Description
An alluring infusion with an almost coffee-like flavor, with rich consistency and good body that provide the base for a woody aroma and chocolaty overtones. A taste well worth acquiring. Observe the dry loose leaves and color of the tea liquor in the video below:
Why loose pu erh tea?
Pu erh tea is mostly sold in compressed shapes such as a bing (cake) or tuo (dome). This makes sense because the aging process of both shou en sheng pu erh can take a few years before you start to love the flavor. By compressing the leaves, it become easier to store. Stil there are a few reasons why loose pu erh is still in demand these days:
- Some people prefer not to buy the cakes early, but prefer to get teas when they’re ready to drink. This makes the advantage of compression less important, as you won’t need to stock up a lot.
- Others like the transparency of loose pu erhs. With compressed cakes, you might be unluckily if you purchase it from a dishonest seller compressing low grade leaves in the center and visible high grade leaves on the outside.
- At last, loose leaf pu erh actually ages faster, because all leaves are exposed to oxygen.
A restaurant owner’s choice
In practice, we also experience that mostly restaurants, hotels and other types of food businesses prefer loose pu erhs. Restaurants don’t need to stock up so much and tea in loose leaf form is easier to serve as you don’t need a tea knife to loosen compressed cakes.
