Hi I am new here and I normally frequent the alt.coffee newsgroup but I am
also interested in adding tea to my hobbies. I notice that some sites sell tea
in bricks and buttons ??? (what is a button????) and pressed wheels that are
shaped a little like cheese wheels.

I currently have aged dark (I think black but maybe oolong I'm leaning toward
black) pu-erh tea that cost about $38.00 dollars a half pound it is in a red 9
inch by 3inch rectangular/octogonal shaped box. The tea is in a bag in the box
and loose not packed like a brick. I's there any difference in quality between
this and compressed bricks?

I am intererested learning to make super tea beverages. I have read your tea
faq. It is very helpful and I like the brewing instructions especially the
gongfu method. But the faq doesn't tell much about how to shop for quality teas
and the pitfalls to avoid.

I currently brew using a stainless tea kettle and a ceramic tea pot and little
4oz cups. The instructions on the box say brew 45 seconds and add 5 seconds for
each consecutive brew, I do rinse now after reading from this newsgroup, some
of your articles say to brew this for a few minutes which I have been doing (5
minutes) I don't notice much of a difference in flavour except for slight
bitterness somtimes.

Am I brewing right ? Am I using the right kind of tea? Are there any good well
known generally agreed upon by most CONSUMERS in this newsgroup online sources
or New York City sources for purchasing quality tea such as pu-erh or green and
other teas??