A ripe or fermented cake made from leaf from the Menghai area in Yunnan. Specially crafted puerh cake was produced in commemoration to the ancient "tea horse" road used for centuries to transport tea of this sort. It has had over three years to mellow and is ready for drinking. It has a deep, rich, full flavor and is a nice alternative to coffee.
Aged Chinese Puerh Black Tea.
To brew 8 ounces of your Puerh cake, break off one teaspoon's worth of dry leaf into an infuser and place it in your mug. One cup of water between 200° and boiling is poured over this nugget. Now be patient for 3 to 10 minutes (10 minutes if you want it very dark), then remove the infuser and drink. If the shortest steep time is used, this tea can be infused 3 or more times!
As above, you will need to break off as many teaspoons of dry leaf into your infuser as cups you wish to drink. Next, place the infuser in your pot and fill the pot with the appropriate amount of 195°-to-boiling water and let it sit for 3 to 10 minutes, depending on how dark & strong you want your brew. If cooler water is used or the steeping time is kept to 3 minutes, the same leaves can be infused 3 times. Remove the infuser before drinking and be sure to watch how strong the brew is going!
Pu-erh generally has a caffeine content comparable, or even higher than black tea.
