Pu-erh ripe tea cakes vary in compression—some are pressed loosely (for a better appearance), while others are pressed tightly (locally referred to as 'iron-pressed'), making the tea strands less visible.

First, let's clarify what pressing a cake means: it involves compressing loose tea leaves into a cake shape. To maintain this form without falling apart, the tea strands must be of a certain length; otherwise, the cake won't hold.

Raw Pu-erh tea is easily pressed into visually appealing cakes because its tea strands remain very intact.

Ripe Pu-erh tea, however, is different. After fermentation, the tea strands become smaller and more fragile, making them harder to preserve. This is especially true for 'Imperial grade' ripe Pu-erh, which has a higher proportion of buds, resulting in shorter and finer tea leaves. Pressing such tea into cakes requires greater force and time, naturally producing tighter cakes.

Does pressing too tightly affect the flavor? While moderate tightness is ideal, the impact on taste is minimal. Some teas inherently have shorter leaves, so their cakes will inevitably be tightly pressed.