Smash it with a hammer?

[TeaCompulsion]

I've been experimenting with Teasource's Puerh Tuo Cha today, which is a green puerh that comes in little pu pellets, to be used one per brewing session.

The instructions say to simply drop the pellet/nest/chunk into a pot and brew away. This produced a pleasant tea, but that thing has been soaking for hours and a vigorous poking with a chopstick still doesn't make it come apart, though some leaves have been flaked off the outside.

This seems a suboptimal use of the leaf to me, since most of it is not being infused with water. My next thought, unless anyone has better ideas, is to smash the next pellet into bits with a hammer before brewing.

I'm new to the world of tea-that-requires-implements-of-destruction, so what would you do?

[hop_goblin]

Idea you say? Well, buy better pu.. don't mean to sound cheeky.

[TeaCompulsion]

LOL -- sure, if you can tell me where I can get a workable sample of a better green puerh for under $2, I'd be delighted to have the info.

[hop_goblin]

LOL -- sure, if you can tell me where I can get a workable sample of a better green puerh for under $2, I'd be delighted to have the info.

Well, get what you paid for. What else is there to say. Although, I must admit that Xiaguan tuos can stop a nuclear blast as well.

[edkrueger]

LOL -- sure, if you can tell me where I can get a workable sample of a better green puerh for under $2, I'd be delighted to have the info.

Assuming those are 5 grams each and that they are $0.39, any 400 gram cake under $31.20 would be cheaper and better.

[TeaCompulsion]

Did I miss something? I thought this forum was for helping one another out, not counterproductive sniping.

If you have anything useful to add on the two questions I've posed -- what to do with this particular tea, or where to get better green puerh samples for minimal outlay, I'm still listening. Telling me to spend a significant sum on tea I have no reason to know I'll like instead of on tea I do know I'll like sounds like a meaningless exercise in the love of the sound of your own typing.

[shogun89]

Calm yourself, This site also teaches tolerance, though they might not have answered your question you dont need to be a di**. Anyway, with shipping your not going to be able to find a sample of anything under $2. But look at www.puerhshop.com and take a look at the samples there. With those samples shipping is free but they all cost over $2. Thats my advice, spend $10 on samples from puerhshop. I advise you change your attitude or no one is going to answer you in the future.

Question 2 answered!

-Shogun

[Salsero]

Let's all be patient and understanding here. No sense in having hurt feelings over a little tea. It can be frustrating on both sides of the question, but I know that no one wants to hurt anyone's feelings.

Now kiss and make up.

[tenuki]

sounds like a meaningless exercise in the love of the sound of your own typing.

You've just described the entire internet.

[funkmaster nice]

I might try a sledge hammer for those tough pellets. You know, the Gallagher technique. Try it with an audience for some comedic relief. Tea Gallagher haha. Pu (Erh) in your face! haha. No offense TeaCompulsion. The image of Tea Gallagher in my head is just hilarious.

[TeaCompulsion]

LOL, that's not far from what I planned on doing. I've got a big weighted rubber mallet with those pellets' name on it.

"You've just described the entire internet" made my night. Modern keyboards make a much more medium-bodied, lightly grassy with a hint of toastiness clickety-click than older-style keyboardssssssssssss <-- Sorry, that "s" key just sounds so pretty.

[Drax]

I might try a sledge hammer for those tough pellets. You know, the Gallagher technique. Try it with an audience for some comedic relief. Tea Gallagher haha. Pu (Erh) in your face! haha. No offense TeaCompulsion. The image of Tea Gallagher in my head is just hilarious.

Wow... i am in awe! "Here's tea in your eye!" Ow! (: haha

I wish I could help! I haven't really run into this problem. Even the most densest raw pu-erh that I've gotten (and Xiaguan often does take the cake) has usually fully disassociated by the third steep (and w/o any forcing needed)... Amy's suggestion sounds like a good one.

Contact netsurfr -- he bought gobs of pu-erh from Scott at YSLLC, and he sells very cheap samples. You can get 25g samples for a wide variety of teas (raw and cooked). Hou De is great for getting samples of aged tea. Puerhshop is great as well. There are so many options and tastes vary so widely, that I would high recommend the "large amounts of samples" route to figure out what you prefer.

[tony shlongini]

Did I miss something? I thought this forum was for helping one another out, not counterproductive sniping.

If you have anything useful to add on the two questions I've posed -- what to do with this particular tea, or where to get better green puerh samples for minimal outlay, I'm still listening. Telling me to spend a significant sum on tea I have no reason to know I'll like instead of on tea I do know I'll like sounds like a meaningless exercise in the love of the sound of your own typing.

Hi and welcome to the pu'er section.

First off, priorities. You may have done a bit of a disservice to yourself by jumping the gun in terms of challenging the motives of the folks here, many of whom would be more than happy to send you samples free of charge. In fact, if you read a little here, you'll find that there is a passaround box filled with goodies for the members to try. If you think this isn't the place to get the info you need, you're wrong, simple as that. But enough of that.

Second- money. If I were to say to you, "I don't see what's the big deal with this whole wine thing. I went to a wine shop and dropped two bucks on a bottle and it was crap. I'm giving it up.", you'd say I was daft. Every single person here wants to spend as little as possible on their tea, but the way you accomplish this is by learning the ropes. You didn't mention how big your $2 mini tuo sample was (link?), but as with all things you can spend a lot and get a bargain and spend a little and get ripped off. A $10 bing of a classic recipe from an established factory can easily provide over 500 cups of tea- that's a whopping 2 cents a cup, so nobody is telling you that you'll need a second mortgage to fund your hobby. But if you're set on limiting yourself to the cheapest stuff available, you're not going to get very far no matter what field you're talking about.

You're also not going to be able to achieve a perfect cup the first time around. This is not a reflection on you- it applies to everyone. That's why I'm not a big fan of samples- you need several tries to find out if you like something or not. If you want to try a few things that are very good and won't break the bank, try these for starters-

A cooked/ripe/shu
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=611
That's $2.99 for 100g of a very nice shu.

A hearty tea that has sustained millions of peasants (and connoiseurs)-
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=596
That one's $4.99 for a 250g brick.

Even the more expensive pu'ers are bargains compared to oolongs and greens. There's a reason that this forum has more activity than those.

[shogun89]

Did I miss something? I thought this forum was for helping one another out, not counterproductive sniping.

If you have anything useful to add on the two questions I've posed -- what to do with this particular tea, or where to get better green puerh samples for minimal outlay, I'm still listening. Telling me to spend a significant sum on tea I have no reason to know I'll like instead of on tea I do know I'll like sounds like a meaningless exercise in the love of the sound of your own typing.

Hi and welcome to the pu'er section.

First off, priorities. You may have done a bit of a disservice to yourself by jumping the gun in terms of challenging the motives of the folks here, many of whom would be more than happy to send you samples free of charge. In fact, if you read a little here, you'll find that there is a passaround box filled with goodies for the members to try. If you think this isn't the place to get the info you need, you're wrong, simple as that. But enough of that.

Second- money. If I were to say to you, "I don't see what's the big deal with this whole wine thing. I went to a wine shop and dropped two bucks on a bottle and it was crap. I'm giving it up.", you'd say I was daft. Every single person here wants to spend as little as possible on their tea, but the way you accomplish this is by learning the ropes. You didn't mention how big your $2 mini tuo sample was (link?), but as with all things you can spend a lot and get a bargain and spend a little and get ripped off. A $10 bing of a classic recipe from an established factory can easily provide over 500 cups of tea- that's a whopping 2 cents a cup, so nobody is telling you that you'll need a second mortgage to fund your hobby. But if you're set on limiting yourself to the cheapest stuff available, you're not going to get very far no matter what field you're talking about.

You're also not going to be able to achieve a perfect cup the first time around. This is not a reflection on you- it applies to everyone. That's why I'm not a big fan of samples- you need several tries to find out if you like something or not. If you want to try a few things that are very good and won't break the bank, try these for starters-

A cooked/ripe/shu
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=611
That's $2.99 for 100g of a very nice shu.

A hearty tea that has sustained millions of peasants (and connoiseurs)-
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=596
That one's $4.99 for a 250g brick.

Even the more expensive pu'ers are bargains compared to oolongs and greens. There's a reason that this forum has more activity than those.

+1, Well said and good selection of teas. Puerh is the best value of any tea, hands down. There is no argument to be had over that. So dropping $10 on some isnt a big deal because you can save it and its only going to get better.