Brick Tea: Pu'er in a Square Shape
Besides round cakes, pu'er also comes in a neat, square shape: the brick. Bricks stack tidily in warehouses, and on the Tea Horse Road they were once an important form for shipping goods.
What Is a Pu'er Brick?
A pu'er brick is compressed pu'er pressed into a rectangle. The national standard for pu'er classifies compressed tea by shape as round cakes, bowl shapes, squares, pillars, and so on; bricks fall under squares.
One distinction to keep clear: "brick tea" in China is a broad category. Hunan's black bricks, flower bricks, and Fu bricks, Hubei's green bricks, and Sichuan's Kang bricks and Jinjian are all called brick tea, each with different materials and processing. A pu'er brick specifically means brick-shaped pu'er made from sun-dried Yunnan large-leaf tea. For comparisons with other dark teas, see Pu'er and Other Dark Teas.
How Much Does a Brick Weigh?
| Size | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Under 100 g | Mini bricks and squares, gift boxes or tasting |
| 250 g | The most common pu'er brick size |
| 500 g | Larger bricks |
| 1 kg and up | Big bricks for collecting or display |
The 7581 ripe brick is 250 grams, and many factories use the same 250-gram size for their pu'er bricks.
Bricks vs. Cakes
| Brick | Cake | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Rectangular, with sharp corners | Round and flat |
| Compression | Most are pressed tighter | Stone-pressed looser, machine-pressed tighter |
| Stacking | Square, easy to store and ship | 7 cakes to a tong |
| Prying | Start at the corners, more effort | Start at the edge or the dimple |
| Aging | Tighter, slower | Depends on compression |
| Most common | Mostly ripe bricks | Plenty of both raw and ripe |
The advantage of a square shape is efficient use of space: a box can be packed full and neat, and the bricks are less likely to be knocked out of shape in transit. That's why tea for the frontier trade was mostly made in brick form in the early days.
What Is the 7581 Brick?
7581 is Kunming Tea Factory's classic ripe brick, 250 grams each. In the traditional reading of pu'er recipe codes:
- 75: the recipe was established around 1975.
- 8: the grade of the main material.
- 1: stands for Kunming Tea Factory.
7581 uses sturdier ripe tea material and is tightly pressed, with a deep red liquor and a full, mellow taste. Tea drinkers often describe it as having notes of jujube and aged aroma, and it stands up to many infusions and to boiling. It has been made continuously from the state-owned era to today and is one of the teas many people start with when they first try ripe pu'er. How to read recipe codes is covered in How Recipe Codes Work, and the story of 7581 and other classic ripe bricks is in The 7581 Brick and Other Classic Ripe Bricks.
How to Pry a Brick
Bricks are usually tighter than cakes. Here's how to pry one:
- Start at a corner: the four corners are where gaps are easiest to find. Insert a tea needle at an angle.
- Follow the layers: bricks are pressed in layers too, and prying along them causes less crumbling.
- The sides work too: find a gap on the side of the brick and peel down layer by layer.
- Let it rest a few days: let the pieces take in a little air so they open more easily when brewed.
When a dense ripe brick won't come apart, some people steam the whole piece briefly to soften it and then separate it, but steamed tea must be thoroughly dried before it's put away, so this is better for an amount you'll finish that day. Prying technique is covered in How to Open a Pu'er Cake.
How to Brew a Brick
- Gaiwan: pry off 7–8 grams, rinse twice with boiling water at 100°C, steep the first few infusions 10–15 seconds, and adjust once the pieces open up.
- Boiling: ripe bricks are especially good for boiling. Add 5–8 grams to 600–800 ml of water and simmer for 3–5 minutes for a bright red liquor with full sweetness. See Boiling Pu'er.
Storing Bricks
Bricks are square and can be stacked neatly, but keep a few things in mind:
- Don't stack them too high or too tight: the bottom bricks need air too.
- Keep the original wrapping: cotton paper or wrapping paper protects the brick surface and softens humidity swings.
- Keep raw and ripe apart: the aged aroma of ripe bricks can affect raw tea.
- Opened bricks: put the pried tea in a canister, and wrap the rest of the brick in its original paper.
Ripe bricks are ready to drink once made. After a few years in storage, the pile taste fades and the liquor gets smoother, which is why many people choose them for storing ripe tea.
FAQ
What is a pu'er brick? Pu'er made from sun-dried Yunnan large-leaf tea and pressed into a rectangle, classified under square compressed tea in the national standard.
How much does a brick weigh? Most commonly 250 grams, with 100-gram, 500-gram, and 1-kg-plus sizes as well.
What is 7581? Kunming Tea Factory's classic 250-gram ripe brick. The recipe is generally believed to have been established around 1975, and the final digit 1 stands for Kunming Tea Factory.
What's the difference between bricks and cakes? Bricks are square and stack easily, most are pressed tighter, and you start prying at the corners. Cakes are round and come seven to a tong.