Does the Shape of Pu-Erh affect taste?

[debunix]

Thank you for a most informative post.

[TwoPynts]

Yes, thank you Daniel.

[legend]

I hope I can just relay what I have learned, its my pleasure...

[zhi zheng]

In addition to the above points, it's worth noting that different shapes of compressed Puer are made using different methods. As far as I know brick tea is never stone pressed nowadays. Tuo are also pressed using a machine - even if it's hand operated, so these shapes are typically more tightly pressed than cakes and will age more slowly.

Cakes can also be made by stone or with a press - or sometimes a combination of the two. The size of stone used is generally fairly similar but I have seen some larger (taller) stones that are maybe three times the normal height. Nonetheless, stone pressed tea will likely be of similar density while machine pressed will be more dense - an extreme example being the 'iron cakes' that were a fashion a few years ago.

Add to this that the person who is putting the bag of steamed tea under the stone will normally stand on the stone afterwards and roll on it a couple of times (think hula hoop) to give some extra compression, so their weight will also make a difference.

What is important is the uniformity of the compression. A cake that is very tight in the middle and loose at the edges will age at varying rates and so may be less predictable in flavour than one pressed more evenly.

[gingkoseto]

In addition to the above points, it's worth noting that different shapes of compressed Puer are made using different methods. As far as I know brick tea is never stone pressed nowadays. Tuo are also pressed using a machine - even if it's hand operated, so these shapes are typically more tightly pressed than cakes and will age more slowly.

Cakes can also be made by stone or with a press - or sometimes a combination of the two. The size of stone used is generally fairly similar but I have seen some larger (taller) stones that are maybe three times the normal height. Nonetheless, stone pressed tea will likely be of similar density while machine pressed will be more dense - an extreme example being the 'iron cakes' that were a fashion a few years ago.

Add to this that the person who is putting the bag of steamed tea under the stone will normally stand on the stone afterwards and roll on it a couple of times (think hula hoop) to give some extra compression, so their weight will also make a difference.

What is important is the uniformity of the compression. A cake that is very tight in the middle and loose at the edges will age at varying rates and so may be less predictable in flavour than one pressed more evenly.

The evenness of compression, that's a very good point! I didn't think much about it. But now when I recall a few cakes that I finished fast in a short time, the center of the cake tasted significantly different from the rim of the cake.

Also I wonder if the modern stone pressing is somewhat different from the traditional stone pressing, since it was not practiced for a long time until 1990s.