Weed and tobacco are cheaper than tea. I've never seen one example of
alien adulteration. If you suspect something just look at the dry and
spent leaf for any inconsistencies. You'll have to take someone's word
when it comes to fines and dust but uniform color and particulate is a
minimum. I did find more expensive cork than cheap puerh in tea bags.
Maybe the original poster is confused between what the general public
means for tea versus what we mean in this group. I worked in a canning
factory during college and anything can come down those shutes. I
imagine puerh processing might be similar.

Jim

toci wrote:
> It's sort of fun to think what might be used to dilute tea. Grass
> clippings from the front yard? the other kind of grass? Cut up weed
> leaves? There are a couple of teas I've had where I suspect tobacco.
> And no telling what's in puehr. Toci
> Space Cowboy wrote:
> > Tea names are finished agricultural goods sold on the open market. Tea
> > brands are packaging names. Puerh factories might be the exception
> > that take raw tea material and produce a finished product like a
> > canning factory. There are questions where say more Dareeling is
> > consumed than sold or what makes a tea organic or why two English
> > Breakfasts taste different. But tea is tea if it is camellia sinensis.
> > The tea industry doesn't work the way I understand your question.
> >
> > Jim