"Unlike other varieties of tea, Pu-Erh Tea is traditionally made with older
leaves (not the first flush or budding leaves) from tall and old trees.
These trees are of a type only found in Yunnan Province, known as broad leaf
tea. The leaves are covered with fine hairs, are larger than other tea
leaves, and have a different chemical composition. The leaves are then left
green or moderately fermented before being dried. Often times the tea is
then formed into cakes or bricks, wrapped in paper or pomello rinds, and
stored outside exposed to moisture, air, and heat for order to further
mature. Then the tea is stored underground for several years before taking
on the darker, mellower characteristics that make Pu'erh tea. This type of
tea originated from the natural aging process that happened along the
ancient caravan routes, and the tea bricks were at times used as a form of
currency. The tea bricks developed a unique flavor that was then refined by
aficionados. One of the most expensive and rare Pu'erh teas is made from the
droppings of worms that eat stored Pu'erh bricks."

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Pu-erh_tea

Well, is it true? I don't see worm dropping puerh actually brewing into tea,
just sludge...

"Marlene Wood" wrote in message
...
"Unlike other varieties of tea, Pu-Erh Tea is traditionally made with
older leaves (not the first flush or budding leaves) from tall and old
trees. These trees are of a type only found in Yunnan Province, known as
broad leaf tea. The leaves are covered with fine hairs, are larger than
other tea leaves, and have a different chemical composition. The leaves
are then left green or moderately fermented before being dried. Often
times the tea is then formed into cakes or bricks, wrapped in paper or
pomello rinds, and stored outside exposed to moisture, air, and heat for
order to further mature. Then the tea is stored underground for several
years before taking on the darker, mellower characteristics that make
Pu'erh tea. This type of tea originated from the natural aging process
that happened along the ancient caravan routes, and the tea bricks were at
times used as a form of currency. The tea bricks developed a unique flavor
that was then refined by aficionados. One of the most expensive and rare
Pu'erh teas is made from the droppings of worms that eat stored Pu'erh
bricks."

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Pu-erh_tea

Well, is it true? I don't see worm dropping puerh actually brewing into
tea, just sludge...


Hi Marlene,

This has been discussed at length and to much amusement on at least one
other tea list, there may be something on it in this one if you search under
pu pu puer or pu. Or poo poo. Also see Mike Petro's site
http://www.pu-erh.net/ and search for poo poo puerh.


Melinda

On Thu, 2 Mar 2006 21:03:00 -0700, "Marlene Wood"
wrote:

One of the most expensive and rare Pu'erh teas is made from the
droppings of worms that eat stored Pu'erh bricks.

The civet cat coffee of the tea world! I couldn't imagine that
something could be more disgusting than coffee made from cat poop, but
worm poop basically trumps all! :-)

Ian
--
http://sundry.ws/

Well, is it true? I don't see worm dropping puerh actually brewing into tea,
just sludge...

It's a myth among pu'er drinkers that when the tea gets really old that
some insects can get inside of the tea and then die. Some people say
worms...some people say moths. In my experience, I've never seen it in
reality; only in some old men's rambling fables (usually in Cantonese).
heh.

"worm excrement tea" used to be listed for sale on the CNNP Yunnan
Branch website (i think!) in the same section as loose leaf puerh.

---------------Mydnight wrote:
It's a myth among pu'er drinkers that when the tea gets really old that
some insects can get inside of the tea and then die. Some people say
worms...some people say moths. In my experience, I've never seen it in
reality; only in some old men's rambling fables (usually in Cantonese).
heh.

"worm excrement tea" used to be listed for sale on the CNNP Yunnan
Branch website (i think!) in the same section as loose leaf puerh.

Oh, I know I've seen it advertised and I've seen pictures of it. I
just haven't seen it in real life.

Mydnight wrote:
Well, is it true? I don't see worm dropping puerh actually brewing into tea,
just sludge...

It's a myth among pu'er drinkers that when the tea gets really old that
some insects can get inside of the tea and then die. Some people say
worms...some people say moths. In my experience, I've never seen it in
reality; only in some old men's rambling fables (usually in Cantonese).
heh.

I found a small stone in one of my bricks of 2004 "1336th Anniversary
of the Thai Calendar" that I bought via Ebay on Mike Petro's recco.
I'm kind of ticked ... it's got to weigh at least a gram, which means I
got 249 grams of tea in this brick, tops.

Oh well ... I just tell myself it's my "lucky puer stone". Maybe I'll
get it tumbled/polished and put it on a chain someday. I just hope I
don't find more stones in the other three bricks ... won't find out for
at least ten years.


stePH
--
I'll brew another pot of ambiguity.

On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 04:48:31 GMT, Ian Rastall
wrote:

On Thu, 2 Mar 2006 21:03:00 -0700, "Marlene Wood"
wrote:

One of the most expensive and rare Pu'erh teas is made from the
droppings of worms that eat stored Pu'erh bricks.

The civet cat coffee of the tea world! I couldn't imagine that
something could be more disgusting than coffee made from cat poop, but
worm poop basically trumps all! :-)

Ian

Indeed it is a strange tea, and an even stranger person who can drink
it....

Check out http://www.pu-erh.net/poopoopuerh.html


--
Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net

Marlene 3/2/06

"Unlike other varieties of tea, Pu-Erh Tea is traditionally made with older
leaves (not the first flush or budding leaves) from tall and old trees.

Risking that others have already said this, I am tasting some
*extraordinary* young green Pu'erh, with what some believe has excellent
aging potential, composed of the bud plus three leaves from big leaf wild
old Pu'erh trees.

These trees are of a type only found in Yunnan Province, known as broad leaf
tea. The leaves are covered with fine hairs, are larger than other tea
leaves, and have a different chemical composition. The leaves are then left
green or moderately fermented before being dried. Often times the tea is
then formed into cakes or bricks, wrapped in paper or pomello rinds, and
stored outside exposed to moisture, air, and heat for order to further
mature. Then the tea is stored underground for several years before taking
on the darker, mellower characteristics that make Pu'erh tea.

I'd fear underground stored Pu'erh. Most storage of excellent Pu'erh is most
likely done in climate controlled buildings. Caves are good.

This type of
tea originated from the natural aging process that happened along the
ancient caravan routes, and the tea bricks were at times used as a form of
currency. The tea bricks developed a unique flavor that was then refined by
aficionados. One of the most expensive and rare Pu'erh teas is made from the
droppings of worms that eat stored Pu'erh bricks."

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Pu-erh_tea

Well, is it true? I don't see worm dropping puerh actually brewing into tea,
just sludge...

I tasted one recently. It didn't taste bad, but it's not my cup of tea. The
taste itself is somewhat sludgy, as Marlene suggests. That's my opinion and
experience.

As for the rest of my contributions to this thread, they are but my opinions
as well.

Michael

3/3/06



Mydnight wrote:
Well, is it true? I don't see worm dropping puerh actually brewing into tea,
just sludge...

It's a myth among pu'er drinkers that when the tea gets really old that
some insects can get inside of the tea and then die. Some people say
worms...some people say moths. In my experience, I've never seen it in
reality; only in some old men's rambling fables (usually in Cantonese).
heh.

I found a small stone in one of my bricks of 2004 "1336th Anniversary
of the Thai Calendar" that I bought via Ebay on Mike Petro's recco.
I'm kind of ticked ... it's got to weigh at least a gram, which means I
got 249 grams of tea in this brick, tops.

Oh well ... I just tell myself it's my "lucky puer stone". Maybe I'll
get it tumbled/polished and put it on a chain someday. I just hope I
don't find more stones in the other three bricks ... won't find out for
at least ten years.


stePH


stePH, I've yet to get the brick, tuo, or bing that was exactly the
advertised weight. This includes some damned old cakes. I chalk it up to
variation unless I'm buying a small number of grams. Lucky Pu'erh Stone, eh?
I'm almost jealous that I didn't get one.

Should I tell you how realitors measure square footage in apartments and in
houses for sale?

Michael

On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 06:08:08 -0500, Mike Petro
wrote:

Check out http://www.pu-erh.net/poopoopuerh.html

It's twue! Oh my goodness, I don't think I could drink worm poop tea
to save my life. Well, to save my life, yes, but not to relax.

Ian
--
http://sundry.ws/

Wow... Anybody knows of a web store that sells it?

Like the Innuits and their meat stashes up in the frozen north, when
they come to one that has become a mass of writhing maggots they eat
them with relish and look at our distaste by explaining that all they
ever ate was caribou so they are caribou too.
Of course it might be a days trek to the next cache in a very hostile
envoirnment but I will attempt to keep grain moths and larder beatles
away from my tea.

Tom

Michael Plant wrote:
stePH, I've yet to get the brick, tuo, or bing that was exactly the
advertised weight. This includes some damned old cakes. I chalk it up to
variation unless I'm buying a small number of grams.

My wife wonders if it's not because there's some moisture in the tea at
the time of pressing, that later evaporates out and makes the gross
weight of the tea lighter. I weighed the other three bricks and they
were all between 5 and 7 grams light. Is she on to something?


stePH
--
I'll brew another pot of ambiguity.

Your wife assumed correctly.

The thing is, the leaves are not weighed each time they are pressed in
bricks, nor after. A general average is taken from the total weight of the
consignment. Take for example a brick that says it weighs 250gm. This
figure is based on the average of one dozen of 5 bricks each in one bundle,
which is 30kg. (250gm X 5 X 24 = 30kg).

Some bricks will weigh slightly more and some will weigh slightly lesser.
Not all are at 250gm exact. The same goes for the bingcha.

On the other hand, when the bricks are fresh out of the factory, the
moisture content is at about 6-11%. Over time in an arid environment, the
cake will lose the moisture and weight less, while in a highly humid
condition, the cake will weigh roughly the same as the one it was shipped
out.

There are 2 types of Worm Dropping pu'er. One is the real pu'er, the other
isn't.

The real worm droppings are the by products of small whitish worms that
appear on aged ole pu'er. This ocurs mainly in the warehouse where the teas
are kept, before you buy it home. There are mainly 2 types of pests on the
pu'er : one is the whitish worm, very tiny, which grow into ant-like
insects (greyish-white and tiny) that scuttle all over the cake, and the
last is the silverfish. But silverfish eats only the wrapper.

Leaving the cake in the shade of the sun in summer for a couple of hours
will usually rid the cakes of these pests.

The by-products of the insects (worms) are seen mostly on the inside of the
wrapper, they are tiny pellets with a slightly thread-like thing to hold
them in a line of some sort.

Some people will remove these and throw them away, some will brew them right
from the wrapper, some will sun them for a couple of hours before brewing
them. I prefer the last method, the brew tastes slightly better, though I
must say there is nothing much to it.

The other type of Worm Dropping tea is cultivated from the worms of a moth
found in Guangxi. This tea is much tastier and interesting. The locals
will collect the leaves from mulberry trees and keep them in a dark room.
The moths will gyrate to these leaves, and lay their eggs there, and the
wormds will feed on the fermenting leaves. The locals will collect the
droppings, and fry them, sometime they mix it with honey. The droppings are
then taken like a thrist quencher on hot summer days as it is believed to
cool the body.

Danny


"stePH" wrote in message
ups.com...
Michael Plant wrote:
stePH, I've yet to get the brick, tuo, or bing that was exactly the
advertised weight. This includes some damned old cakes. I chalk it up to
variation unless I'm buying a small number of grams.

My wife wonders if it's not because there's some moisture in the tea at
the time of pressing, that later evaporates out and makes the gross
weight of the tea lighter. I weighed the other three bricks and they
were all between 5 and 7 grams light. Is she on to something?


stePH
--
I'll brew another pot of ambiguity.