If you haven’t come across the traditional Chinese tea culture yet, you will be especially interested in this article on how to drink pu-erh in the traditional Chinese way. We will also give our thoughts on how to drink tea along with any food.
How to brew pu-erh
In order to understand for yourself how to drink tea correctly, in order to get the maximum pleasure from this process, you should decide why you drink it. It would seem that the answer to this question is obvious – in order to get the maximum pleasure and pleasant sensations from this process, as well as benefits. However, you can read a huge amount of information on the Internet about the benefits of each product, especially when it comes to such a diverse product as tea. After all, pu-erh from China has recently hit the domestic market, so it remains a mystery to most Ukrainians.
A customer who wants to understand how to drink Chinese tea properly should follow the classic brewing techniques for this drink, which are different for shu and shen pu-erh. Observe the correct water temperature, which can reach 98 degrees for shu and 80-85 degrees for sheng. It is not necessary to overexpose the tea, it is especially dangerous in the case of shengs, as shen pu-erh quickly start to taste bitter after prolonged contact with hot water. The pancake is stratified carefully, using a knife for splitting pu-erh, which should be moved along the pressed tea leaves.
As for the products that are used with tea, each nation has developed its own ideas about them. From the point of view of the Chinese and Japanese who have preserved their unique national traditions of tea drinking, the use of this drink along with food products is actually unacceptable. The Japanese are especially conservative in this regard. Before drinking pu-erh, it is advisable to eat some food, as most varieties greatly improve digestion. These are the benefits of this tea, which are used in their practice by Chinese nutritionists.
What do they drink tea with outside of China
However, many peoples who have long been acquainted with tea and its effect on the human body are happy to drink this drink with additives. So, in Western Europe and in the Slavic countries everywhere they drink tea with sugar and sweets. In Arab countries they drink hot black, sometimes, in the case of North Africa, and green, with peppermint. Sugar is also often added to the drink. Sometimes North Africans drink tea with sugar, while adding ice, lemon or lime, as well as orange or grapefruit juice. However, the effect of pu-erh tea remains unknown to most of the cultures inhabiting our planet to this day.
Tea with lemon is also known in Turkey and Iran. Instead of sugar, this drink is eaten with figs and raisins. Cardamom, ginger, star anise, cinnamon and other well-known spices can be added to a ready-made infusion. But most of the spices are probably put by the Indians. They add lemon and other citrus fruits, as well as sugar, as well as cinnamon, cardamom, anise, and many other different flavors and aromas.
