Thu 26 Jan 2006
So I had this revelation. Been hanging out with the guys lately and throwing back way too many brews. Not good for the belly, not good for the soul. I need to get into something else that is positive in my life. Tea! I love tea. Since my travels to the far east, and times of being a vegetarian I realized that I drink tea often. Mostly green and white teas. I am not really into black (red) teas as much but will never pass one when offered. The thing about white teas, and I have known this for years, is that this is a true product from nature. It is picked ripe and dried no roasting, no fermentation and no aging. Recently there has been hype on this tea making it as good as if not better than green tea. More antioxidants, more vitamins and more anti-aging characteristics. And it is very delicate and sweet. Great for after dinner.
The last time I was in China, I was served Pu-Erh tea often. I really liked the taste and aroma. I never picked any up because I thought this was a black tea*. When I began to read about this tea thanks to Dawn who drinks 2 pots of this a day. She explained to me that it reduces weight and curbs her appetite (not that she needs to! 
). After reading some more about this tea, I tried it myself. Great stuff! Very soil-ly tasting. Earth. Bark. Tobacco. But light. I read that this teas has low caffeine, as much as green, but not as light as white tea which has the least of the caffeine.
My father was in Hong Kong last week so I called him and asked him to bring me back a cake of Pu-Erh tea. He brought back 2 cakes of Aged 2001 Pu-Erh tea stuffed in a Pomelo skin. Kind of a Chinese grapefruit. So far I am not sure that I like this tea as it smells like tobacco and seems a bit old. Not aged. I broke some of this off and put in my strainer and let steep for 5 breaths. This is what I was instructed to do by the tea lady in Hong Kong. It was extremely light, almost like hot water. Was not what I expected. Here I thought that it was going to be very dark and earthy tasting. It was a nice light taste, but not “all that.” Here are some pics of the cake and label.
LZIL: file not found:
/home/.germansybianheater/dan409/danmerk.com/life/wp-content/photography/puerh_tea.jpg
*I like black teas, but they are really high in caffeine and make me feel weird in my belly. Almost like a low blood sugar feel.
January 27th, 2006 at 12:13 am
black teas rule! that stuff dawn drinks IS like hot water.
mmm…gimme Tetley anyday.
January 28th, 2006 at 10:57 am
I’ll admit it, the tea cake looks like a poo dung. Doubt it tastes like one but I shall never know. Happily of course.
Thanks papa Merk for thinking of us.
February 1st, 2006 at 5:44 pm
BS, yo. the 5 breaths thing is what did it, according to my “Generation Tea” brewing guide, Pu-erh should steep for 2-5 minutes, starting with water at a rolling boil (as opposed to green and white, for which they reccommend a shorter duration, and much lower temperature, like 150-180 deg F). Whenever I deviate from the generation tea guidelines, my tea ends up too bitter or too watery, so I have been following them strictly.
Also, according to generation tea, Pu-erh is supposed to stimulate digestion, and lower cholesteral as well as the weight loss thng.
PS Today I found out that Keith uses 2 full tablespoons of sugar in a cup of that Tetley. Eastern teas rule, bitcheyez!