Just to chime in a little bit, it has been my experience that pu’er holds up a little better than most teas to multiple infusions. But I haven’t had any teas that are still really great after around 5 infusions… I would say that a good pu’er can be used at least 3 times, and maybe as many as 6. It depends a lot on the strength of the tea, the amount of tea being used, how long the steeping time is.
Sometimes I read some advertisements for tea saying that some particular famous type of tea can be used a dozen times without losing its flavor. I don’t really believe that stuff. In the end, it’s still just tea. If someone does manage to get so many infusions out of a particular type of tea, they are probably using 3-4 times as many leaves as I use.
For example, if the pu’er tea is being brewed skillfully in a gongfu style with more leaves and a short infusion time, then naturally it will hold up for more infusions. If you are using fewer leaves, though, then you will have to let the tea steep for longer in order to get the same strength of the tea. This is why the gongfu method is not so magical — it requires more tea leaves and a shorter steeping time to get that extra tea. There is always a trade-off, and each type of tea has its own personality.
