Pu-erh Shapes Explained: Cakes, Bricks, Tuocha and More

Most pu-erh is pressed into a shape: a round cake (bing cha), a brick (zhuan cha), a small bowl (tuocha), a melon (jin gua) or bite-sized pieces. The shape doesn't change what the tea is. The same leaf can be pressed into any of them. Shape mostly affects how easy the tea is to store, carry and break apart, and, to a modest degree, how quickly it changes with age.

Why pu-erh is pressed

Pressed tea takes up less space and travels well. For centuries, tea from Yunnan was carried by horse and mule along the Tea Horse Road, and compact cakes and bricks survived the journey far better than loose leaf. Pressing is still standard today because it makes the tea easy to store and keeps it together while it ages.

After processing, the dry leaf (maocha) is weighed, softened with steam, put into a cloth bag and pressed by a stone or machine press. The tea is then dried slowly before wrapping.

The main shapes

Cake (bing cha)

The round cake is the format you will see most. The standard weight is 357 g. Seven cakes are stacked and wrapped in bamboo leaf to make one tong (about 2.5 kg). Each cake has its own paper wrapper, and the underside usually has a small dimple from the cloth bag. Cakes are easy to store, easy to stack and reasonably easy to break with a pick. Most of our raw pu-erh, including Chen Sheng #1, comes as cakes.

Brick (zhuan cha)

Bricks are rectangular and often pressed harder than cakes. They pack neatly in a box, and the edges make a good place to start breaking. Because they are dense, take your time and work off thin layers rather than chunks.

Tuocha

Tuocha is shaped like a small bowl or nest: domed on top with a hollow underneath. The center is the densest part. Larger tuocha (100 g or 250 g) need a pick. Mini tuocha are pressed for a single pot and go straight into the gaiwan.

Jin gua (golden melon)

Jin gua (golden melon) is pressed into a round shape with ridges, a little like a pumpkin. The format is associated with the pu-erh sent as tribute tea to the Qing court. Today it is made in many sizes, often as a display piece or gift. It is hard to break because it is thick all the way through.

Mini cakes, dragon pearls and loose maocha

• Mini cakes (about 100–200 g) are the same as a full cake, just smaller.
• Dragon pearls are small hand-rolled balls, each about one session's worth of tea.
• Loose maocha is unpressed leaf. It is easy to measure but takes more space and loses aroma faster than a pressed cake.

Nei fei and nei piao

Many cakes carry two small pieces of paper from the maker:

• Nei fei (pressed-in ticket) is a small paper ticket pressed into the surface of the cake during pressing. It shows the producer and can't be removed without damaging the cake.
• Nei piao (inner ticket) is a loose slip placed under the wrapper, usually with information about the tea and the producer.

Keep both with the cake. They are part of how you tell what you have. Our guide to identifying the production year explains how to read the wrapper and tickets.

How to break each shape

Use a pu-erh pick or a dull, blunt-tipped knife, not a sharp kitchen knife. Always push the blade away from the hand holding the tea.

• Cake: start at the edge or at the dimple on the underside. Slide the pick in between the layers and lever gently so the leaves come away in flakes.
• Brick: start at a corner or edge and lift off thin layers.
• Tuocha: work from the hollow underside or the rim. Go slowly near the dense center.
• Jin gua: work from the surface inward in small pieces. Don't try to split it in half.
• Mini tuocha and dragon pearls: no breaking. Use one piece per session and give it an extra rinse or a slightly longer first steep to open up.

Step-by-step photos are in how to break and rinse a pu-erh cake. Whatever the shape, brew with water just off the boil and follow our gongfu brewing guide.

Does shape affect aging?

A little. Tighter pressing and bigger, thicker pieces change more slowly, because less of the leaf is exposed to air. A tightly pressed brick or jin gua will usually change more slowly than a cake of the same tea, and a cake more slowly than loose leaf. The tea itself and the storage conditions matter far more than the shape.

Whatever the shape, store it the same way: in its wrapper, in a box, somewhere dark and odor-free at about 20–25°C (68–77°F) and 60–70% humidity. Don't put pu-erh in the fridge. It is too cold and full of food smells, and it stops the tea from changing. See how to store pu-erh tea for the full guide.

Want to try a few teas before buying a full cake? Browse our tea samples.

This article is general information about tea, not medical advice. If you're pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing a health condition, please talk to your doctor before changing what you drink.