Need some advice on puer

Hi Melinda,

Is this Asian Market tea a green or black puerh? It almost sounds like it may be a green which is a totally different beast. Next time you go to the market ask for "shu" puer (black/ripe/cooked) which is what your Upton sample most certainly was. If you print my Rosetta page and take it with you can point to the Chinese character that represents "shu" or the characters for "Xiao-Tuocha" which is the mini tuocha but make sure you ask for "shu" as Xiao-Tuocha is available in both green and black.

Look at the other thread going on right now about Silk Road Teas and give David Hoffman a call. 415-488-9017 I highly recommend the Bamboo puer. You may also want to try a ripe golden melon.

A few other good shu/ripe/black teas are:

Yes, oyster knives, letter openers, and special puer knives all work well. I also keep a clean set of channel-lock pliers in my tea drawer for the really hard cakes.

Hope this helped,

Mike Petro snipped-for-privacy@pu-erh.net

Hi Melinda,

I'm not sure how others feel about using an oyster knife on pu'er, but I personally refrain from using steel or metal object to break open my pu'er. I use a yak's horn to crack open the pu'er into larger pieces, and a japanese chopstick (wooden, unlacquered) to wriggle loose the leaves.

I don't own a yak horn, but somehow I coubt that any horn could crack open some of the tightly compressed Puerhs I've had. Lately I've been thinking about dedicating a saw to this purpose. Seriously.

/Lew

I hear yak horn reacts badly with all sorts of tea. Experts recommend chunks of fossilized mammoth tusk.

So you didn't like the Upton tuo cha either? They only sell black puer.. if you didn't like that then you probably don't like it, because Upton puer is pretty standard stuff.

Hi Mike,

Well, see, I'm not exactly sure and yeah I've looked at your page...I'm still pretty confused about the green/cooked thing, as far as how to tell just by looking at it. It IS a darker brown color if that helps, and the texture is somewhat course (i.e. it's not like a pressed powder).When I wrote to the import export corp that was on the box they sent me two pictures, and from them I am guessing that it's a cooked puer. The smell of barn is kind of overwhelming though..is this normal? (And I do mean barn, not new mown hay or anything like that...)

Take a look at this beauty. Tea knife for puerhs!

Sasha.

Funny, I thought everyone had one of those. Along with the eye of newt to inspect the leaves.

Steve

Apparently, however, I need to buy an identity. Sorry about that guys.

Would a Japanese box lathe for dried bonito work? The blades on some can be adjusted, so you're not limited to producing only paper thin shavings. A drawer under the blade collects the shavings and slides out for easy retrieval. A lovely artifact for all object fetishists.

I'm compelled to ask, though: If drinking Puerh demands brute strength and hand tools, is it really something to be exalted? Seriously.

--crymad

Hi,

I hesitate to jump in with any recommendations, given the Puer expertise and experience here, but ... "fools rush in" and all that.

First, I personally wouldn't buy Puer selling for less than $10 a 1/4 pound / 100 gms. For a little more money, you'll have a much better chance of getting a decent tea.

Silk Road has a "Large Leaf from Old Trees" (P-PE-2) loose-leaf black Puer for $10 a 1/4 lb. that's surprisingly good, quite mild, though hard to measure accurately with a spoon because of the large irregular leaves (as you've probably seen on the group here, SR has no web site, so I can't provide any URLs).

They also have an "Imperial Pu-erh" (P-IP-1) loose-leaf black for $20 a 1/4 lb. To my taste, it's better than the one above, as it damn well should be.

Generation Tea has "Royal Laofu Pu-erh" black loose-leaf

Though I've only had samples packages of each, both Imperial Tea Court's "Superior Puerh" black loose-leaf

Shan Shui's "Big Leaf Puer" loose-leaf black is mild and good (needs a pretty long steep: 7-8 min.); the web site is all frames (though easy to navigate), so I can't give a useful URL.

For small (100 gms), affordable black tuochas, Imperial Tea's "Aged Puerh Tuocha"

I have so little experience so far with green Puers that I wouldn't want to recommend anything. I believe you've already gotten an expert opinion or two for that anyway.

If you're interested enough, I would urge you to give Puers an adequate chance. IOW: a) don't buy the cheap crap, and b) try at least 3 or 4 (or 5) before giving up. Some people take to 'em immediately, but they can grow on you, too, though I suppose there are also some poor souls who never learn to love them. While the esteemed Mr. Perin's asssertion that "All other tea products are girly-teas" is not actually true, it *is* true that most other teas aren't as good as *good* Puer. You just have to find the one(s) that are "good" for you.

Then, once you're hooked, you can go here

Doug

I just realized today that another reason I may be having a hard time with the puer I do have is that I may be brewing it way too strong. I don't have a scale so I have been eyeballing it. I brewed it a little lighter today and didn't mind it so much.

Not using gong fu...have a cute small one-cup (10 oz) ceramic beehive teapot from Japan that was my grandma's and I just realized tonight it will be perfect for now. It's even shaped more or less like a yixing pot for puer.

I called and am having Mike at Silk Road send me a price list. I don't have any money to spend on tea the rest of this month..:( and next month I am hoping to get more samples of assams as I am still searching for one that really knocks my socks off. Need to restock my keemun. I want to get some honeybush for evenings (I know not tea, no caffeine though). Etc. etc...but I will get a good puer around $10 or maybe a little more and see if it lets me catch a glimpse of that elusive something. I do like the loam smell that people have mentioned before..not getting it from this cheap one though and I didn't notice it at the time with the Upton. Which could very well entirely have had to do with the fact that I was a total beginner and didn't have a clue what I was looking for.

Melinda

snipped-for-privacy@xprt.net/21/04 22: snipped-for-privacy@xprt.net

snip

If the knife shreads and tears, it's not a good instrument to pry at the Pu-erh, IMO. The idea is to wedge, wriggle, and wiggle from an edge so as not to harm the leaves. That's the best case scenario. However, my Hong Kong back to China commemorative requires a hacksaw, a hammer, and super strength to get a workable piece.

It doesn't usually. Bricks might, but cakes definitely shouldn't. The idea, again, is the get at the leaves so as not to mutilate them, as far as possible. That's what I think, at any rate. Yak horn or treated bear claw both work equally well.

Michael

snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com9/22/04

Good observation. No doubt about it. With Pu-erhs I like to err on the side of caution, especially getting to know a new one. Brew it a bit lighter still, and you might just fall in love.

snip

Who is this Mike at Silk Road?

No Assam tea *ever* knocked my socks off. I think you might spend your hard earned money elsewhere.

Well, you're not a total beginner anymore. Somebody had mentioned that Upton sells middling Pu-erhs. Somebody else gave a list of vendors recently. I'd get the Pu-erhs from Silk Road Teas. That way, you'd be able to describe the qualities you like and get recommendations that mean something.

Michael

Hey, I thought the Bushido thread was over!

/Lew

Sorry, I wasn't being completely serious. It's this character flaw of mine: I just can't bring myself to use smileys. Also, I thought I was being clever by referring to Crymad's "tea product" epithet. I'll try to be good in the future.

/Lew

I meant Dave of course. ;)

Melinda

"Not until the last petal of the iris... "

Sasha.