1. Home
  2. Tea Connoisseur's Forum
  3. Pu Erh, the Quest... Intro

Pu Erh, the Quest... Intro

Hi All...

Some of you may remember me, I have posted to this group on occasion over the years. A few years ago I tried my first pu erh. Since that time I have embarked on a long and mysterious journey.

In the last several years I have purchased, brewed, and tasted, many kilos of various types of Pu Erh. I have lurked in this group, researched, brewed, tasted, read, brewed, tasted, and otherwise chased my tail very diligently ever since.

What I have discovered is a wealth of misinformation, mystic, confusion, misrepresentation, myths, legends, and marketing that appear to be designed to keep the western consumer in a state of ignorance. Most other types of tea have some sort of a standardized grading system by which you can estimate the quality by the teas classification. I believe this also exists with Pu Erh but it is seldom shared outside of China. There are so many variables like leaf grade, age, processing/fermentation, storage, (not to mention brewing method) etc that affect the final taste and few of these variables are ever accurately disclosed to the western consumer.

What I would like to propose is an open exchange of information. I will post a series of topics to stimulate conversation on various aspects of Pu-Erh. I have purchased the pu-erh.net domain for 1 year, if it is successful I will maintain it indefinitely. I will soon begin a website where I will openly share everything I have learned through this group and other sources. I have NO financial interests whatsoever, I am simply trying to explore my love of Pu Erh. This

formatting link
website will have a link section, a history section, a modern processing, a photo section, a brewing section, and whatever else seems appropriate. Suggestions are very welcome.

Please help me to cut through some of the smoke and mirrors surrounding this wonderful tea! Mike Petro snipped-for-privacy@mikepetro.org remove the "filter" in my email address to reply

Reply to
Mike Petro
Loading thread data ...

Glad to hear it. I love the stuff & don't know enough about it.

--Tom

-oo- ""\o~

------------------------------------ "Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." Terrance

Reply to
Tom

I am very happy to know that there will be such a website. L

"Mike Petro" ha scritto nel messaggio news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Reply to
Livio Zanini

You can start by reading this post:

formatting link
379de55476ef15&seekm_fe2ea.0308222317.107e2c44%40posting.google.com#link1

Reply to
Yuriy Pragin

Yuriy is right, this is one of the most infomative threads I have seen. Unfortunetly I have yet to see an online referrence, outside of this newsgroup, that provides this level of frankness.

Mike Petro snipped-for-privacy@mikepetro.org remove the "filter" in my email address to reply

Reply to
Mike Petro

Livio,

A few years back you pointed me to a link that had an article you wrote pu erh. Unfortunately that link no longer works. First, may I have permision to use it on the website, and second, do you have a working link? All I have left is this mouth watering picture of all the different pu erh cakes.

Thanks, Mike Petro

Mike Petro snipped-for-privacy@mikepetro.org remove the "filter" in my email address to reply

Reply to
Mike Petro

Mike, try this

formatting link

or go on

formatting link
click on "Sloweek" and make a search for "Zanini". That essay might contain some imprecisions, since at that time I ignored how good can be a good green Pu'er cake even if not aged. Let me know if you care for some photos or have some question you need help for. Livio

"Mike Petro" ha scritto nel messaggio news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Reply to
Livio Zanini

Hi Livio,

Take a look and give me some feedback please. That goes for the rest of the group as well.

I do intend to put a lot more hand written content on the pages, right now it is mainly just the links, about 65 of them.

Ciao,

Mike Petro snipped-for-privacy@pu-erh.net

formatting link
remove the "filter" in my email address to reply

Reply to
Mike Petro

Wow! Great Work! I can't believe how many links you've added since I last checked. Please let us know as you add stuff.

--Tom

-oo- ""\o~

------------------------------------ "Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." Terrance

Reply to
Tom

Hey Mike:

Loving the site but the specific "desired time" for the tea measurements you listed would be helpful on the "How to Brew" page.

--Tom

-oo- ""\o~

------------------------------------ "Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." Terrance

Reply to
Tom

Hey Tom,

Good point, I will add something to cover that. It is somewhat difficult to convey the concept though as a lot of judgement is required based on several variables. This is by no means traditional chinese methods, there several good links on my site to traditional methods:

The variables affecting the appropriate brew time are:

1) Desired strength 2) Strength of particular tea you are using, they differ widely 3) Amount of tea used 4) Brewing method

For example, I would use less time on a young green puerh than I would on an older one. I also use progressively longer times for each successive steeping of the same leaves, starting with a few seconds on the first up to several minutes on the last one.

Specifically when I use the Aria pot mentioned on the site I always rinse the puerh first, then depending on the strength of the tea I start with 15 - 30 seconds for the first and second steeps and generally double the previous time for each successive steep. For example 15-15-30-60-120 etc until the tea is depleted. I seldom get more than 5 or 6 steeps, but then again it is a 16oz pot.

Mike Petro snipped-for-privacy@pu-erh.net

formatting link
remove the "filter" in my email address to reply

Reply to
Mike Petro

Thanks. I've been starting at 2 minutes with your measurements (I usually use more tea for gung-fu) so I haven't been getting as many good steeps.

Thanks for the tip and the site.

--Tom

-oo- ""\o~

------------------------------------ "Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." Terrance

Reply to
Tom

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.