Re: The wash of the leaves.
Posted: Sep 4th, '13, 10:41
I've only seen thin green string myself, but I know other people have seen worse. Bugs living in your pu can actually be considered a good thing some places!
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Every time I think that I might more seriously approach pu erh world, I run across something like this. And decide, despite obvious hyperbole (right guys?) to check it out another time, maybe next lifetime.jayinhk wrote:If you drink pu erh, you definitely want to be rinsing the stuff! Sometimes you have to pick out your free gift: cigarette butts, turds, dead lizards, sticks, nylon string, etc. I wonder if anyone ever got a used condom in their bing?
For myself, the hygiene is a fundamental requirement for all types of tea. So, any type of tea with extraneous material, will go straight into the garbage.jayinhk wrote:I've only seen thin green string myself, but I know other people have seen worse. Bugs living in your pu can actually be considered a good thing some places!
I'll happily be your garbage can.William wrote:For myself, the hygiene is a fundamental requirement for all types of tea. So, any type of tea with extraneous material, will go straight into the garbage.jayinhk wrote:I've only seen thin green string myself, but I know other people have seen worse. Bugs living in your pu can actually be considered a good thing some places!
Consider it as a merely personal opinion.
Personally, I'm quite satisfied that boiling water will take care of most unhygienic things in tea. Otherwise, roasting the tea in a pan for a minute works too.jayinhk wrote:I totally understand, but some of the most interesting pu may have these issues. It's impossible to know how your tea was handled before it got to you, so the hygiene thing may be difficult to determine, even if there aren't any foreign objects in your tea!
I understand what you say, but I'm not willing to drink a cup of tea accompanied by cigarettes, worms or any other kind of material.jayinhk wrote:I totally understand, but some of the most interesting pu may have these issues.
I understand, and this is why it is important for me to have a close relationship based on trust between me and the various tea vendors from which I purchase. If I receive tea with foreign material, or if I have more than a doubt about the hygienic aspect, this relationship will break immediately.jayinhk wrote:It's impossible to know how your tea was handled before it got to you, so the hygiene thing may be difficult to determine, even if there aren't any foreign objects in your tea!
This has nothing to do with vendors, but with production.William wrote: I understand, and this is why it is important for me to have a close relationship based on trust between me and the various tea vendors from which I purchase. If I receive tea with foreign material, or if I have more than a doubt about the hygienic aspect, this relationship will break immediately.
Is the seller who chooses who to buy the tea, which then proposes to the customer. If he does not know or does not consider the problem concerning pesticides, fertilizers and methods with which the tea was produced, in my opinion it is not a good seller.theredbaron wrote:This has nothing to do with vendors, but with production.William wrote:
theredbaron wrote: Anyhow, i would worry much less about one or the other strange item that can be found occasionally in Pu Erh - that will neither kill nor harm you.
Of course, avoid any pesticide or herbicide is impossible, but with a minimum of attention, you can avoid most of them.theredbaron wrote: Herbicides, pesticides, and other environmental poisons are far more problematic - and you don't see them. But that is a problem not just with tea, but with all food items.
Even countries with the most stringent laws have regular scandals. And in some countries items are allowed which are not in others - such as genetically modified veggies in the US, which will not be allowed into many European countries (Monsanto and their genetically modified crap - one of my particular pet hates...).
If you are from the US, and bought in supermarkets, or eaten in restaurants, you most definitely have eaten far more unhealthy food already, and possibly do on a regular base, than what you may find in Pu Erh.
William wrote: Is the seller who chooses who to buy the tea, which then proposes to the customer. If he does not know or does not consider the problem concerning pesticides, fertilizers and methods with which the tea was produced, in my opinion it is not a good seller.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I prefer to have faith in trusted sellers.theredbaron wrote:With what you expect - i can only suggest to stay away from tea.William wrote:
William wrote:Thanks for the suggestion, but I prefer to have faith in trusted sellers.theredbaron wrote:With what you expect - i can only suggest to stay away from tea.William wrote:
This New York Times articleabout safety controls in spices has been making the rounds, and may be relevant here. The takeaway is that quality control is pretty bad (there are a lot of US salmonella cases that originate in spices from Mexico and India) but India at least is taking this very seriously, and significant improvements have been made without too much difficulty. Of course, it may be that ag producers are motivated to clean up supply chains in commodities that can easily be sourced from countries other than theirs. If no other country can produce your famous tea, well, you don't have much incentive to get it certified organic.theredbaron wrote:In China, India, etc - where the bulk of tea comes from - there simply are no strict government controls or enforcement of standards as in Europe. This concept just does not exist here in Asia yet.
Thank you for your discussion points.theredbaron wrote: No seller can guarantee for something that is out of his control. Tea production and processing is out of a vendors control.
If a vendor guarantees you that a particular tea grown and processed in Asia (with maybe Japan and Taiwan as a tentative exception, somewhat, but if you look how forthcoming Japan is with information on all environmental issues...) is chemical free by European standards, or produced by European standard hygiene - then that vendor is not to be trusted.
In China, India, etc - where the bulk of tea comes from - there simply are no strict government controls or enforcement of standards as in Europe. This concept just does not exist here in Asia yet.
A vendor might try to convince his sources to introduce hygienic standards, and might have, over time, slowly, some partial success, but that's about it. But in a continent with so many urgent problems, European food safety standards are quite on the back on the list things to enforce.
In Japan and Taiwan it may be easier as both are modern countries, where people have access to good education and are wealthy enough to care about those issues, and chances are higher that when something that is offered as organic is indeed so. Nevertheless, if you look at the Fukushima power plant scandal, you still see that there is still much lacking in regards to environmental issues and transparency.William wrote:
But I want to ask you something, how is it possible that there are some (few) sellers, also known enough here on the forum, that are able to offer a more or less wide range of tea products from organic or low pesticide tea garden garden, whether it's Japanese green teas rather than Taiwanese oolong teas or pu-erh Chinese teas, and other vendors (the majority) that offer a more or less wide range of tea, but that none of these comes from organic or low pesticide tea garden garden.
It would seem then, that they are only two potential solutions, or the first lie, or seconds do not want to/can not offer such products.