Golden Needle White Lotus: compression as brick vs. bing

[xmfi]

Does anyone have experience with Golden Needle White Lotus in both the brick and bing form? I've only had it as a brick and was wondering if the bing might be less heavily compressed. Thanks!

[tingjunkie]

Shu tends to be more compressed than sheng in general, but I've had no problems prying off what I need from the cake. Sometimes a small tuocha pick works wonders too.

[xmfi]

Cool, thanks. Yeah, I've been using a pick with the brick as well-- I haven't really had any trouble getting enough off, but it often comes with more damage to the leaves than I'd like. Will go with the bing next time.

[debunix]

I've had a heck of a time getting the brick broken up, and from very limited experience with 4 or 5 bricks and a close to a dozen beengs, the beengs in general are a lot easier to work with than the bricks. Something about the brick invites a tighter compression--maybe associated with the desire to stamp designs into it and have them stand out sharp and clear?

I finally bought a letter opener for home and work that is doubling as a puerh pick. Haven't tried it on a tough brick yet, but it worked nicely on a beeng and some cylindrical bamboo aged Yi Wu today.

[zeusmta]

I have not had the brick, but I've gone through a few of the beengs. In my experience the compression is pretty high toward the center of the cake, but not so high on the outer rim of the cake.