The weight of your toucha is probably 5g. That's way too much for a
cup. I'd break it in half with 8oz of water. Some are even larger at
10g. I think I've seen tiny ones around 2-3g. Earthy does not mean
bitter. Earthy in puer especially if it is shu,cooked,black is more
related to smell. Bitter is more related to taste. Yours is a better
quality if it taste sweet and smoky especially if it came in a
commercial Chinese tin. The characters will probably indicate the
quality. I like the cooked puer taste because of the variety. In
general the cakes have the whole leaves with less blending. The
tuochas pieces of leaves with more blending. In the end it is the
taste that counts. I drink my shu puer off the top in a cup. I don't
think it can be overbrewed.

Jim

Darawen Littlestich wrote:
hello teaples (tea people),
my friend went to china and gave me a small container of puerh tuochas.
this is my very first taste of the tea.

*bitter with a definite smokey taste (to me)--well, does earthy mean bitter?
*dark brew (used boiling water and infused til the tuocha melted apart; took
about a minute or two)
*a sorta sweet after taste in the back of the tongue after a few minutes

is this what puerh supposed to taste like? i know you all will tell me,
everyone has their own taste--but i just want to know if i'm tasting in the
ballpark. perhaps i brewed it too hot or too long. but if i brewed it
correctly, and this is indeed the taste, i'll stick to my high mt. oolongs.
i brewed from the instructions per 'in pursuit of tea'.

thanks.....i have about 20 tuochas to experiment with so........

d