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Pu-Erh Beeng Cha
FORMED TEA 357gr
GRADE(S): Compressed OP (Orange Pekoe)
ANTIOXIDANT LEVEL/CAFFEINE LEVEL: Low /Medium
MANUFACTURE TYPE(S): Special pu-erh process, Hand crafted.
REGION: Yunnan Province, China.
CUP CHARACTERISTICS: Elemental earthly notes with a strong cup.
Ingredients: Black tea (Pu-Erh style) 2012
£ 58.00
In stock
PRODUCT ID: 581
Description
In some remote villages of Yunnan Province, Pu-Erh Beeng cha, the 7-layered teacake, holds a special place in local legend. In fact, it is apparently from one such village story that the fabled tea gets its colloquial name, Qizi, or 7 Sons. The ancient tale tells of the wife of a government official whose job it was to oversee the town’s faltering tea industry. Over the years the couple had been blessed with 6 male offspring. They wanted to have a seventh child and hoped for a boy believing that the magic of such good fortune might help turn around the local economy.
One night in a dream, a dragon appeared to the government official and told him that if he wanted to ensure a seventh son and save the town, he should prepare a cake made with 7 layers of the local Pu-Erh. The dragon insisted that if he and his wife spoke their wish into the steam of the first pot as the tea steeped, their wish would come true by the time they had finished brewing the entire cake. The next morning, the official went to the local factory and instructed the production manager to create the 7-layered Pu-Erh cake. Once the cake was ready, he and his wife sat down to a pot of tea, following the dragon’s instructions as they did so. Over the next week, the two finished brewing the cake of tea and sure enough, 3 weeks later, the wife became pregnant. 8 months after that, so the story goes, the couple announced the birth of a seventh son! The entire village rejoiced at the news! And as for the local economy? Well, the new 7-layered cake proved to be a hit. Sales began shooting skyward and the village grew prosperous. And if you can find this village, which shall remain nameless here, you’ll see that it still is to this day!
So what makes Pu-Erh Beeng Cha so special? Well, besides its wish granting qualities, once the tea is compressed, it is aged two years. This process gives the tea a wonderfully earthy, or elemental profile with underlying musty notes. As well, the leaves of the tea, once broken off the cake, can be brewed a number of times – with each brewing, the flavor of the cup shifts and changes in incredibly subtle ways. So go ahead, brew yourself a pot, make a wish, and see how this one affects your sales totals!
Where was black Pu-erh developed? Good question. While the exact origins of most Chinese Pu-erh teas have been lost to the mists of time and place, the origin of black Pu-erh can be pinpointed directly to the Kunming Tea Factory in the year 1972. In that year, the government of China, seeking to broaden its economic base, mandated that the Kunming factory develop a new, delicious tea that could be widely marketed. Drawing on centuries of experience, the tea masters of Kunming determined that a black Pu-erh was the ticket. (They were right, to this day black Pu-erh is the world’s top selling variety.)
What makes black Pu-erh tea different from other black teas? Great question. The answer is real fermentation and aging. Black Pu-erh undergoes a fermentation process in which the tea is processed and stored for a set period of time without being dried completely. The tea is usually either buried in the ground, stored in caves or under damp heavy tarps. Fermenting over time imparts the earthy character typical of most Pu-erh teas.
Brewing loose leaf or pieces of a Pu-erh cake in a gaiwan over multiple steepings allows you to experience the flavour at different stages in the extraction process. Starting with a light flavour and cup colour, then developing into a dark and rich experience, watch how the tea evolves and until it reaches its full extraction.
- Bring fresh, filtered water to a boil about 100 C°.
- Place 1 tablespoon of loose leaf Pu-erh or Pu-erh cake directly into your gaiwan.
- Fill the gaiwan with hot water, allowing the leaves to sit for no more than 5 seconds, then discard the water. We refer to this first steeping as the rinse. This removes unwanted smaller leaf particles and facilitates further extraction in later steeps.
- Once again, fill the gaiwan with 100 C° water, pouring directly over the leaves. Wait approximately 10-20 seconds, then pour the tea through a strainer into the glass pot. Next, pour tea into the tea cups from the glass pot. This will ensure that each individual is experiencing the same flavour in each pour.
- Continue steeps as many times as you like, adding 5-10 seconds to each. As time passes, look to see the evolution of the leaf and the deepening of the liquor color. Most importantly pay attention to the changing flavour with each steep. Once the strength of the tea no longer comes through, the leaves have been fully extracted.
We strongly recommend using filtered or freshly drawn cold water brought to a rolling boil when brewing all types of tea. Today’s water has been known to carry viruses, parasites and bacteria. Boiling the water will kill these elements and reduce the potential incidence of water-borne illnesses.
