous example.
It has wonderful history. Puerh sits at the start of the old Tea-Horse Road, the trading route over the mountains to Tibet. Tea was pressed into cakes and bricks, easier to carry, and hauled along the route for months, even years; and on that long, damp journey the tea slowly fermented and mellowed. That happy accident is, in essence, how dark tea came to be. The cakes were so valued that they were even used as money.
Now, one important distinction. There are two kinds of puerh: sheng, or "raw," which is aged slowly over many years (this is what the collectors chase), and shu, or "ripe," a modern method that gently speeds the fermentation up, heaping and covering the leaves so they take on that deep, aged character in months rather than decades. This is a shu, aged a further couple of years to round it out, which makes it the friendliest possible introduction: smooth, mellow and earthy, and ready to drink right now. It is a proper tea, so there is caffeine in it, and it is best on its own, without milk.
A few practical notes: rinse the cake with boiling water and pour that first splash away, then brew at 100°C for about two minutes. One mini cake suits a two-person pot, or break it up for single cups. It will happily give you up to ten infusions, and many people find the third is the best of all.
Brew at 100°C for 2 minutes (after a quick rinse).
Ingredients || Puerh Tea (shu / ripe; a dark tea), pressed into a mini cake.
Warning, packed in an environment that contains nuts
Caffeine || Yes
Tasting Notes || Earthy, smooth and mellow, with real depth
Brewing Notes || Rinse first, then 100°C, 2 minutes. One mini cake per 2-person pot, or break for cups. Up to 10 infusions (the third is often best)