Compression (Pressed Tea)
Compression is steaming loose tea and pressing it into cakes, bricks, nests or other shapes for storage, trade and aging; it is standard for pu'er and dark teas.
Definition
Compressed tea (紧压茶, jinya cha) has a long history in China. Before loose-leaf tea became common in the Ming dynasty, most tea was pressed into cakes, then ground for whisked or boiled drinks. Compressed bricks were also the form traded to Tibet and Mongolia along the Tea Horse Road and caravan routes, because they were compact, durable and could even serve as currency. The method is simple. A measured weight of dry tea is steamed briefly to soften it, placed in a cloth bag or mold, and pressed under a stone or a hydraulic or screw press. The shaped tea is left to cool, then dried slowly on racks for days or weeks. Stone pressing gives a looser cake; machine pressing a tighter one. Common shapes include the round bing cha cake, traditionally 357 grams, with seven cakes wrapped in bamboo as a tong; the bowl- or nest-shaped tuocha, often 100 or 250 grams; rectangular bricks (zhuan cha); square fang cha; and the mushroom-shaped jincha used for Tibet. Pu'er, Liu Bao, Anhua dark tea and Fu brick are routinely compressed, and white tea cakes are now widely made in Fuding.
In Depth
Breaking a cake: use a pu'er pick or a blunt knife inserted at the edge and lever off layers rather than snapping leaves. Aim for flakes, not powder. Let freshly broken tea rest in a jar for a few days; flavor often settles.
Compression and aging: tight compression slows air and moisture exchange, so tight cakes and bricks age more slowly than loose ones. Loose cakes age faster but can also stale or pick up odors faster.
Buying: check the wrapper for weight, year of pressing and factory or producer. A pressing year is not the same as the harvest year, which some older or re-pressed teas do not match. Neifei, the small paper ticket pressed into the leaf, helps identify factory cakes.
See Also
- Pu'er Storage
- Tea Horse Road
- Dark Tea (Hei Cha)