Hello,

I am new to this group, but have been reading it for about a year.
It's been very helpful and informative to me. I am particularily
interested in finding teas at ethnic markets, so on my recent visit to
an asian market, I found a round green box of tea with a 100 gram bowl
shaped brick of green tea. The marking on the box are "Yunnan Tuo cha
Yunnansheng Xiaguan Chachang Chupin". It is wrapped in a tissue with
a crane type bird in red among some foliage. A small paper inside the
box says it is Grade A prepared from superior large leaf green
tea...stout sprout and rich white tips, etc. I asked someone at the
store about this tea, and they said it was "tree tea" and not to drink
it a night because it was strong and would cause inability to sleep.

I have brewed some of this, and it is pretty good. One website said to
use 1 gram per ounce of water, but that seems a little strong.

Any brewing advice on getting the most out of this tea? It was only 95
cents per 100 grams, and I can get much more; is it worth stockpiling
some of this tea?

Thanks,
Gregory

On Jan 19, 6:17*pm, Swede wrote:
I found a round green box of tea with a 100 gram bowl
shaped brick of green tea. The marking on the box are "Yunnan Tuo cha
Yunnansheng Xiaguan *Chachang Chupin". It is wrapped in a tissue with
a crane type bird in red among some foliage. A small paper inside the
box says it is Grade A prepared from superior large leaf green
tea...stout sprout and rich white tips, etc. I asked someone at the
store about this tea, and they said it was "tree tea" and not to drink
it a night because it was strong and would cause inability to sleep.

I have brewed some of this, and it is pretty good. One website said to
use 1 gram per ounce of water, but that seems a little strong.

Any brewing advice on getting the most out of this tea? It was only 95
cents per 100 grams, and I can get much more; is it worth stockpiling
some of this tea?


Hi Gregory,

the tea you are describing isn't green tea, but it is pu-erh, exactly
to say raw (sheng or green) pu-erh. The difference between green tea
and pu-erh is, that while you prepare green pu-erh tea with boiling
water, for green tea you have to use much less temperature.
You should use 5-8 grams of tea for 1.5 dcl of water, start with shor
steep times (10-20 sec) and then gradually prolong them. Good pu-erh
can be brewed 10-15 times.

More about brewing pu-erh can be found here http://www.pu-erh.net/sections.php?Choice=How_To_Brew

About that tea is written here, too http://forums.travel.com/tea-forum/2...ge-tuocha.html

have a nice day

Tomas
tuochatea.blogspot.com

On Jan 22, 2:29*am, Balt wrote:
On Jan 19, 6:17*pm, Swede wrote:
I found a round green box of tea with a 100 gram bowl

shaped brick of green tea. The marking on the box are "Yunnan Tuo cha
Yunnansheng Xiaguan *Chachang Chupin". It is wrapped in a tissue with
a crane type bird in red among some foliage. A small paper inside the
box says it is Grade A prepared from superior large leaf green
tea...stout sprout and rich white tips, etc. I asked someone at the
store about this tea, and they said it was "tree tea" and not to drink
it a night because it was strong and would cause inability to sleep.

I have brewed some of this, and it is pretty good. One website said to
use 1 gram per ounce of water, but that seems a little strong.

Any brewing advice on getting the most out of this tea? It was only 95
cents per 100 grams, and I can get much more; is it worth stockpiling
some of this tea?

Hi Gregory,

the tea you are describing isn't green tea, but it is pu-erh, exactly
to say raw (sheng or green) pu-erh. The difference between green tea
and pu-erh is, that while you prepare green pu-erh tea with boiling
water, for green tea you have to use much less temperature.
You should use 5-8 grams of tea for 1.5 dcl of water, start with shor
steep times (10-20 sec) and then gradually prolong them. Good pu-erh
can be brewed 10-15 times.

More about brewing pu-erh can be found herehttp://www.pu-erh.net/sections.php?Choice=How_To_Brew

About that tea is written here, toohttp://forums.travel.com/tea-forum/261525-strage-tuocha.html

have a nice day

Tomas
tuochatea.blogspot.com

Tomas,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I am drinking a cup now. About two
days ago, I brewed some using about 2 teaspoons (I don't have a gram
scale) per 10-12 ounces water, and by the fourth infusion the tea was
much clearer-a beautiful color. At the first infusions there was some
astringency, but the last two cups (3 and 4 infusion) the tea was very
nice with a sweetness, especially the aftertaste. And the leaves in
the pot were almost whole and up to two inches long. Very interesting
to see this mass of compressed leaves resurrect into whole leaves!
BTW, I like your blog

Thanks,
Gregory

On Jan 22, 7:55 pm, Swede wrote:
On Jan 22, 2:29 am, Balt wrote:



On Jan 19, 6:17 pm, Swede wrote:
I found a round green box of tea with a 100 gram bowl

shaped brick of green tea. The marking on the box are "Yunnan Tuo cha
Yunnansheng Xiaguan Chachang Chupin". It is wrapped in a tissue with
a crane type bird in red among some foliage. A small paper inside the
box says it is Grade A prepared from superior large leaf green
tea...stout sprout and rich white tips, etc. I asked someone at the
store about this tea, and they said it was "tree tea" and not to drink
it a night because it was strong and would cause inability to sleep.

I have brewed some of this, and it is pretty good. One website said to
use 1 gram per ounce of water, but that seems a little strong.

Any brewing advice on getting the most out of this tea? It was only 95
cents per 100 grams, and I can get much more; is it worth stockpiling
some of this tea?

Hi Gregory,

the tea you are describing isn't green tea, but it is pu-erh, exactly
to say raw (sheng or green) pu-erh. The difference between green tea
and pu-erh is, that while you prepare green pu-erh tea with boiling
water, for green tea you have to use much less temperature.
You should use 5-8 grams of tea for 1.5 dcl of water, start with shor
steep times (10-20 sec) and then gradually prolong them. Good pu-erh
can be brewed 10-15 times.

More about brewing pu-erh can be found herehttp://www.pu-erh.net/sections.php?Choice=How_To_Brew

About that tea is written here, toohttp://forums.travel.com/tea-forum/261525-strage-tuocha.html

have a nice day

Tomas
tuochatea.blogspot.com

Tomas,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I am drinking a cup now. About two
days ago, I brewed some using about 2 teaspoons (I don't have a gram
scale) per 10-12 ounces water, and by the fourth infusion the tea was
much clearer-a beautiful color. At the first infusions there was some
astringency, but the last two cups (3 and 4 infusion) the tea was very
nice with a sweetness, especially the aftertaste. And the leaves in
the pot were almost whole and up to two inches long. Very interesting
to see this mass of compressed leaves resurrect into whole leaves!
BTW, I like your blog

Thanks,
Gregory

Just a note since you are just beginning down the puerh road, the tea
you currently have is very low quality and it gets much much better.
Not that there is anything inherently wrong with what you have, and in
fact it is a great starting point. Much better to experiment and trial/
error on inexpensive tea than high-end. Also, I always like to point
out that it helps you to learn and appreciate the better quality tea
when you've started at the ground floor and work up.

I started with tuo's very similar to what you have there, and even
though puerh isn't a particular favorite of mine I have learned to
appreciate it, occasionally crave it, and I have tasted the amazing
difference between years, makers, and storage/brewing.

There are some real puerh connoisseurs on this forum, and many great
sites and links. Welcome, and enjoy the journey. It always starts just
like this

- Dominic