Sticky rice pu-erh is a savory blend of, you guessed it, sticky rice flavors and 50 to 100 year old fermented tea leaves. Once brewed, this tea fills your room with the sweet, sweet smells of sticky rice. Trust us, this tea’s smell instantly makes you want a big hearty dinner, the kind that requires sweatpants and a nap afterwards. The flavor is subtly sweet, with large earthy undertones – a perfect match for a poultry or beef heavy dinner.
STEEPING DIRECTIONS:
Fill Raven up about halfway for one bing of pu-erh (side note, a bing is a round, flat disc of pu-erh. Bings can get as big as 5kg). Depending on the size of your bings, you may want to add more or less. For reference, these are mini bings – about the size of a quarter in diameter.
Using Raven’s steep range thermometer, heat your water up to 212 F (100 C). Pu erh is a dark tea, so falls into the 200-210 F black tea range on the thermometer.
Once your water heats up, drop your tea into Raven’s integrated tea filter.
The bing will break apart in the tea filter, releasing all of its savory sweet goodness. For the most basic flavor and brew, steep for 3-5 minutes. If you want to go the more traditional route, try multiple washes to taste the different flavors that develop from various steep times.
We recommend a 6 steep process. Grab a timer and 6 mugs, at each wash time, pour a cup – keep in mind how much water you filled your Raven with:
wash 1: 10 seconds
wash 2: 20 seconds
wash 3: 30 seconds
wash 4: 50 seconds
wash 5:70 seconds
wash 6: 100 seconds
This multiple wash method will give you 6 very distinct tasting cups of sticky rice pu-erh, and is a great way to get to know your tea. The longer the steep, the deeper the earthy, intricate flavors. Since pu-erh has a slow, long oxidation process it won’t give off bitter taste notes you might get from steeping other teas for too long.
Finally, enjoy!
