Notes on my first puer cake

Puer has a reputation for being complicated. Vintages, storage, wet and dry, raw and ripe. For a long time that kept me away from it.

This winter I bought one modest 357 g cake of shou (ripe) puer and decided to simply drink it.

Breaking the cake

A blunt knife slid in from the edge works better than prying at it. Aim for chunks, not powder — the broken bits brew bitter. I break off about a week's worth at a time and keep it in a small clay jar.

Brewing

Rinse twice with boiling water, then short infusions. Shou is very forgiving and very dark: earthy, a bit like wet wood and cocoa. It's the tea I drink after dinner when I don't want anything sharp.

I'm still no expert. But I've stopped being afraid of it, and that was the point.

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