Splitting a pu'erh mushroom between 3 people

[Frisbeehead]

Hey guys,

I recently did a group order with 2 others for a 300g pu'erh mushroom, and I am in the process of trying to get it split up and shipped to them.

The mushroom is pretty tightly compacted, and I am struggling to find a method which preserves the leaves well. The most success I have had has been with a pu'erh knife, where I just break off chunks of the cake until I reach 100g. However, with this method there does tend to be a lot of dust and small particles left over. I'd like to preserve the leaves as best I can since it'll be for someone else.

I've tried using a knife/bread knife, but ultimately I don't think they work too well. The standard kitchen knife barely cuts into the mushroom, and the bread knife makes too much dust out of the leaves (serrated blade).

I have also tried puncturing the mushroom around the cap, trying to loosen it up and split off parts of the cap in one piece. However the mushroom proved to be too tightly compacted for this to work.

Does anyone have any suggestions on methods of breaking this up, or any experience breaking up a pu'erh in the shape of a mushroom? Using the pu'erh pick and force, I have already broken off around 30g of pu'erh and set it aside. The 30g is mostly small chunks of the cake with the leaves mostly preserved, and loose or broken leaves. I'm stopping for now to see if there is a better way, which preserves the tea better for the other two people in my group buy.

Here is an album with pictures of the pu'erh:

http://imgur.com/a/VkeCa

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any advice you have.

[William]

Steam it for a couple of seconds over boiling water, as soon as the compression weakens, you should be able to separate the leaves by hand.

[Frisbeehead]

Steam it for a couple of seconds over boiling water, as soon as the compression weakens, you should be able to separate the leaves by hand.

I've heard of this method, is there any chance of the steam ruining the leaves or changing the taste or anything?

[BW85]

I would also suggest steaming. The tea should be fine, it was steamed just prior to compression anyway

http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... =puerhinfo
Scroll down towards the bottom

[mr mopu]

Dry very carefully after steaming. Make sure it is completely dry.

[Frisbeehead]

After reading a bit about steaming on here and a few other places, it seems like there have been a lot of negative experiences using that method. Some have said that it alters the flavor. The others that I'm splitting the jincha with have said they'd prefer a different method if possible.

Would there be any issues if I just use a pu'erh pick to pick the cake apart like I normally would for myself? With this jincha as compacted as it is, the results are mostly smaller chunks and loose leaves, along with the inevitable broken leaves, bits, dust, etc. Are there any real advantages to having larger chunks and keeping it mostly intact over small chunks and a lot of loose leaves?

I'll keep the steaming method in mind, and I'll definitely give it a shot sometime. However I would rather try it for my first time on a cheaper cake in case something went wrong or it altered the flavor or something.

[jayinhk]

Use a pu erh needle. Work it in where there are gaps and wiggle it. Dust brews faster, clogs spouts and ends up in cups.

[Frisbeehead]

Use a pu erh needle. Work it in where there are gaps and wiggle it. Dust brews faster, clogs spouts and ends up in cups.

I know that's why I am trying to avoid the dust as much as possible. I'll continue trying with the pu'erh pick, avoiding creating dust as much as possible. It's very tightly packed, so it's difficult, but if I pick it slowly and carefully I should be able to minimize the dust. I should have bought a new pick with my last YS order.

[jayinhk]

Needle is best...cleanest way to split a cake up. You could also age the mushroom for 20 years. That tends to help!

[Frisbeehead]

Needle is best...cleanest way to split a cake up. You could also age the mushroom for 20 years. That tends to help!

I have been trying, but it's so tightly compacted that using the needle just picks of tiny bits and pieces. Maybe I started picking it apart in the wrong area? I started on the edge of the "mushroom cap" so to speak, maybe I should have began picking it somewhere else.

This is good tea and I have people relying on me to get them their portion of it, and I don't want to send them a bag of mostly small pieces. It's really frustrating.

Edit: I'll take a video or picture to show what I mean. I have had no problems in the past picking apart cakes, but this is different.

[jayinhk]

I've only ever picked apart cakes and bricks myself. Tried Googling a guide?

[Frisbeehead]

Here is an album of pictures of the jincha:

http://imgur.com/a/xMFzk

That's what it looks like now, after working on getting some of it broken up.

I searched around a lot before posting on here, but most guides are for bings. Those aren't so bad, since you can use the technique where you puncture it around the edges then pry it apart horizontally. However with the jincha, I couldn't really think of anything similar.

Could you look at the pictures and tell me if the tea I have broken off looks alright?

I appreciate your help, jayinhk.

[jayinhk]

You actually did much better than I thought you would have! You're doing just fine.

[BW85]

I would hope that the people you are splitting the tea with understand how tightly compressed these shrooms are and know you can't really get it apart without breaking a whole lot of leaves. A lot of leaves may have even been broken during the compression.

I wouldn't stress over it, like janinhk said, you're doing fine

[Frisbeehead]

Thanks for the responses jayinhk and BW85.

The deed is done, the portions are finally split up. Bigger chunks started to be easier to pry off once I got into the jincha, so I think they will be happy with the results. There were still bits and dust, however there are plenty of decent chunks to make up for it. Plus loose leaves as well.

When I finished weighing the portions, I noticed that the total came to around 286g instead of the whole 300g. I knew the weight would be a little lower after the breaking up process, but 14g is more than the amount of bits and dust that came off. Do aged sheng cakes lost weight over time due to water loss? I was thinking that was the reason the weight was a bit lower, otherwise it was just weighed that way when it was originally pressed. I'm not too worried about it, but I am curious.