Origin: Yunnan, China

Plucking Season: Summer

Made at one of the few organic tea gardens in Yunnan, this tea is popular among strong, dark tea drinkers.

Also known as ‘Xiao Tuo Cha’ or “Mini Tuo Cha’ in China, translating to ‘Small bowl tea’. Tradtionally, Puer teas were primarily made into compressed shapes like Tuocha.

These days, all kinds of teas – green, white, black and Puer are made into the Tuocha shape. Tuocha are individually wrapped with cotton paper and are an ideal size (3 grams) for individual servings.

Made from the large leaf ‘Da Ye’ tea plant varietal, better known as Camellia Sinensis ‘Assamica’. The Tuocha refers to a family of bowl shaped teas, commonly available as Green tea Tuocha, Black tea Tuocha and Puer Tuocha. Made at one of the few organic tea gardens in Yunnan, this tea is popular among strong, dark tea drinkers.

This tea can endure long steeping times without gaining any astringency and can be re-infused at least three times. Ideal for pairing with oily, savory foods. Some tea drinkers find this tea ideal for brewing in a vacuum thermos overnight, to be enjoyed first thing in the morning.

Tuocha
In making the Puer Tuocha, more mature leaves of the tea plant are selected in summer, gently roasted, sun-dried, steamed, and then shaped into small bowls.

The process of shaping of the leaves has changed over the years from old-style wooden molds or hand pressing, to more mechanized and automated steps. The leaves are processed with a fair amount of moisture so as to allow a natural fermentation to occur and darken their color.

During this process, the tea develops its dark, rich, earthy character. Some tea processors will let the leaves undergo this fermentation for a month to achieve the desired flavor. This style of Puer is called the Wo-dui style, or cooked leaf style Puer.

Brewing Instructions:

Water Temperature: 200 F

Quality of Water: Spring Water or Filtered Water

Quantity of Leaf (tsp/8 oz water): 1-2

Steep Time: 1-5 minutes

Number of Infusions: 1-2