One of my colleagues visits China regularly and was given this tea as a gift. However they didn’t see themselves making the most of it so offered it to me.
I have no idea what to do with it though. It’s like a circular brick of compressed tea leaves. Do I just take off a chunk and leave it in hot water? Does the temperature matter, and do I need any particular tools?
I’ve only ever used tea bags so I’m a bit lost
Edit: also the expiry says November 2023… but it’s just tea right?
I may be native Chinese, but my tea skills start and end at “put tea leaves in hot water”.
Only thing I can contribute is that the “expiry date” you see on the packaging may just be the date of manufacture. Unless it explicitly says it’s an expiry date, most food products in mainland China have a manufacture date instead.
In the Chinese style of tea making, there is a short prewash of the leaves.
Put the tea leaves in the pot, and then add enough water to cover the leaves, swirl for 3 seconds and pour out the water. Then fill the pot with hot water to brew the tea to use.
Heads up! Many Chinese products have manufacturing date ONLY. From then, you kinda figure it out yourself when is best to consume it. Some will go as far as hint “best consumed within a month or the manufacture date” or things like that. But yeah, as others have said, with tea, if properly kept, doesn’t really expire. I’d day that date is really the manufacturing date.
Would definitely have a look at the many instruction videos online. Drinking this kind of tea is quite different from the usual tea bags (normally smaller brewing pots, lower than boiling water temp, throwing out the first brew etc).
Also, the dates you see on Chinese products is often manufacture/production date as opposed to expiry date, especially for tea. If you share a pic of the date then I can confirm. In any case tea doesn’t really go bad, just keep it cool and dry.
from the other comments this sounds like kind of a fancy and particular tea. maybe you could offer to share some with someone nearby that has the tools and skills to brew it properly. perhaps a fancy tea shop would be willing to brew it for you.
I know nothing about tea, but I love sharing food with friends. this seems perfect for that.