Cake Sizes: 357 g, 200 g, 100 g, and Big Cakes
Walk into a tea shop and you'll see pu'er cakes of all sizes on the shelves: palm-sized mini cakes, the familiar 357-gram round cake, and "big cakes" the size of a washbasin. Different weights serve different purposes.
How Much Does a Cake Weigh?
There's no single legally mandated weight for pu'er cakes. Common sizes include:
| Size | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Under 100 g | Mini cakes, tasting, gift boxes, travel |
| 100 g | Small cakes, easy to share and try |
| 200 g | Small-to-medium cakes, daily drinking, gifts |
| 357 g | Classic qizi bing, 7 to a tong |
| 400 g, 500 g | Sizes used by some factories and single-mountain teas |
| 1 kg and up | Big cakes for collecting, display, commemoration |
Under the national standard for pu'er, compressed tea comes in shapes such as round cakes, bowl shapes, squares, and pillars. Weight is set by each factory, with the net weight stated on the package.
Where 357 Grams Comes From
357 grams is the most classic size. Seven cakes are wrapped into a tong, which is why they're called "qizi bing" (seven-sons cakes). The tradition of seven cakes per tong goes back to the Qing dynasty, while the 357-gram figure is tied to modern export specifications: after China changed its market jin to 500 grams in 1959, an export jian of about 30 kg held 12 tong of 7 cakes each, 84 cakes in all, which works out to about 357 grams per cake. The full story is in Qizi Bing and 357 Grams.
Other Sizes Besides 357 Grams
- 400 g and 500 g: thicker and larger, common at some factories and for single-mountain teas, making a heavier tong.
- 200 g: very common in recent years, with a lower price threshold and easier to finish.
- 100 g and smaller: tasting packs and gift boxes from factories, or smaller versions of the same tea.
- Big cakes: 1 kg, 2 kg, 3 kg, even 5 kg or more, mostly commemorative or collectible, and sometimes made by factories for display.
Small Cakes vs. Big Cakes
| Small cakes (100–200 g) | 357 g | Big cakes (1 kg and up) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price threshold | Low | Medium | High |
| How fast you finish it | Quickly, weeks to months | Months to over a year | A long time |
| Prying | Easy | Average | Hard work, often needs cutting |
| Storage | More surface area, changes faster | Classic size, lots of experience | Thick center, changes more slowly |
| Best for | Tasting, gifts, beginners | Daily drinking and collecting | Collecting, commemoration, gatherings |
The advantage of small cakes is that you can finish one in a short time while the aroma is still fresh; the drawback is higher packaging cost per gram. Big cakes have a thick center, and during drying and storage the center and the surface may change at different rates, so the storage environment needs extra attention.
How Many Sessions in One Cake?
Using a gaiwan of about 110 ml and 7–8 grams per session:
- 357 g: about 45 sessions, each giving 8–12 infusions.
- 200 g: about 25 sessions.
- 100 g: about 12–14 sessions.
If you brew in a large mug or boil the tea, you'll use less per session and get more sessions. For gaiwan leaf amounts and water temperature, see Brewing Pu'er in a Gaiwan.
Size and Compression
Even at 357 grams, stone-pressed cakes are thicker with rounded edges, while machine-pressed cakes are thinner and flatter. Cakes pressed especially tight with no dimple on the back are iron cakes. The different shapes of pu'er are covered in Cakes, Bricks, Tuocha, Dragon Pearls, and Loose Tea: The Shapes of Pu'er.
Choosing as a Beginner
If you're new to pu'er, start with 100–200 gram small cakes, or with one-ball-per-session dragon pearls or tea bags. You'll finish them, and it's easier to compare different teas. Guyuntang's Bingdao Old Village Dragon Pearls are 8 grams each, need no prying, and one pearl is one session's worth.
Net Weight on the Package
Packaged tea sold in Taiwan must state its net weight on the label. Checking the net weight on the package tells you the actual size of the cake. If two teas cost the same but one cake is 357 grams and the other 200 grams, the price per gram is very different. When comparing prices, be sure to compare by the same weight. For reading the rest of the package, see How to Read a Pu'er Wrapper.
FAQ
How much does a pu'er cake weigh? The classic size is 357 grams. Other common sizes are 100, 200, 400, and 500 grams, plus big cakes of 1 kg or more.
Why 357 grams? It comes from modern export specifications: a jian of about 30 kg held 12 tong of 7 cakes each, which works out to about 357 grams per cake.
What's the difference between small and big cakes? Small cakes have a lower price threshold and are easy to finish; big cakes suit collecting and gatherings, with a thick center that changes more slowly.
How many sessions are in a 357-gram cake? At 7–8 grams per session, about 45, with 8–12 infusions each.