It's All About Tea — pu-erh

Pu-erh is a very unique tea type. For many, it’s either you like it or you don’t, and there is no in-between. It is a dark, very robust tea that has often gone through years of fermentation and births a flavor that is unusual to many.

For some, pu-erh is just not for them, no matter how many top-shelf cakes they have tried. If trying pu-erh for the first time we always recommend trying a quality sample. Otherwise, you may end up with a ruined pu-erh that will make you never want to experiment with the stuff again.

So how do we determine what would be considered a good pu-erh? (Read more)

Both Hei Cha and Pu-erh are known as fermented teas so many wonder what is the true difference between the two tea types.

The origin of Hei Cha dates back many centuries ago. Its production methods are a somewhat iconic part of Chinese tradition passed on for many years. Hei Cha production has a rich heritage and diverse craftsmanship spread across multiple China provinces. Hei Cha is a post-fermented tea category that includes teas like Shou Pu-erh, Liu Bao, and Lu An (Read more)

Many of us were lead to believe that it is reasonable to pay an extremely high price for a pu-erh aged 20+ years. Most often it is actually unreasonable.
In fact, older age does not equal better taste, and although there are some longer-aged pu-erhs out there with an exceptional taste, in general, this should not be your area of focus when looking to buy a delicious cake. (Read more)

If you are only starting to get into the vast and somewhat mysterious world of pu-erh, chances are you’ve been purchasing samples. The samples are an excellent way to get acquainted with the tea and see what you like before investing in a whole cake. An entire pu-erh cake can be pricey, but it is well worth it if you found one that you want as it will last you for many months, if not years, and in many cases only gets better with age.

After you have purchased your first cake or brick, the next step is breaking it into a size suitable for one tea session. For this, we use specially designated pu-erh tea needles. Learn about how to properly loosen and break pu-erh tea. (Read more)

So we have been getting this question a lot - which tea is the best substitute for coffee? 

We have compiled a list of the teas that we carry specifically for this purpose, to introduce people to other options. We will not be getting into the health benefits of tea in this post, but more so focusing on the caffeine level of the following teas...  (Read more)