breaking up cakes

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


User avatar
Jun 1st, '06, 15:55
Posts: 402
Joined: Jun 15th, '05, 21:35
Location: Norristown, PA
Contact: jogrebe

breaking up cakes

by jogrebe » Jun 1st, '06, 15:55

When breaking up puerh cakes is there any real advantage to only breaking off smaller amounts good for a few rounds as compared to breaking up the entire cake at once and putting the pieces into a tin for storage?
John Grebe

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
~C. S. Lewis

User avatar
Jun 1st, '06, 19:00
Posts: 83
Joined: Feb 24th, '06, 17:55
Location: Los Angeles

by Phyll » Jun 1st, '06, 19:00

Jogrebe, it depends. Breaking up a raw cake into pieces basically will speed up the oxidation process, but putting the pieces in a sealed tin can will do exactly the opposite. It all depends on your intention, so I can't see that it's a disadvantage to do one or the other as long as that's what you intended.

Cooked cake, OTOH, does not change much with aging and further oxidation, so you could do whatever that is more convenient for you, I guess.

User avatar
Jun 1st, '06, 20:08
Posts: 402
Joined: Jun 15th, '05, 21:35
Location: Norristown, PA
Contact: jogrebe

by jogrebe » Jun 1st, '06, 20:08

Right pretty much all of my cakes except for one are cooked so I figured that it didn't really matter. Although after reading a few tea blogs I discovered that most puerh drinkers (or at least the ones that blog about it) keep their cakes intact and only pry off a little at a time as they use it, which got me wondering if I was missing something.
John Grebe

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
~C. S. Lewis

User avatar
Aug 14th, '06, 10:28
Posts: 40
Joined: May 11th, '06, 23:38
Location: College Station, TX
Contact: studio271

by studio271 » Aug 14th, '06, 10:28

(for the post's preservation's sake)

Now that I have quite a few raw cakes, I can offer input as to why most people will keep their cakes intact. It's all about asthetics.

Unlike a jar full of loose tea, a raw puerh cake is like a pet of mine; the opposite of a pet plant, in that it never grows and will eventually disappear if I give it too much attention. :P

Another reason is that I find the delicate maneuver of prying a piece from one of my cakes (or even individual stem-leaf systems from "wild-tree" cakes) can greatly add to the overall therapeutic value of drinking puerh; I guess it's a form of foreplay for tea drinking? :D

-W3rd

P.S. Something that I think goes unspoken, and I could be wrong, but my results have shown me to be correct; the reason to be careful about prying apart a cake is that a whole leaf will provide better flavor and have less of a chance of becoming bitter after a few brews, as compared to having several of the leaves broken into pieces.

User avatar
Aug 22nd, '06, 22:53
Posts: 36
Joined: Mar 23rd, '06, 11:04
Location: Indiana, PA
Contact: lebowitz

tear off pieces

by lebowitz » Aug 22nd, '06, 22:53

I find that tearing off pieces makes it easier to store, but after about 1/2 way i just smash up the rest and store it in a container, have not tried it with my raw cakes yet.

Jan 29th, '07, 20:56
Posts: 94
Joined: Nov 18th, '06, 09:13
Location: "Land of the Morning Calm" South Korea

by deadfingers » Jan 29th, '07, 20:56

I was wondering about this also, I believe I have one cooked and one raw brick but it makes a mess when I break it up so I use a small bowl to break it up into. I'd rather leave it in the wrapper it came in though so.

User avatar
Jan 29th, '07, 23:06
Posts: 5151
Joined: Dec 20th, '06, 23:33
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Been thanked: 1 time

Cloud breaking tea cake

by Salsero » Jan 29th, '07, 23:06

This may not be exactly an answer, but Cloud posted a nice video on YouTube demonstrating how to break a teacake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th86Ge4fFJs

User avatar
Jan 29th, '07, 23:19
Posts: 1559
Joined: Jan 28th, '07, 02:24
Location: Fort Worth, TX

by Space Samurai » Jan 29th, '07, 23:19

Salsero: That was awesome. I had to break up a pu erh cake at work, and I'd never handled one before; I see now how badly I screwed up. Eh, live and learn.

User avatar
Jan 29th, '07, 23:21
Posts: 1936
Joined: May 22nd, '06, 11:28
Location: Trapped inside a bamboo tong!
Contact: hop_goblin

Breaking Pu-erh

by hop_goblin » Jan 29th, '07, 23:21

I generally tend to only break off what I am going to use. Just adds to the enjoyment of things for me. Makes me closer to my tea.

User avatar
Feb 10th, '07, 11:20
Posts: 53
Joined: Jan 16th, '06, 02:47
Contact: javyn

by javyn » Feb 10th, '07, 11:20

I just got my first Pu-Erh cake, and don't see how anyone can just break off piece by piece....this thing was like a brick! A rubber mallet wouldn't even break it, I had to smash it repeatedly with a metal hammer on concrete covered by layers of paper towel.
John

User avatar
Feb 10th, '07, 14:13
Posts: 36
Joined: Mar 23rd, '06, 11:04
Location: Indiana, PA
Contact: lebowitz

Tough Tea

by lebowitz » Feb 10th, '07, 14:13

I had a really tight Tuo Cha I used big pliers and bore down on it with my entire weight (230lbs).

User avatar
Feb 10th, '07, 22:45
Posts: 53
Joined: Jan 16th, '06, 02:47
Contact: javyn

by javyn » Feb 10th, '07, 22:45

Yeah mine is Tuo Cha, tough as nails. It's broken up in a tin now.
John

Feb 24th, '07, 06:57
Posts: 94
Joined: Nov 18th, '06, 09:13
Location: "Land of the Morning Calm" South Korea

by deadfingers » Feb 24th, '07, 06:57

So I figured I could ask this here. Ok so I broke up my raw puerh brick into a smaller box. I cut it up into pieces, but not into loose form (as in you can scoop it up). I use a few pieces into a cup and drink. So I'm wondering, would it make much difference if I make it smaller and into loose leaf form? I have a few more bricks headed my way and as much as I'd like to keep them in their native form I'd rather store them for easier use when I make them. Oh and I was also wondering, would it make a difference in taste if I drank tea made from pieces (small chunks) rather than loose leaf (fully cut up and pure leaves)? I am drinking puerh made from chunks but I'm wondering if I am missing out on flavor because some of the leaves don't fully unfurl due to being pressed together.

User avatar
Feb 24th, '07, 10:09
Posts: 36
Joined: Mar 23rd, '06, 11:04
Location: Indiana, PA
Contact: lebowitz

small pieces

by lebowitz » Feb 24th, '07, 10:09

I find they come apart after 1st steeping. Breaking up into small pieces sometimes makes it more bitter.

+ Post Reply