Pu-Erh: what's really in it

Joel snipped-for-privacy@cindy.panacea.null.org10/13/04

19: snipped-for-privacy@panacea.null.org

Preserved egg, more than likely, I think.

Alex Chaihorsky46obd.29725$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com10/14/04

01: snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.com Sasha, not so simple, I think. "Common" courtesy is surely not common, but what it means is culture specific, not universal. When we say Pu-erh -- or Durian, for that matter -- is stinky, we speak affectionately, right guys?

Michael

Michael, I appreciate your diplomatic stance, but no, this is not about liking or not liking things - which would qualify as culture specific. Saying that "Having a respect for many aspects of Asian culture (I'm not Asian) doesn't stop me from thinking that Pu-erh is stinky, that natto is like snot and smells worse, and that I'd probably rather eat ground glass than kimchee." is not "affectionate" and you know that. And not calling what others eat "snot" is a universal "common" courtesy, to put it mildly.

Sasha.

Alex ChaihorskyxVsbd.13020$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com10/14/04

06: snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.com

Admittedly, that would be quite a stretch of the cultural warp. Point well taken. But, in a broader sense, I think how we express our likes and dislikes can be as culture specific as the likes and dislikes we express. JMESHO. (When I typed my post, I was thinking of some durian loving Chinese friends who referr to it as "stinky fruit," and my own feeling about Pu-erh, which can be many things, not all of them pleasant, but always an adventure and a journey worth taking.

Michael

But certainly Chinese calling durian (or any other "their" food for that matter) stinky is like American calling McDonalds "shitty food". But when Chinese say "I 'd rather eat ground glass than your shitty hamburgers" it does sound different, isn't it?

Sasha.

I meant to say 'dry orange blob' and I suspected it was duck egg yolk. Years ago I added a ramp to an unused horse trough and keep it filled for ducks who swam all day. I'd fished every couple of days for eggs. For suburbanites you can scour the banks of an industrial cooling pond habited by wild ducks for eggs. The maintenance personnel know this so you have to be lucky. Sunday morning is a good time. I tasted the lotus seeds and paste. Now if I can figure out what was the sweet stringy gelatin gummy like substance. The best part it didn't crumble. Mine were $5 each but good for three snacks. They were 'heavy' so if lard perfect with puerh.

Thanks to all replies, Jim

....

But you said *$ made sh*tty coffee ? You know millions of people drink and admire that monkey p... well, excuse the bad manners, I meant : drink and admire

*that*. Aren't you afraid of insulting them ?

Kuri

1. I never said that coffee is shit. That could be insulting.

1. I also belong to the European coffee-drinking culture, and I do drink it as I indicate in that message. So its not "your shitty coffee", its "our shitty coffee". I also said that it was "shitty" because it was not strong enough. I think the difference is obvioius.

Sasha.

American culture is known for wisecracking. We have a whole industry devoted to it. Nothing has been said here that would even get a chuckle out of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Yes. No. My favorite internationally accepted description of puerh Camel's Breath Tea. I even have the Chinese somewhere.

Jim

Sasha lad,

You might never have actually said that coffee is shit, but that only means you are not familiar with the rare treasure produced by the digestive action of the Eurasian coffee beetle. You see, the beetle feeds voraciously on the beans and the resulting ambrosia is gathered and....but I cannot continue lest I give away trade secrets. You cannot get this coffee at low life Starbucks. This is only for connesurs -- I no longer even try to spell it, much less be it. I'll bet this is the Pu-erh of coffees.

Hope this helps.

Michael

Alex Chaihorskyjwzbd.13104$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com10/14/04

14: snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.com

Ex-Lax espresso?