Humm??

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


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May 24th, '07, 23:33
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by augie » May 24th, '07, 23:33

Alright, so I am off to e-bay hoping my family doesn't find out. I'd never hear the end of it! I really wouldn't know if I got ripped off buying bootleg puehr anyway.

Mary, you are from Indy? Have you ever gone to that tea shop in Broad Ripple? Dude who was sitting with the place was a little . . . shifty. Cool teaware, tho

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May 25th, '07, 08:48
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by Mary R » May 25th, '07, 08:48

Yup, I'm from Indy. Sort of. I actually live in one of the more distant northern suburbs, but my entire social life happens somewhere around 86th/82nd St and College. And Carmel. For I am yuppie, hear me roar. :)

I have not had the pleasure of going to this teahouse, but I'll keep an eye out for it. Unfortunately, I'm more prone to visit Broadripple for the nice variety of inebriation potential, so it'll likely be closed 95% of the time I'm there...

In case you're interested, The Puerh Shop is a nicely reputable online (though not eBay) vendor that just happens to be located in Indianapolis. The fellow who runs it, Jim Liu, might let you stop by to pick up your order instead of having to bother with FedEx if you e-mail and ask him. He might be happy to know he has local customers...I think the bulk of his business comes from California.

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May 25th, '07, 23:31
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by augie » May 25th, '07, 23:31

I am SoccerMom hear me yawn. . . I am low-class, on the West side near the Eagle Creek Resevoir. I like to come up to your neck of the woods to see how the other half lives when I go to my favorite place in Indianapolis . . . The Fresh Market.

The tea place is behind the tree hugger store in Broadripple, Sunflower Mkt. Next to Great Harvest. Lots of pots & stuff up front and a ton of dusty jars against one wall. It's tea and there is a sign that says "Herbal healing consultation" or something. I was too skeerd to make a purchase. Of course, that was just over a year ago when I thought that Rep. of Tea was really good! LOL I might not be so squeamish now. He isn't the "pu ehr shop" dude is he?

I go to the Tea Cozy on the East side and I heard there is a tea shop on the North side now, but I heard it on the radio at work and didn't catch the name/location.

Looked at e-bay tea and esp. puehr selection. More confused now. :? Heck, I am such a looser I need my DAD to help me set up a paypal account!

Thanks for the tipl I will take any suggestions/advice you all have to offer.

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May 26th, '07, 10:47
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by Mary R » May 26th, '07, 10:47

Oh, don't get me confused with the Carmelites! They are a people entirely foreign to me...but they have good restaurants. When I realized that the areas I mentioned are populated with SUV-drivin', Starbucks drinkin', Saks 5th shoppin', anti-depressant poppin' nut-jobs, I thought I'd be a bit cheeky.

In reality "one of the more distant northern suburbs" is Anderson--one of the most economically screwed up cities in our fine state. But our mayor just started a million-dollar campaign to beautify the city by planting flowers in hanging baskets at a few intersections downtown, so it's all better! The happy days are here again!

Sometimes on a weekend when I have some rare extra cash, I meet up with my girlfriends and go shopping or drinking in Yuppie-ville. That's about it. It would be nice to have the insane income those nutters have, but I hope I would have enough sense to manage it better than they. :)

I don't think the tea place in Broadripple has any association with the Puerh Shop as the PS doesn't have a physical location. (I wrote an e-mail to Jim once about that--I figured if someone had the guts to open a brick-and-mortar puerh establishment in Indy, I should support it, but they don't.) I'll look for the place you mentioned the next time I'm at that corner--my favorite Thai restaurant is there, so I'm sure it will be soon. I can't believe I've never seen the tea shop before!

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May 26th, '07, 14:43
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by augie » May 26th, '07, 14:43

Bite your tongue, sister. . . those anti-depressant popping nut jobs put food on my table! We went to a house in Zionsville last week that was 3Xs the size of my 2400 sq ft shizzle. I can't imagine ownin a 5,000 sq ft house with a "fun farm" in back, paying for private school for 4 kids and keeping up payments on 3 luxury cars. Being poor is much easier.

I'm not even a soccer mom -- my kids are band geeks!

The Puehr Shop is down between Southport and Greenwood, clear on the S side of Indy. I shot him a message asking if I could pick up an order. Seems kinda foolish to spend $10 bucks in shipping to have it sent 5 miles or less! He also has Iron Goddess of Mercy, which is my new favorite. And a good selection of samples which I would appreciate. Nothing worse than buying a big tin and finding out it's a gagger.

The tea place in BR is next to Great Harvest and this really cool hippie store that sells anti-dubya bumperstickers and novelties that I haven't been to yet. I'm just driving there next Sat and going in to buy something! My son wants to go to the Hippie store. BR is also getting a Fresh Market this year.

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May 27th, '07, 13:29
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by hop_goblin » May 27th, '07, 13:29

augie wrote:Hop Goblin: I appreciate your tea blog. I especially enjoy the comments because my husband has served on a taste pannel w/former job. So your comments help. However, I have noticed that y'all purchase pu ehr from ebay vendors. Why? My employer just sold a $15 wal mart coffee maker on e-bay for $50 bucks! LOL I don't want to become part of the ranks of e-bay suckers. Are the ebay vendors you use reliable? I just wouldn't know where to start . . .
I will second what MaryR suggested in a previous post. The trick is to learn from others. Forntunately, most collectors and drinkers of pu-erh do their fair share of studying before buying. Vendprs are very reluctant to sell a misrepresented item as many buyers are quite astute when it comes to their purchases. As you will see Ebay vendors rarely let the price ride and opt to use the Buy Me Now. This is because they will give you a fair market price for what it is worth. In fact, at times, you will be able to buy a beeng or brick at a cheaper price than you would be able to buy in China. Is it that they are trying to sell you a fake product? On the contrary. Currently, prices in China are quite tenuous and can change daily. So, if a vendor priced an item for a week or two then he or she must let it ride for that price or possibly piss off alot of people. Trick is, is to stick with a few well known vendors with excellent approval rating and start a trusting relationship. O-BTW, thanks for reading!!!

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May 27th, '07, 21:40
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by augie » May 27th, '07, 21:40

Thanks for being the one to cross the river ahead of me Hop. I would never have though to look on ebay because of my prejudice stemming from some that I see getting screwed. If you get a poor or mis-represented product from an ebay vendor you can provide instant negative feedback. Can't do that from a web vendor.

Keep buying, tasting and posting so I don't have to! I'm not a big risk-taker. I'd rather live vicariously reading about your tea adventures and mis-adventures from my comfortable jammies and bunny slippers at 11:00 at night. There's nothing worse than anticipating something being shipped to you, opening it, trying it, and it totaly sucks!

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