Toucha

Sorry, Anna, we need to know more. How big are the tuo chas (tea compressed to a bowl shape)? I have single-serving ones whose cross-section is about the size of a nickel (~2 cm). I have 100 g ones which need to be wrapped with a cloth and smashed with a hammer (or, as I have once done in desperation after closing and locking my office door, wrapped in a handkerchief and pounded on the floor - I didn't want to have to tell the physical plant why I needed a hammer for my tea).

Also, tuo cha is just the form. It can be almost any Chinese tea. You may need to identify it first. Perhaps the easiest thing to do is use various water temperatures. Try boiling water and if it is too bitter try 190 degrees.

Finally, almost all tuo chas benefit from a rinse first, using water at whichever temperature you use for brewing.

That said, I've had some awfully good tuo cha pu erhs. A kind friend recently sent me a white tea pu erh which was wonderful.

Have fun,

Rick.

Anna wrote:

I guess I don't know what kind of tea it is. It is about the size of a nickel and wrapped in paper. The brew has a musty smell and is fairly dark brown. It doesn't seem to leave an after taste. The smell of the used leaves is kind of like the smell of seaweed or the ocean. As you can tell, I don't know much about tea. Thanks Anna

This sounds like black pu erh ("composted tea", left in a damp environment to ferment for a while). They're great - I had one at breakfast this morning. Besides flavor, another nice thing about them is that they are hard to screw up. Oversteeping won't make them bitter. I use one for 4 - 8 ounces of boiling water depending on preferred strength. Rinse once with boiling water first. It can be resteeped - the second steep is stronger than the first, because by then the tuo has disintegrated. Third is okay too; fourth is weak. Cantonese drink this stuff by the gallon, very dilute. Workers bring one to the office in a jar and keep refilling with hot water.

If my suggestions make for bitter tea then you probably have a green pu erh (composted green tea, approximately). Same instructions except with slightly cooler water and you shouldn't oversteep.

Have fun,

Rick.

Thank you. I think I'll stop by the shop where I bought it and ask if that is what it is. I kind of like it. I've drank coffee for so many years that tea is a bit different. Most of my tea drinking has been "Lipton". Anna

Ten Ren

sells mini-tuochas that pretty much match that description. They carry two varieties, I picked up a bag of the Ten Fu variety and keep it at work, because it doesn't go bitter if I'm distracted by my job.

Enjoyable stuff, but where pu-erh is concerned i am only an egg.

On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:08:13 +0000 (UTC), Rick Chappell quoth:

Love that metallic earthy taste. :)

bkr