Questions on small compressed tea "blocks" or "pills" (puerh or otherwise)

The process of compressing the tealeaves, involving heat, moisture, pressure, and thus breaking of the cellular structure and losing of leaf juices, significantly alters the taste of the final product. It is therefore a lot more common for selections which original tastes are sharper, or more astringent, or more grassy, to receive such treatment. Pu’er is naturally a right candidate. Oolongs that are subjected to such treatment are not as better quality products.

The Toucha Square you mentioned is a single person serving size. I sell what I believe in 😉

Remember, use really boiling hot water, blanch it, and each square for 250 ml water (about the size of a good size mug) and stop the steeping after 3 to 4 minutes. It is still a relatively new tea as a pu’er. Have a good time

I like the idea of these toucha squares. Makes better sense than the old style toucha. I am also interested to know if the whole form would break down during blanching, or would it hold up like traditional toucha.

The Tuocha Squares are not as tightly compressed as the traditional “tuo” form, because the shape itself would require a different technology to compress real tightly. However, it is tight enough for withstanding a quick first wash (blanching). The slightly looser compression also means that they require less time in the first infusion.

As with all shu cha types of pu’er, the time for infusing Tuocha Squares should be kept to shorter. It gets quite dark otherwise. One thing good about shu cha pu’er is that when the infusion gets too strong, you just add very hot water and the texture is not affected.

If you keep the infusion strength normal every round of infusion, you should get quite many rounds with it. For this product, however, 10 maybe stretching too much. You get a sweet tasting thin tea though.

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.

Ghettofu style XD

Glad you like the tea, and our packaging. For this Tuocha Square, blanching it once is good enough.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Tea Guardian.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by Tea Guardian.

@Pancakes, Well said. I learned that you got the Browned Tieguanyin. Are you able to tame it yet?

The fibers of most shu puerhs are much broken so the infusion rate is much higher. Therefore, the number of repeated infusion is less. More compact puerh cakes takes longer because of compactness. In the case of sheng puerhs, the case is not the same. The fibers are less broken so slower infusion.

It seems to some people that sheng puerhs and tea cakes or tuocha can infuse more times because each time they are getting not so much what is inside the tealeaves.

@Leo: Yes I did get the browned Tieguanyin, and it’s an excellent tea. It took a few tries to get the infusion right, but I think it’s going well now. The key for me so far is to use really hot water, close to boiling, infuse it for a short time, and then let it cool a bit in a porcelain bowl. The extra hot water brings out the darkness and flavor, and the bit of cooling tames the tea and evens it out so the full taste can be appreciated. I always think that this last step is very important.

The Tieguanyin has a rich, warm, woody taste to it that is very nice. I always like to have a “hot” tea around in case I am feeling a little cold or under the weather. When I have been feeling that way, I know that I am making the tea correctly if I start to feel warm and dry, and start to sweat a little. For me, that’s a good sign.

As a side note, I also really like the tube packaging. It’s perfect for keeping on my desk when I’m making tea. Right now next to my computer, there is the browned Tieguanyin and Master Zou’s Shu Cha 2009. 🙂

Pancakes, Glad you’ve found your way with the browned Tieguanyin. This variety used to be one of my sisters’ staple tea. She has to keep to warmer or neutral TCM quality for her weaker stomach.

There are also a number of black teas that are compressed into mini tuo / cubes.

The quality of Puerh tuos vary a lot. Have had some very good 5g ones in the past as well as some terrible ones. Does seem harder to get good quality mini tuos compared to the passed, also seems a trend for adding flavours and or other additions including grains and fruit. Not my cup of tea!

Generally the quality of tuocha available in the market has been decreasing and traditional names are not as reliable as before. However, there are sources that are developing in the opposite direction. I have tried that from Leo’s Tea Hong online shop and its taste is one the best I have had.

Thank you for being such a great supporter!

I think the best way to have puer is still the loose leaf. Cheaper and more convenient and for the same money better taste quality.