Hi Melinda,

Is this Asian Market tea a green or black puerh? It almost sounds like
it may be a green which is a totally different beast. Next time you
go to the market ask for "shu" puer (black/ripe/cooked) which is what
your Upton sample most certainly was. If you print my Rosetta page and
take it with you can point to the Chinese character that represents
"shu" or the characters for "Xiao-Tuocha" which is the mini tuocha but
make sure you ask for "shu" as Xiao-Tuocha is available in both green
and black. http://www.pu-erh.net/rosetta.html

Look at the other thread going on right now about Silk Road Teas and
give David Hoffman a call. 415-488-9017 I highly recommend the Bamboo
puer. You may also want to try a ripe golden melon.

A few other good shu/ripe/black teas a
http://www.teaspring.com/Superior-Yunnan-Pu-erh.asp
http://www.sevencups.com/proddetail.php?prod=PT-PalPue
http://www.sevencups.com/proddetail.php?prod=PT-AgePref
http://store.yahoo.com/teastores/blbrpu.html


Yes, oyster knives, letter openers, and special puer knives all work
well. I also keep a clean set of channel-lock pliers in my tea drawer
for the really hard cakes.

Hope this helped,


Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net
remove the "filter" in my email address to reply