The postmark on the package was 3/25 and was on my doorstep 3/30. It
was sent par avion with USPS delivery. The customs declaration was
dated 3/25 and the new FDA Prior Notice System Interface sticker 3/23.
See http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~pn/pnoview.html to see what hoops a
vendor in China or any place else has to jump through to send you tea.
You notice this is an English only webpage and lucky for me the vendor
could understand and follow. I've got another puer order from China
hung up somewhere for over a month because they probably didn't meet
this requirement. I ordered some 50g green puerh rammed into capped
hollow bamboo tube for aging. I got 200g of black smoked pipe tuocha
sliced in 10g pieces wrapped in layers of bamboo leaf making a tube for
aging. I got some expensive loose leaf black Liuan wrapped in bamboo
leaf with basket which is identical in degree if not substance to a
cheaper compressed Liuan in a similar bamboo leaf lined basket. Looks
like I can start selling the cheap compressed Liuan from a Hong Kong
company found in my Chinatown and claiming on Ebay it is the same
expensive loose version from China. Actually this Liuan came in a
large zip lock bag because they removed the original packaging and the
loose leaf was falling between the bamboo leaves into the basket which
is only lightly woven. I'll even hold this in askance because this was
a last minute subtitution for green puer Liuan but of course became
unstocked after I ordered.

Jim

Space 3/31/05


> The postmark on the package was 3/25 and was on my doorstep 3/30. It
> was sent par avion with USPS delivery. The customs declaration was
> dated 3/25 and the new FDA Prior Notice System Interface sticker 3/23.
> See http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~pn/pnoview.html to see what hoops a
> vendor in China or any place else has to jump through to send you tea.
> You notice this is an English only webpage and lucky for me the vendor
> could understand and follow. I've got another puer order from China
> hung up somewhere for over a month because they probably didn't meet
> this requirement. I ordered some 50g green puerh rammed into capped
> hollow bamboo tube for aging. I got 200g of black smoked pipe tuocha
> sliced in 10g pieces wrapped in layers of bamboo leaf making a tube for
> aging. I got some expensive loose leaf black Liuan wrapped in bamboo
> leaf with basket which is identical in degree if not substance to a
> cheaper compressed Liuan in a similar bamboo leaf lined basket. Looks
> like I can start selling the cheap compressed Liuan from a Hong Kong
> company found in my Chinatown and claiming on Ebay it is the same
> expensive loose version from China. Actually this Liuan came in a
> large zip lock bag because they removed the original packaging and the
> loose leaf was falling between the bamboo leaves into the basket which
> is only lightly woven. I'll even hold this in askance because this was
> a last minute subtitution for green puer Liuan but of course became
> unstocked after I ordered.
>
> Jim
>


Jim,

What company in China sent you this tea, and how does it taste?

Michael

Space 3/31/05


> The postmark on the package was 3/25 and was on my doorstep 3/30. It
> was sent par avion with USPS delivery. The customs declaration was
> dated 3/25 and the new FDA Prior Notice System Interface sticker 3/23.
> See http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~pn/pnoview.html to see what hoops a
> vendor in China or any place else has to jump through to send you tea.
> You notice this is an English only webpage and lucky for me the vendor
> could understand and follow. I've got another puer order from China
> hung up somewhere for over a month because they probably didn't meet
> this requirement. I ordered some 50g green puerh rammed into capped
> hollow bamboo tube for aging. I got 200g of black smoked pipe tuocha
> sliced in 10g pieces wrapped in layers of bamboo leaf making a tube for
> aging. I got some expensive loose leaf black Liuan wrapped in bamboo
> leaf with basket which is identical in degree if not substance to a
> cheaper compressed Liuan in a similar bamboo leaf lined basket. Looks
> like I can start selling the cheap compressed Liuan from a Hong Kong
> company found in my Chinatown and claiming on Ebay it is the same
> expensive loose version from China. Actually this Liuan came in a
> large zip lock bag because they removed the original packaging and the
> loose leaf was falling between the bamboo leaves into the basket which
> is only lightly woven. I'll even hold this in askance because this was
> a last minute subtitution for green puer Liuan but of course became
> unstocked after I ordered.
>
> Jim
>


Jim,

What company in China sent you this tea, and how does it taste?

Michael

I was prepared for this. You know I can't proselytize tea companes
here. If you plug 'smoked pipe tuocha' into Google a couple of
companies will pop up. There is only one capable of filling the order.
You'd figure with a tea moniker like that you'd have to remove the
batteries from the smoke detectors. It is the smoothest most agreeable
black puer I've tasted. Nothing like a pauper's puer for making oyster
soup or tanning shoe leather. I haven't cracked open a tube of green
bamboo puer. I think I can wrestle out the contents without destroying
the potential flute. It is a BIG tube capable of holding far more than
the 50g. I'll resuse and pack with other puer. I like the taste of
the black Liuan if that wasn't their otherwise premium loose Grade A
black puer which was more expensive. Interesting the infused leaf was
a mix of green and black. You don't notice that in the basket. I was
disappointed they couldn't fill the order for green Liuan mellon seed
in a bamboo basket because I wanted to see if it was a puer or simply
compressed. I'll keep checking back to see when it is available. My
invoice number was over 5000 so they must be doing okay with orders. I
want to say one last thing. When it comes to tea make up your own mind
and don't believe what anyone says about a company and their teas.
This is my first order off the Internet so flog me with a bamboo tube
full of puer. My local tea shoppe made me do it.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> Space
3/31/05
>
....I delete me...
>
>
> Jim,
>
> What company in China sent you this tea, and how does it taste?
>
> Michael

I was prepared for this. You know I can't proselytize tea companes
here. If you plug 'smoked pipe tuocha' into Google a couple of
companies will pop up. There is only one capable of filling the order.
You'd figure with a tea moniker like that you'd have to remove the
batteries from the smoke detectors. It is the smoothest most agreeable
black puer I've tasted. Nothing like a pauper's puer for making oyster
soup or tanning shoe leather. I haven't cracked open a tube of green
bamboo puer. I think I can wrestle out the contents without destroying
the potential flute. It is a BIG tube capable of holding far more than
the 50g. I'll resuse and pack with other puer. I like the taste of
the black Liuan if that wasn't their otherwise premium loose Grade A
black puer which was more expensive. Interesting the infused leaf was
a mix of green and black. You don't notice that in the basket. I was
disappointed they couldn't fill the order for green Liuan mellon seed
in a bamboo basket because I wanted to see if it was a puer or simply
compressed. I'll keep checking back to see when it is available. My
invoice number was over 5000 so they must be doing okay with orders. I
want to say one last thing. When it comes to tea make up your own mind
and don't believe what anyone says about a company and their teas.
This is my first order off the Internet so flog me with a bamboo tube
full of puer. My local tea shoppe made me do it.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> Space
3/31/05
>
....I delete me...
>
>
> Jim,
>
> What company in China sent you this tea, and how does it taste?
>
> Michael

I was prepared for your answer. I respect your feelings on the matter.

Michael



Space 3/31/05


> I was prepared for this. You know I can't proselytize tea companes
> here. If you plug 'smoked pipe tuocha' into Google a couple of
> companies will pop up. There is only one capable of filling the order.
> You'd figure with a tea moniker like that you'd have to remove the
> batteries from the smoke detectors. It is the smoothest most agreeable
> black puer I've tasted. Nothing like a pauper's puer for making oyster
> soup or tanning shoe leather. I haven't cracked open a tube of green
> bamboo puer. I think I can wrestle out the contents without destroying
> the potential flute. It is a BIG tube capable of holding far more than
> the 50g. I'll resuse and pack with other puer. I like the taste of
> the black Liuan if that wasn't their otherwise premium loose Grade A
> black puer which was more expensive. Interesting the infused leaf was
> a mix of green and black. You don't notice that in the basket. I was
> disappointed they couldn't fill the order for green Liuan mellon seed
> in a bamboo basket because I wanted to see if it was a puer or simply
> compressed. I'll keep checking back to see when it is available. My
> invoice number was over 5000 so they must be doing okay with orders. I
> want to say one last thing. When it comes to tea make up your own mind
> and don't believe what anyone says about a company and their teas.
> This is my first order off the Internet so flog me with a bamboo tube
> full of puer. My local tea shoppe made me do it.
>
> Jim
>
> Michael Plant wrote:
>> Space
> 3/31/05
>>
> ...I delete me...
>>
>>
>> Jim,
>>
>> What company in China sent you this tea, and how does it taste?
>>
>> Michael
>

I was prepared for your answer. I respect your feelings on the matter.

Michael



Space 3/31/05


> I was prepared for this. You know I can't proselytize tea companes
> here. If you plug 'smoked pipe tuocha' into Google a couple of
> companies will pop up. There is only one capable of filling the order.
> You'd figure with a tea moniker like that you'd have to remove the
> batteries from the smoke detectors. It is the smoothest most agreeable
> black puer I've tasted. Nothing like a pauper's puer for making oyster
> soup or tanning shoe leather. I haven't cracked open a tube of green
> bamboo puer. I think I can wrestle out the contents without destroying
> the potential flute. It is a BIG tube capable of holding far more than
> the 50g. I'll resuse and pack with other puer. I like the taste of
> the black Liuan if that wasn't their otherwise premium loose Grade A
> black puer which was more expensive. Interesting the infused leaf was
> a mix of green and black. You don't notice that in the basket. I was
> disappointed they couldn't fill the order for green Liuan mellon seed
> in a bamboo basket because I wanted to see if it was a puer or simply
> compressed. I'll keep checking back to see when it is available. My
> invoice number was over 5000 so they must be doing okay with orders. I
> want to say one last thing. When it comes to tea make up your own mind
> and don't believe what anyone says about a company and their teas.
> This is my first order off the Internet so flog me with a bamboo tube
> full of puer. My local tea shoppe made me do it.
>
> Jim
>
> Michael Plant wrote:
>> Space
> 3/31/05
>>
> ...I delete me...
>>
>>
>> Jim,
>>
>> What company in China sent you this tea, and how does it taste?
>>
>> Michael
>

I'm not going to say anymore about this order here. I could but where
is your fun of discovery if there is no mystery? It was a cheap
dalliance into the mystery about bamboo puerh. When the streets melt
from the latest unpredicted snow accumulation I'm off to the Indian
stores in search of black salt.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> I was prepared for your answer. I respect your feelings on the
matter.
>
> Michael
>
> Space
3/31/05
>
>
> > I was prepared for this. You know I can't proselytize tea companes
> > here.
....blah blah blah...

> > Michael Plant wrote:
> >> Space
> > 3/31/05
> >>
> > ...I delete me...
> >>
> >>
> >> Jim,
> >>
> >> What company in China sent you this tea, and how does it taste?
> >>
> >> Michael

"Space Cowboy" > writes:

> I'm not going to say anymore about this order here. I could but where
> is your fun of discovery if there is no mystery? It was a cheap
> dalliance into the mystery about bamboo puerh. When the streets melt
> from the latest unpredicted snow accumulation I'm off to the Indian
> stores in search of black salt.

Don't they use black salt to melt the snow on Colorado roads?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

"Space Cowboy" > writes:

> I'm not going to say anymore about this order here. I could but where
> is your fun of discovery if there is no mystery? It was a cheap
> dalliance into the mystery about bamboo puerh. When the streets melt
> from the latest unpredicted snow accumulation I'm off to the Indian
> stores in search of black salt.

Don't they use black salt to melt the snow on Colorado roads?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

Hehe, it was rated on my site over a year ago.

http://www.cybersilkroad.com/index.h...ile=intro.html

I would say more but this is just TOO easy....

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




On 31 Mar 2005 08:32:22 -0800, "Space Cowboy" >
wrote:

>I was prepared for this. You know I can't proselytize tea companes
>here. If you plug 'smoked pipe tuocha' into Google a couple of
>companies will pop up. There is only one capable of filling the order.
> You'd figure with a tea moniker like that you'd have to remove the
>batteries from the smoke detectors. It is the smoothest most agreeable
>black puer I've tasted. Nothing like a pauper's puer for making oyster
>soup or tanning shoe leather. I haven't cracked open a tube of green
>bamboo puer. I think I can wrestle out the contents without destroying
>the potential flute. It is a BIG tube capable of holding far more than
>the 50g. I'll resuse and pack with other puer. I like the taste of
>the black Liuan if that wasn't their otherwise premium loose Grade A
>black puer which was more expensive. Interesting the infused leaf was
>a mix of green and black. You don't notice that in the basket. I was
>disappointed they couldn't fill the order for green Liuan mellon seed
>in a bamboo basket because I wanted to see if it was a puer or simply
>compressed. I'll keep checking back to see when it is available. My
>invoice number was over 5000 so they must be doing okay with orders. I
>want to say one last thing. When it comes to tea make up your own mind
>and don't believe what anyone says about a company and their teas.
>This is my first order off the Internet so flog me with a bamboo tube
>full of puer. My local tea shoppe made me do it.
>
>Jim

I lied. Don't get spooked about that forboding FDA website for Prior
Notification. It is a requirement for international mail and must be
attached to the package. However all that is required is the Submitter
and Recipient addresses, an estimated time of shipping, and a simple
line item description of contents. In this case the company probably
has automated software to take electronic billing information, generate
the Notification from the FDA, and send with required Customs
Declaration. All the rest of the spurious information is to facilitate
Importer and Exporter transactions.

Jim

Space Cowboy wrote:
> I'm not going to say anymore about this order here. I could but
where
> is your fun of discovery if there is no mystery? It was a cheap
> dalliance into the mystery about bamboo puerh. When the streets melt
> from the latest unpredicted snow accumulation I'm off to the Indian
> stores in search of black salt.
>
> Jim
>
> Michael Plant wrote:
> > I was prepared for your answer. I respect your feelings on the
> matter.
> >
> > Michael
> >
> > Space
> 3/31/05
> >
> >
> > > I was prepared for this. You know I can't proselytize tea
companes
> > > here.
> ...blah blah blah...
>
> > > Michael Plant wrote:
> > >> Space
> > >
3/31/05
> > >>
> > > ...I delete me...
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Jim,
> > >>
> > >> What company in China sent you this tea, and how does it taste?
> > >>
> > >> Michael

I lied. Don't get spooked about that forboding FDA website for Prior
Notification. It is a requirement for international mail and must be
attached to the package. However all that is required is the Submitter
and Recipient addresses, an estimated time of shipping, and a simple
line item description of contents. In this case the company probably
has automated software to take electronic billing information, generate
the Notification from the FDA, and send with required Customs
Declaration. All the rest of the spurious information is to facilitate
Importer and Exporter transactions.

Jim

Space Cowboy wrote:
> I'm not going to say anymore about this order here. I could but
where
> is your fun of discovery if there is no mystery? It was a cheap
> dalliance into the mystery about bamboo puerh. When the streets melt
> from the latest unpredicted snow accumulation I'm off to the Indian
> stores in search of black salt.
>
> Jim
>
> Michael Plant wrote:
> > I was prepared for your answer. I respect your feelings on the
> matter.
> >
> > Michael
> >
> > Space
> 3/31/05
> >
> >
> > > I was prepared for this. You know I can't proselytize tea
companes
> > > here.
> ...blah blah blah...
>
> > > Michael Plant wrote:
> > >> Space
> > >
3/31/05
> > >>
> > > ...I delete me...
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Jim,
> > >>
> > >> What company in China sent you this tea, and how does it taste?
> > >>
> > >> Michael

Space Cowboy wrote:
> I lied. Don't get spooked about that forboding FDA website for Prior
> Notification. It is a requirement for international mail and must be
> attached to the package. However all that is required is the
Submitter
> and Recipient addresses, an estimated time of shipping, and a simple
> line item description of contents. In this case the company probably
> has automated software to take electronic billing information,
generate
> the Notification from the FDA, and send with required Customs
> Declaration. All the rest of the spurious information is to
facilitate
> Importer and Exporter transactions.
>
> Jim


Having personally done at least a dozen of these so far I can say this.
There is no automated interface to the FDA system yet. However once you
"register" it is a quick and simple process. One thing that hampers
some foreign companies is that you MUST have a US "Agent" in order to
register a foreign company. This is not a big deal, I am actually an
agent for one outfit (just as a favor, no affiliation), it is just an
address that communications can be sent to by the government that
commits to delivering those communications to the foreign entity.

However, the recipient can register him/herself and file the "Prior
Notification" just as easily as the sender. I have done this several
times when the Chinese fellows just couldn't figure it out. Often they
speak just enough English to barely complete the transaction let alone
navigate the US Bureaucratic red tape.

The whole Prior Notification regulation is being sporadicly enforced at
the moment. Many shipments still make it through without delay, however
I have seen some get delayed and even get "brokerage" fees tacked on at
Customs. The threat of the package being confiscated is always there if
the Prior Notification is not filed. This only applies to consumables,
not accessories.

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

Space Cowboy wrote:
> I lied. Don't get spooked about that forboding FDA website for Prior
> Notification. It is a requirement for international mail and must be
> attached to the package. However all that is required is the
Submitter
> and Recipient addresses, an estimated time of shipping, and a simple
> line item description of contents. In this case the company probably
> has automated software to take electronic billing information,
generate
> the Notification from the FDA, and send with required Customs
> Declaration. All the rest of the spurious information is to
facilitate
> Importer and Exporter transactions.
>
> Jim


Having personally done at least a dozen of these so far I can say this.
There is no automated interface to the FDA system yet. However once you
"register" it is a quick and simple process. One thing that hampers
some foreign companies is that you MUST have a US "Agent" in order to
register a foreign company. This is not a big deal, I am actually an
agent for one outfit (just as a favor, no affiliation), it is just an
address that communications can be sent to by the government that
commits to delivering those communications to the foreign entity.

However, the recipient can register him/herself and file the "Prior
Notification" just as easily as the sender. I have done this several
times when the Chinese fellows just couldn't figure it out. Often they
speak just enough English to barely complete the transaction let alone
navigate the US Bureaucratic red tape.

The whole Prior Notification regulation is being sporadicly enforced at
the moment. Many shipments still make it through without delay, however
I have seen some get delayed and even get "brokerage" fees tacked on at
Customs. The threat of the package being confiscated is always there if
the Prior Notification is not filed. This only applies to consumables,
not accessories.

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

Any web based form with fill in the fields can be automated. That's
the reason you sometimes are prompted to reenter the random generated
characters from a graphic mosaic before you get to the form to stop
such software. From what I've seen so far you can tell this wasn't the
FDA's idea. It was some Congressional committee listening too so
called terrorist experts. There is nothing in this process that
prevents a company from sending me grasshopper gono or anthrax in my
Oriental Beauty. I see a language difficulty because the FDA site is
only in English. So the recipient can complete the Notification but
the sticker still has to be attached to the parcel and recorded on the
Customs Declaration. The Anticipated Shipdate clued me this is nothing
more than locks on my house. They keep honest people honest. For
foreign parcels I usually fork out for a tracking number. At least for
international carriers you can find the location and status of your
shipment. I just recently ordered some airline tickets online for my
wife. 24 hours before the flight you print a boarding pass which
confirms your seat assignment. You present the pass to TSA security
with photo ID which allows you to proceed to the gate and board the
plane bypassing any checkin. I still have that pass on my computer and
could easily change the information which would allow me to proceed to
any gate. I'm probably not going anywhere because I would have to know
an unassigned seat and the boarding pass count wouldn't equal the
passenger manifest. It probably would get me on the plane initially
which I couldn't even do in the years before 911 because the boarding
pass was issued at the gate.

Jim

Mike Petro wrote:
> Space Cowboy wrote:
> > I lied. Don't get spooked about that forboding FDA website for
Prior
> > Notification. It is a requirement for international mail and must
be
> > attached to the package. However all that is required is the
> Submitter
> > and Recipient addresses, an estimated time of shipping, and a
simple
> > line item description of contents. In this case the company
probably
> > has automated software to take electronic billing information,
> generate
> > the Notification from the FDA, and send with required Customs
> > Declaration. All the rest of the spurious information is to
> facilitate
> > Importer and Exporter transactions.
> >
> > Jim
>
>
> Having personally done at least a dozen of these so far I can say
this.
> There is no automated interface to the FDA system yet. However once
you
> "register" it is a quick and simple process. One thing that hampers
> some foreign companies is that you MUST have a US "Agent" in order to
> register a foreign company. This is not a big deal, I am actually an
> agent for one outfit (just as a favor, no affiliation), it is just an
> address that communications can be sent to by the government that
> commits to delivering those communications to the foreign entity.
>
> However, the recipient can register him/herself and file the "Prior
> Notification" just as easily as the sender. I have done this several
> times when the Chinese fellows just couldn't figure it out. Often
they
> speak just enough English to barely complete the transaction let
alone
> navigate the US Bureaucratic red tape.
>
> The whole Prior Notification regulation is being sporadicly enforced
at
> the moment. Many shipments still make it through without delay,
however
> I have seen some get delayed and even get "brokerage" fees tacked on
at
> Customs. The threat of the package being confiscated is always there
if
> the Prior Notification is not filed. This only applies to
consumables,
> not accessories.
>
> Mike
> http://www.pu-erh.net