Bamboo Stick Pu-erh

"Melinda" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Thanka dor the detailed response, Melinda, I'm learning more all the time :). Taking a tangent, do you mean the "camel's breath" mini toucha sold by Holy Mountain? To me it's smoother than the cooked Upton's MTC, for example...

Ozzy

Bamboo does not grow like a tee getting thicker as time goes by. Every species of bamboo emerges from the ground the diameter it will remain. The culm extends somewhat like a radio antennae and in about a month or so it reaches it's full height and leafs out. What changes over time is the amount of silica and the hardness of the bamboo. Somewhere along the 4-5yr period bamboo for construction is harvested when it is at the peak of it's hardness but least degraded by age and disease. Usually this is done in the cool season so that most of the sugars are in the underground parts.

When it is cut to use for pack> "Mike Petro" wrote

innews: snipped-for-privacy@h3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

1. Bamboo Stick puer is a type of 'tribal' tea made by the Dai & Lahu tribes in the southeast and south of Yunnan, originally in the regions of Menghai, Wenshan, Baoshan, etc.
2. They have been making this tea for around 200 years, using the young leaves from the large leaf varietals - the Dais nickname it "Maiden Tea", the Lahus call it 'Wajihnal' (translated).
3. Traditional bamboo Stick puer was made by compressing processed Yunnan green tea into bamboos; processed uncooked puer leaves were used later; and cooked pu'er leaves used much later - originally the tea was called "Zhu Tong (Xiang) Cha", the name "Zhu Tong Pu Er Cha" was used more recently.
4. The leaves used in the Bamboo Stick puer are usually single bud with 2~3 young leaves.
5. Menghai Tea Factory began its own production of these bamboo stick puer in the early 80s.
6. Some would steam the fresh tea leaves and stuff them into the bamboo, before baking the bamboo dry over a low fire.
7. Some would sundried the tea leaves first, and then stuff them into the bamboo stick, before baking it dry.
8. Dome would stuff the bamboo with cooked tea leaves before baking it dry.

That's about all I know...

Danny

I made a mistake on the mini tuo...it was a 2003 Menghai organic mini tuo from Yunnan Sourcing. When I think about it, maybe smooth wasn't exactly what I meant, the bamboo seemed more floral or more flavorful. However I was using more tea in the bamboo steeps than I was for the Menghai so that would make a difference too. I looked at the Silk Roads site last night, it appears they're still carrying the bamboo puer though I am not sure if it's the same year or batch that I bought.

I wish I could be more exact for you about the difference in the taste/smell of the two...I jsut didn't happen to be paying attention when I was drinking the bamboo. If I can find another chunk someplace I'll give it a comparison and let you know in more detail what I think. I don't care for smoky in tea in general except once in a while, so I know it wasn't smoky to me.

Melinda

Just as an aside, the small bamboo from Yunnan Toucha is being sold in ITC, Berkeley for $30.00pc. (cooked and raw). Shen