<Help>identify a tea or any background

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


Apr 15th, '14, 04:08
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<Help>identify a tea or any background

by pookguy » Apr 15th, '14, 04:08

Hi
I found this tea and was wondering if anyone has come across a similar brand or can tell me more. I have a chance to buy more for a very low price.
I assume the date is the year.

Thanks
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Apr 15th, '14, 23:48
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by AllanK » Apr 15th, '14, 23:48

pookguy wrote:Hi
I found this tea and was wondering if anyone has come across a similar brand or can tell me more. I have a chance to buy more for a very low price.
I assume the date is the year.

Thanks
The date might be the year of the recipe or something like that, it might be the year the tea was made but it is not certain.

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Apr 16th, '14, 06:14
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by MarshalN » Apr 16th, '14, 06:14

I would not buy stuff like this at any price. Even if it's free I'd have to think whether it's worth wasting space for it or not.

Apr 16th, '14, 09:51
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by pookguy » Apr 16th, '14, 09:51

MarshalN wrote:I would not buy stuff like this at any price. Even if it's free I'd have to think whether it's worth wasting space for it or not.
@MarshlN-It seems you know more about this tea. Would you mind sharing your reason and experience?

Thanks

Apr 16th, '14, 11:11
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Re: identify a tea or any background

by bonescwa » Apr 16th, '14, 11:11

pookguy wrote:
MarshalN wrote:I would not buy stuff like this at any price. Even if it's free I'd have to think whether it's worth wasting space for it or not.
@MarshlN-It seems you know more about this tea. Would you mind sharing your reason and experience?

Thanks
Marshaln has some experience. His blog probably contains the most information about tea written in English than any other single source in the world. He doesn't have to know about every individual piece of garbage in order to know it when he sees it.

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Apr 16th, '14, 12:53
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by debunix » Apr 16th, '14, 12:53

I think what the OP is asking here is, what aspects of the tea lead to the assumption that it's poor quality stuff?

In the same situation, I'd want to know if that assessment was made because no one would use good tea for an obviously ceremonial brick; the color of the dried leaves; information in the chinese characters that most of us can't read; or some other factor. We'd like to learn how to fish rather than just to be given a fish.

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Apr 16th, '14, 12:58
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by MEversbergII » Apr 16th, '14, 12:58

Agreed. Marshal's blog is great, but burden of proof should be honored.

M.

Apr 16th, '14, 13:20
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Re: identify a tea or any background

by bonescwa » Apr 16th, '14, 13:20

debunix wrote:I think what the OP is asking here is, what aspects of the tea lead to the assumption that it's poor quality stuff?

In the same situation, I'd want to know if that assessment was made because no one would use good tea for an obviously ceremonial brick; the color of the dried leaves; information in the chinese characters that most of us can't read; or some other factor. We'd like to learn how to fish rather than just to be given a fish.
True. I'm sure some reading of his blog would answer a lot of questions.

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Apr 16th, '14, 18:48
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by brandon » Apr 16th, '14, 18:48

"You know it when you see it" is about right. That kind of brick is made more for display than for drinking, of the worst possible leaves. If you drink it, you'll have your proof.

Apr 16th, '14, 19:07
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by pookguy » Apr 16th, '14, 19:07

I trust the folks on this community forum and @marshaln writes a great blog and is well respected here. I am just interested in his knowledge and reasoning behind his assessment.

Thanks for the comments and help.

Apr 16th, '14, 19:27
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by shah82 » Apr 16th, '14, 19:27

There have been a lot of posts over the years about such bricks. The 1997 HK Return brick is famous, and potable...

But probably the most likely reason MarshalN isn't taking a brick like that is because most moulded tea bricks use extremely low quality tea leaves and could further be adulterated by unhealthy ingredients. It's probably not safe to drink. They are also not particularly convenient to chip out a serving, either.

Now, it could totally different than what I described! However, the look of the surface doesn't seem very appetizing at all, and there is little definition of leaves remaining, or maybe never present.

Apr 16th, '14, 21:33
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by AllanK » Apr 16th, '14, 21:33

bonescwa wrote:
debunix wrote:I think what the OP is asking here is, what aspects of the tea lead to the assumption that it's poor quality stuff?

In the same situation, I'd want to know if that assessment was made because no one would use good tea for an obviously ceremonial brick; the color of the dried leaves; information in the chinese characters that most of us can't read; or some other factor. We'd like to learn how to fish rather than just to be given a fish.
True. I'm sure some reading of his blog would answer a lot of questions.
What website is his blog?

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Apr 16th, '14, 22:02
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Re: <Help>identify a tea or any background

by SilentChaos » Apr 16th, '14, 22:02

AllanK wrote:
bonescwa wrote:
debunix wrote:I think what the OP is asking here is, what aspects of the tea lead to the assumption that it's poor quality stuff?

In the same situation, I'd want to know if that assessment was made because no one would use good tea for an obviously ceremonial brick; the color of the dried leaves; information in the chinese characters that most of us can't read; or some other factor. We'd like to learn how to fish rather than just to be given a fish.
True. I'm sure some reading of his blog would answer a lot of questions.
What website is his blog?
http://www.marshaln.com

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