Steaming pressed puerh

[glenbo]

Any update? I want to try this myself but dont really have the means to steam some pu.

If you have a pot and a strainer you can do it. A regular pot for making soup and a strainer for spaghetti would suffice.

[Tead Off]

I'm not sure if thats on topic, but I thought about using steam to loosen some of my bricks, which are pressed so hard that I literally have to pulverize them in order to drink them. Even infused, I have to manually seperate them or the leaves will stay crumpled up.
But I always worried about a loss of quality if I get the leaves so moist and heated up, even if I manage to dry them relatively quickly. (The air is pretty dry here
Any thoughts on that?

Steaming the leaves will result in a change in the aroma profile. I suppose you could try some side by side experiments. Getting the leaf to dry completely and not introducing rot will be key. I had about half a kilo of some amazing aged Jingmai maocha that I wanted to press into a cake for ourselves. It had the most amazing aroma. After pressing it the aroma was gone. Still pretty bummed about that. Should have left it as maocha.

Is this to say in general that Mao cha is is superior to "processed" products like cakes, bricks, tuos and melons?

I think most people would say compressed cakes are the most sought after. I would think the difference lies in the steaming of the maocha before pressing the cakes which will leave just enough moisture in the leaves for the fermentation to its job over the years. The change in aroma is something that many connoisseurs are less concerned about than qi (feeling?) and taste including body and huigan. Aroma seems more important in young puerh. Cakes usually are deeper in taste than maocha, but there may be some exceptions. Maocha has never seemed full enough to me, in general.

I don't think I would ever steam a whole cake to soften it. The risk would be too great.

[Yannick]

Any update? I want to try this myself but dont really have the means to steam some pu.

I found the tin and intact xiaobing I had steamed earlier, and found out that I also did it with another Yiwu xiaobing that I liked quite a bit better in the first place.

I haven't gotten around to testing them though, but I'll keep you posted when I do.

I'm not sure if thats on topic, but I thought about using steam to loosen some of my bricks, which are pressed so hard that I literally have to pulverize them in order to drink them. Even infused, I have to manually seperate them or the leaves will stay crumpled up.
But I always worried about a loss of quality if I get the leaves so moist and heated up, even if I manage to dry them relatively quickly. (The air is pretty dry here
Any thoughts on that?

Steaming the leaves will result in a change in the aroma profile. I suppose you could try some side by side experiments. Getting the leaf to dry completely and not introducing rot will be key. I had about half a kilo of some amazing aged Jingmai maocha that I wanted to press into a cake for ourselves. It had the most amazing aroma. After pressing it the aroma was gone. Still pretty bummed about that. Should have left it as maocha.

Is this to say in general that Mao cha is is superior to "processed" products like cakes, bricks, tuos and melons?

I think most people would say compressed cakes are the most sought after. I would think the difference lies in the steaming of the maocha before pressing the cakes which will leave just enough moisture in the leaves for the fermentation to its job over the years. The change in aroma is something that many connoisseurs are less concerned about than qi (feeling?) and taste including body and huigan. Aroma seems more important in young puerh. Cakes usually are deeper in taste than maocha, but there may be some exceptions. Maocha has never seemed full enough to me, in general.

I don't think I would ever steam a whole cake to soften it. The risk would be too great.

I am inclined to agree, the aged maocha I've had has mostly been a bit hollow in comparison to similar compressed teas.
I haven't had a whole lot of older maocha though, so I can't say how much of my personal experience can be chalked up to coincidence.

[Harker]

I've been steaming bings and bricks for nearly a decade, and have numerous teas on hand in both compressed and loosened form.

I'll make some comparisons and observations regarding some of them over the next few days and post again afterwards.

I'm anything but scientific, as I do not use thermometers, scales, or stopwatches. I know these particular teas well, though, and perhaps my findings will be of some general interest.

I've been lurking hereabouts since '08, and it's this subject which has lured me from the comfortable safety of the shadows. Please accept my thanks for all that you have shared with me over the years. I hope to give back a little as time permits.

[miig]

great stuff! Looking forward to reading about your findings.

[mr mopu]

Agreed on looking forward to the observations.

[PolyhymnianMuse]

Harker can you give us an idea of any specific teas you have in both steamed and cake form?

[Harker]

Sure. I figured on comparing a 2003 Tai Lian Yiwu brick, a 2007 Mengyang Guoyan Dragon of Bulang, a 2009 Guan Zi Zai Jing Mai wild arbor (all from Yunnan Sourcing), and some shu or other.

My method is simply to boil some water in a large, clean pot with a dedicated bamboo steamer sitting atop it. When the water is boiling vigorously, I use tongs to put the bing or brick in the steamer, cover, flip it after 2 or 3 minutes, give it another couple, then manually separate it. I try to be gentle to keep breakage to minimum, but I'm not overly fussy. Working briskly, it's usually easy enough to decompress a bing in short order. I use three large dedicated dinner plates to pile the leaves on overnight. The following day I place the tea in clean mason jars with only the rim rings from canning lids holding a cut piece of the original wrapping paper in place over the jar mouth. This serves to allow the tea to breathe while also keeping dust off it and makes for a decorative identification label. Store in dark, clean place. A typical 357 or 400 gram cake yields +/- 3 quarts, and results in about a tablespoon of tea dust wasted.

I'll elaborate further upon completing the planned test, but I will tell you now that having started this evening with a head to head sip-off with the '07 Guoyan, I won't be pecking away at any virgin bings in the foreseeable future.

[Harker]

It's a good idea to revisit established practices from time to time.

In this instance, doing so has confirmed that across the board I much prefer drinking pu'er that has been gently steamed and separated to picking leaves from bing or brick. I brought as open a mind as possible to the proceedings, and still I'm a little surprised by how how distasteful I found the unsteamed tea. Clearly, my tastes have changed.

The loose leaves, having been stored in that form for several months to over a year, result in a mellower, deeper, and more rounded taste. More mature, I would say. The sharp frivolity is gone, as are what I consider the high note off flavors. Latex came nauseatingly to mind while drinking the '09 GZZ Jing Mai off the bing, and it's one of my favorites. The brewed tea is a deeper coppery orange throughout the session, the aromas subtler yet broader. I also like looking in the gaiwan and seeing leaves rather than mulch.

I steam shu and break it into small chunks (if not individual leaves) about a month before I start drinking it. Thus aired, it provides a cleaner, clearer, crisper brew than chipping off the old block.

No doubt this comes down to personal preference, and all sorts of variables are at play. If you could try it on your own, perhaps with a small quantity, or with an expendable tea, you'll know more than I could ever tell you about it.

Forgive the lack of detail, please. A short summary seemed suitable given the profundity of the results. I'll very much look forward to reading your ideas and observations.

The clumsy but fun analogy of a Star Trek transporter came to mind when I first started doing this. Breaking Kirk down to elemental particles and reassembling him at the destination beats shipping a couple hundred pounds of meat around.

[puyuan]

But is it still advantageous when the compressed tea has picked up a fair amount of age? 2009 is fairly young, irrespective of storage conditions. The usual complaint about aged maocha is that once it reaches the traditional "aged" mark (15 years, 20 years, whatever) it flattens out more than desirable, while bings typically ferment fairly well after that mark in more traditional or humid storages. So it's a loss-loss situation.

(I'm making some minor experiments myself, aging pried leaves in small boxes. We'll see.)

[Harker]

Good questions. I don't think I have steamed (or possess) any pu'er older than a Banna stored Gedeng from 2002, and with me being over 55 years of age and living in a semi-arid environment with a swamp cooler, issues about longer term effects, humid environments, and older teas are outside of my rather narrow limitations.

All I can say with certainty on the matter is that even in the short term, sufficient change takes place in the teas I have on hand to greatly improve matters to my taste.

I'll eat healthy and see if I'm around to get others' answers, though. I like that the spirit of experimentation is so strong here. I'll shut up now, and read on!

[dragoran]

Out of curiosity, Harker, have you tried steaming ultra-compressed stuff, and do you find that the times you use are adequate? There are a few things I have that I'd like to drink now but which I fear for my ability to be able to break apart without killing myself (I already sent myself to urgent care once due to an unfortunate slip with a paring knife I was using to try to pry off part of a brick). I'm primarily nervous about turning the flavor weird if I steam too long.

[Harker]

Please forgive the delay. I got sidetracked by falling very much in love.

I've never steamed anything with especially tight compression, so no knowledge there. I think the time involved would have to be greater, though.

Do please relate your findings.

[BW85]

http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... =puerhinfo

Towards the bottom of the page steaming compressed puerh is discussed

[miig]

Yes, its this description which made me think about this in the first place.

Gave it a first try today, and was very positively surprised how easily the leaves come apart after just a short steaming. They also seem quite 'awake' - I wouldn't be surprised if this would give them a short push in terms of ageing.

There seems to be a consens that the steaming does have an effect, whether positive or negative dosen't seem clear. Maybe depends on taste, maybe on the tea, too. We'll see...