Hi,

I hesitate to jump in with any recommendations, given the Puer expertise and
experience here, but ... "fools rush in" and all that.

First, I personally wouldn't buy Puer selling for less than $10 a 1/4 pound
/ 100 gms. For a little more money, you'll have a much better chance of
getting a decent tea.

Silk Road has a "Large Leaf from Old Trees" (P-PE-2) loose-leaf black Puer
for $10 a 1/4 lb. that's surprisingly good, quite mild, though hard to
measure accurately with a spoon because of the large irregular leaves (as
you've probably seen on the group here, SR has no web site, so I can't
provide any URLs).

They also have an "Imperial Pu-erh" (P-IP-1) loose-leaf black for $20 a 1/4
lb. To my taste, it's better than the one above, as it damn well should be.

Generation Tea has "Royal Laofu Pu-erh" black loose-leaf
(http://www.generationtea.com/store/p...id=47&osCsid=6
9d1f1030ad0c108c351f050f2ef07ed) that's good, though again a little pricey.

Though I've only had samples packages of each, both Imperial Tea Court's
"Superior Puerh" black loose-leaf
(http://www.imperialtea.com/AB1002000...roduct_ID=91&C
ategory_ID=21) and Upton's "China Aged Pu-Erh Celestial Tribute" loose-leaf
black (ZH60) seemed pretty decent.

Shan Shui's "Big Leaf Puer" loose-leaf black is mild and good (needs a
pretty long steep: 7-8 min.); the web site is all frames (though easy to
navigate), so I can't give a useful URL.

For small (100 gms), affordable black tuochas, Imperial Tea's "Aged Puerh
Tuocha"
(http://www.imperialtea.com/AB1002000...roduct_ID=172&
Category_ID=23) is good.

I have so little experience so far with green Puers that I wouldn't want to
recommend anything. I believe you've already gotten an expert opinion or two
for that anyway.

If you're interested enough, I would urge you to give Puers an adequate
chance. IOW: a) don't buy the cheap crap, and b) try at least 3 or 4 (or 5)
before giving up. Some people take to 'em immediately, but they can grow on
you, too, though I suppose there are also some poor souls who never learn to
love them. While the esteemed Mr. Perin's asssertion that "All other tea
products are girly-teas" is not actually true, it *is* true that most other
teas aren't as good as *good* Puer. You just have to find the one(s) that
are "good" for you.

Then, once you're hooked, you can go here
(http://www.puerh-tea.net/puerhcakes.htm) and buy a single 75 year old cake
for USD $6,500! Then you'll know you're a *real* Puer junkie.

Doug

"Melinda" wrote in message
om...
OK, I bought a tuo cha (mini) from Upton awhile back and that was
fairly smooth, and right now what I have in the kitchen is a tuo cha
from my local Asian market that is...well, lemme just say that I'm
really not GETTING this whole Puer love thing. Could someone
(::cough:: Mike and Michael::cough: (or more than one someone) who
is knowledgeable recommend specifically to me a type (name, where to
get, specifics) that will be the best "introduction" to the world of
puer for me..I want to try again but I want to know that what I'm
drinking is representative of puer as a whole before I just bag it and
decide puer isn't for me. Something that's financially reasonable
would be nice (like under $10 or so? Under $15?) I really want to give
this a fair shake since I hear others' enjoyment of it. I'm not
positive what kind of puer I have from the Asia market...it was
inexpensive of course, and in a green and white box.

Oh BTW, I found that an oyster knife seems to work well to break
chunks off...I seem to remember reading that someone was looking for a
way to do that.

Thanks very much for helping out the puer newbie.

Melinda