Pu-erh tea is known as the seven-cake tea. Although we find loose Pu-erh tea, it is best preserved in the shape of cakes. So most types of Pu-erh tea are in tea cakes. Loose tea leaves can be used to make tea directly but the compressed leaves must be first loosened.
Loosen the tea with a tea knife: If the compressed tea cake is not too hard, then shake or poke lightly and tea leaves will separate. If it is hard, loosen it with a knife specially made for loosening compressed tea. Start from the relatively loose part at the corners of the cake, insert the knife, gently prize and loosen the leaves and put them into the tea holder for use. It is simple and convenient to loosen compressed tea leaves with a tea knife but the leaves break easily.
Loosen the tea by steaming: Before compressing, the leaves were steamed to soften them. Now too, we can steam the cake to loosen the leaves without damaging the leaves. This is a little more complicated than loosening the leaves with the tea knife.
Irrespective of the kind of ceramic teapots used, the method is similar: Steam the cake and take it out when it expands and loosen it with hand or knife while it is hot. It is much easier to loosen the whole cake, and the leaves remain unbroken.
But if there is leftover tea after use, dry the loosened tea before putting away. According to some, the leaves loosened by steaming are less fresh.
But different people have different feelings about such subtle details.
Waking up loose tea: The well- preserved loose tea should be exposed to the air before being brewed. This is called "waking up the tea." After which, the tea smells more fragrant and tastes mellower. This is similar to letting red wine breathe to enhance its taste.
After waking up the leaves, put adequate leaves into the tea holder for
use.
2. Quantity of leaves
The quantity of leaves needed varies according to individual preference, the brewing method, the size of tools and the characteristics of the tea.
Usually the ratio between the amount of tea leaves and water is 1:40 or 1:45, but this can be adjusted according to different tastes. For example, in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, people love strong tea so more leaves can be added, while northern people are fond of weak tea so the quantity of leaves can be reduced. The amount of tea needed also varies according to the characteristics of the tea. For example, processed tea, raw tea and old tea (including raw tea preserved for a certain period of time) need varying amount of leaves. As different types of Pu-erh tea have different raw materials, processing techniques, preserving conditions and storage time, we should not be dogmatic in terms of the amount of tea leaves needed.
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