Tea Type: Pu'erh Tea
Puerh Tea; Uses, Side effects, and More.,
Puerh tea is a fermented Chinese tea with a rich, earthy flavor and a long history dating back centuries. It is made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, just like other types of tea, but it undergoes a unique fermentation process that sets it apart from other teas.
Puerh tea is renowned for its many health benefits, including aiding digestion, boosting the immune system, and lowering cholesterol levels. It is also high in antioxidants, which can help to protect the body from the damaging effects of free radicals.
Puerh tea is obtained from a long fermentation process. This is one reason why tea is on the high end of caffeine content. More specifically, you can derive about 30 to 100 mg of caffeine in a tea of 240 mL. Learn more about the caffeine content in Pu erh tea here.
One of the most appealing aspects of Puerh tea is its versatility. It can be enjoyed hot or cold, and it can be steeped multiple times, allowing for a range of flavor profiles. Whether you prefer a light, floral brew or a bold, robust cup of tea, Puerh has something to offer.
Puerh tea is also a great choice for tea connoisseurs who appreciate the depth and complexity of its flavor. As it ages, the flavor of Puerh tea becomes smoother and more refined, making it a sought-after tea for collectors.
So if you're looking to try something new and exciting or just to add some variety to your tea rotation, give Puerh tea a try. You won't be disappointed!
The Benefits of Puerh Tea
The health benefits of Puerh tea are unending because it has a combo advantage. It comprises the advantages of being a fermented tea and contains healthy properties. Puerh tea aids digestion improves heart health, etc.
Below are some of the health benefits you can get from drinking Puerh tea from time to time.
- It helps to achieve weight loss. This is possible because fermented tea contains healthy probiotics. It is a beneficial gut bacteria that have an influence on the body. These probiotics regulate blood sugar, which is important in hunger and weight management.
- It manages the cholesterol level in the body. There are two ways through which this tea helps to achieve this. First, it lessens the fat absorbed into the bloodstream. This is achieved by ensuring that a good amount of dietary-fat-bound bile acid is excreted. Second, Puerh tea helps to reduce the accumulation of fat. In return, there is a decrease in the risk of heart disease.
- It hinders cancer growth in humans. The cells of oral, colon, and breast cancer are drastically slowed down. However, you shouldn't substitute Puerh tea with cancer treatments.
- Puerh tea helps to reduce the accumulation of fat. Hence, it boosts liver health.
Types of Puerh Teas
Puerh tea is not the same as other teas. One of the distinctions that made us realize is that this tea can be refined and aged like wine. The conditions and environment are the main factors that determine the type of Puerh tea. Hence, you can get the following two types of Puerh tea with these factors in play.
Raw Puerh Tea
Raw Puerh tea refers to tea cakes, loose leaves, or bricks. It is obtained from raw components without any further process. Usually, this tea is consumed immediately to enjoy its nice flavors. Also, you can leave it to age in a natural environment for a long time. This way, its flavor becomes more mellow, smooth, and complex.
It takes about twenty to thirty years to mature. The color of this tea is golden burnt orange depending on the age.
Ripe Puerh Tea
This tea offers similar quality and taste to raw Puerh without waiting decades. Ripe Puerh is produced by speeding the aging process. It is done artificially through the cooking process. This cooking process is also referred to as “wo dui.” This involves storing the tea in a moisture-rich environment. Wherein microbial activity causes the temperature to rise because of the fermentation process.
It takes a few months to mature. The brewed leaves of this tea are often broken, black in color, and no longer soft. Read more about the best types of puerh tea.
Puerh Tea Shapes
Puerh tea is compressed into different shapes because of the processing conditions. Most times, Puerh tea is associated with tea cake or tuocha. While these are the most common shapes, there are other ones.
They are as follows:
- Tea Cake (Bing Cha)
- Iron Cake
- Tuocha
- Mini Tuocha
- Brick Tea (Zhuan Cha)
- Tea brick Puerh Shape
- Mushroom Tuocha (Mogu Tuocha)
- Pumpkin Tribute Tuocha (Jingua Gongcha)
- Bamboo Tube Tea (Zhutong Cha)
- Pillar Tea
These are the shapes that Puerh tea is often compressed into. So, you can choose whichever you want based on your fancy shape.
Puerh Tea Tips and Preparation
There are things you must prepare when making this tea. Below are the necessary materials.
- Boiling water
- Puerh tea
- Teacups
- A teapot with a strainer
Here are the steps you can adopt while making this tea. They are easy to follow and provide the best result.
- Put the tea cake or loose leaves into the teapot.
- Add enough boiling water to immerse the leaves.
- Discard the water when thoroughly soaked.
- Repeat the first three steps once more. Ensure that you throw away the water to ensure the tea remains high quality.
- Next, fill the teapot with boiling water. Then, allow the tea to steep for about two minutes, less or more, based on your taste.
- Now, you can pour the tea into the teacup.
For extra flavor or taste, you can add something extra. This includes things like sweeteners, cream, milk, fruits, etc.
Puerh Tea vs Black Tea
There are distinct differences between Black and Puerh tea. They vary in their production process, place obtained, preparation, etc.
| Black Tea | Puerh Tea |
| It is obtained from different regions in China. Like Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong, Yunnan, etc. | It is obtained from Yunnan, in China. |
| The dark color of this tea is obtained from an enzymatic reaction called oxidation. | The dark color of this tea is obtained from microbial fermentation. |
| The tea leaves are smaller than usual. | The tea leaves are larger and gotten from older trees. |
| This tea is brewed in less time than Puerh tea. | This tea can be brewed for longer minutes than Black tea. |
| The flavor notes of this tea are bold, and sweet, caramel, honey, fruity, nutty, and earthy. | The flavor notes of this tea are rich, deep, mushroomy and earthy. |