The unthinkable, I actually enjoy Kudingcha

Haha... good to hear!

Was it you who previously said "anything that tastes this bad MUST be doing me good?"

I drink kuding regularly with my wife, and she chuckled when I recounted the quote. If you take it slowly, and brew perhaps a single stick at a time, it can be as surprisingly good as you describe. If it's simply too bitter, I'd be tempted to vary the brewing parameters.

Juding can be a good cure for "tea tummy" / "tea drunkeness", too. It's rather settling, especially if you've been overdoing it with the greener, fresher varieties of lucha, wulong, young sheng pu'er.

Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Dominic snipped-for-privacy@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com8/30/06

I share your appreciation of "bitter" (or "sour" as some would have it). Not a Kuding fan, I do brew it once in awhile, with but one stalk-leaf in the cup. You are brave to put in two. I really like the bitter underlying notes in some new sheng Pu'erhs; they add something balancing. Also, some of the sweeter Anxi and Taiwan Oolongs benefit from a bit of a bitter foundation. Just my thoughts.

Michael

No matter how you brew it can't make it camellia sinensis. I put this next to other herbals associated with tea like chrysantemum.

Jim

Dom> I never, truly never, thought I'd enjoy this bitter brew.. .but the