Hello again all. I know Mike Petro has said he enjoys the Dai
Nationality Bamboo Puerh. I've had a kind of bamboo tea before, and
liked it a lot. So, Mike, or, for that matter, could anyone point me in
the direction of this tea. I've seen a couple of selections online, but
I'd like to get one that someone has tried and could recomend.

Actually my experience with Dai Nationality Bamboo Tea was very contrasting.
I bought this tea twice from David Hoffman (Silk Road) and first time it was
fabulous. Two months later I bough quite a chunk of it (2 kilos I think) and
it was nothing like the first one. The first one I would recommend to
anyone, the second sits in my puer teabox almost untouched.

Sasha.


> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hello again all. I know Mike Petro has said he enjoys the Dai
> Nationality Bamboo Puerh. I've had a kind of bamboo tea before, and
> liked it a lot. So, Mike, or, for that matter, could anyone point me in
> the direction of this tea. I've seen a couple of selections online, but
> I'd like to get one that someone has tried and could recomend.
>

Alex . com6/19/05


> Actually my experience with Dai Nationality Bamboo Tea was very contrasting.
> I bought this tea twice from David Hoffman (Silk Road) and first time it was
> fabulous. Two months later I bough quite a chunk of it (2 kilos I think) and
> it was nothing like the first one. The first one I would recommend to
> anyone, the second sits in my puer teabox almost untouched.
>
> Sasha.
>
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> Hello again all. I know Mike Petro has said he enjoys the Dai
>> Nationality Bamboo Puerh. I've had a kind of bamboo tea before, and
>> liked it a lot. So, Mike, or, for that matter, could anyone point me in
>> the direction of this tea. I've seen a couple of selections online, but
>> I'd like to get one that someone has tried and could recomend.


Which leads me to a question. Received wisdom is to open up your wrapped
pu'erh and expose it to air, still in its paper wrap presumably. Would
leaving the Pu'erh in its shrink wrap or metal casing harm it per se, or
merely severely retard the aging process?

Mike and others?

Michael

What bamboo tea are we talking about? The one in the tubes roasted
over a fire to absorb the flavor of the bamboo or the smoked tuocha
that comes in a dried bamboo shell for storage or the pu that comes
wrapped by green bamboo leaf which dries out giving it's flavor?

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> Alex . com6/19/05
>
>
> > Actually my experience with Dai Nationality Bamboo Tea was very contrasting.
> > I bought this tea twice from David Hoffman (Silk Road) and first time it was
> > fabulous. Two months later I bough quite a chunk of it (2 kilos I think) and
> > it was nothing like the first one. The first one I would recommend to
> > anyone, the second sits in my puer teabox almost untouched.
> >
> > Sasha.
> >
> >
> > > wrote in message
> > oups.com...
> >> Hello again all. I know Mike Petro has said he enjoys the Dai
> >> Nationality Bamboo Puerh. I've had a kind of bamboo tea before, and
> >> liked it a lot. So, Mike, or, for that matter, could anyone point me in
> >> the direction of this tea. I've seen a couple of selections online, but
> >> I'd like to get one that someone has tried and could recomend.
>
>
> Which leads me to a question. Received wisdom is to open up your wrapped
> pu'erh and expose it to air, still in its paper wrap presumably. Would
> leaving the Pu'erh in its shrink wrap or metal casing harm it per se, or
> merely severely retard the aging process?
>
> Mike and others?
>
> Michael

wrote:
> Hello again all. I know Mike Petro has said he enjoys the Dai
> Nationality Bamboo Puerh. I've had a kind of bamboo tea before, and
> liked it a lot. So, Mike, or, for that matter, could anyone point me in
> the direction of this tea. I've seen a couple of selections online, but
> I'd like to get one that someone has tried and could recomend.

Hi Nico,

Which kind of Bamboo did you try that you liked, can you describe it?
There are about 6-8 distinctly different types that I am aware of. Was
it cooked or raw? Was it formed into tablets, wrapped in paper, then
placed in a Bamboo case? Was it formed into tablets, wrapped in paper,
then wrapped in bamboo leaves? Was it simply compressed into a bamboo
cane? Or was it just a long pipe shaped stick of tea? Describe it and I
might be able to steer you in the right direction.

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

Michael Plant wrote:

> Which leads me to a question. Received wisdom is to open up your wrapped
> pu'erh and expose it to air, still in its paper wrap presumably. Would
> leaving the Pu'erh in its shrink wrap or metal casing harm it per se, or
> merely severely retard the aging process?

Keeping it sealed wont harm it, unless you seal in too much moisture,
but it will retard the maturing process if it is an airtight container.
Also, depending on the shrink wrap, I have seen many bingcha lately
shrink wrapped in a perforated type of shrink wrap that would still age
perfectly fine.

One of the main "long term" storage objectives is too ensure that
air can get to the tea, if you are going to consume it within the next
few months then it doesn't really matter. It is recommended to
occasionally pull out your stock and rotate it in it's storage unit.
This serves two purposes, it guarantees periodic exposure to fresh air,
and it helps equalize the amount of air exposure that each cake gets.
For example cakes on the top or bottom of a stack will get more
exposure to air than cakes in the middle. When collectors break open an
old "Qizi" (tong) they often place a higher value on the top and
bottom cake within that Qizi, the reason being that these two cakes had
more exposure to air.

The only time it is recommended to "seal" a puerh against air
exposure is in the case of a tea that has already matured sufficiently,
say 30-40 years or so. It is possible to mature a tea too much at which
point the tea will be extremely smooth but will start to loose flavor
and aroma, alas that is a problem I think very few Westerners will ever
have.

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

[Jim]
> What bamboo tea are we talking about? The one in the tubes roasted
> over a fire to absorb the flavor of the bamboo or the smoked tuocha
> that comes in a dried bamboo shell for storage or the pu that comes
> wrapped by green bamboo leaf which dries out giving it's flavor?

[Michael]
I was talking about a hunk of Dai Bamboo Pu'erh, extracted from what must
have been a hefty wide bamboo case, and placed into a sealed metalic bag.

This leads me to another issue. The bamboo encased tea I last tasted had a
distinct "flowered" aroma and taste which might have been a heavy dose of
the bamboo transfer here described and discussed. (See previous posts in
this thread for details.) Perhaps the taste and aroma of the bamboo was so
heavy that I missed that that was what it was. Any thoughts?

Michael

> The only time it is recommended to "seal" a puerh against air
> exposure is in the case of a tea that has already matured sufficiently,
> say 30-40 years or so. It is possible to mature a tea too much at which
> point the tea will be extremely smooth but will start to loose flavor
> and aroma, alas that is a problem I think very few Westerners will ever
> have.
>
> Mike
> http://www.pu-erh.net
>

Thanks for the information, Mike. To your last comment, I can only say, It's
all about the qi.

Michael

>> The only time it is recommended to "seal" a puerh against air
>> exposure is in the case of a tea that has already matured sufficiently,
>> say 30-40 years or so. It is possible to mature a tea too much at which
>> point the tea will be extremely smooth but will start to loose flavor
>> and aroma, alas that is a problem I think very few Westerners will ever
>> have.
>>
>> Mike
>> http://www.pu-erh.net
>>
>
>Thanks for the information, Mike. To your last comment, I can only say, It's
>all about the qi.
>
>Michael

Ahhh, the "Qi" is a concept that I only get fleeting glimpses of. It
seems that Qi is very difficult for a Westerner to fully grasp, or at
least for me anyway. I find myself struggling to tell the difference
between Qi and a caffeine buzz.
Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net
"In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed."
Samuel Johnson, 1775, upon finishing his dictionary.

My bamboo tubes have a commercial wrapper with lots of Chinese and the
only English "Fragrant Bamboo Tube Tea". I don't think the bamboo
fragance overwhelming perse. It's just another scented tea which I
think works well with the poo. When it is gone I'll use it for storage
of other teas. I'm on a quest to store all my teas in bamboo tubes in
a wine rack. I need something the size for 500g. Also for long term
storage I need to investigates problems with wood worms and the likes.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> [Jim]
> > What bamboo tea are we talking about? The one in the tubes roasted
> > over a fire to absorb the flavor of the bamboo or the smoked tuocha
> > that comes in a dried bamboo shell for storage or the pu that comes
> > wrapped by green bamboo leaf which dries out giving it's flavor?
>
> [Michael]
> I was talking about a hunk of Dai Bamboo Pu'erh, extracted from what must
> have been a hefty wide bamboo case, and placed into a sealed metalic bag.
>
> This leads me to another issue. The bamboo encased tea I last tasted had a
> distinct "flowered" aroma and taste which might have been a heavy dose of
> the bamboo transfer here described and discussed. (See previous posts in
> this thread for details.) Perhaps the taste and aroma of the bamboo was so
> heavy that I missed that that was what it was. Any thoughts?
>
> Michael

[Mike]
>>> The only time it is recommended to "seal" a puerh against air
>>> exposure is in the case of a tea that has already matured sufficiently,
>>> say 30-40 years or so. It is possible to mature a tea too much at which
>>> point the tea will be extremely smooth but will start to loose flavor
>>> and aroma, alas that is a problem I think very few Westerners will ever
>>> have.

[Michael]
>> Thanks for the information, Mike. To your last comment, I can only say, It's
>> all about the qi.

[Mike]
> Ahhh, the "Qi" is a concept that I only get fleeting glimpses of. It
> seems that Qi is very difficult for a Westerner to fully grasp, or at
> least for me anyway. I find myself struggling to tell the difference
> between Qi and a caffeine buzz.

[Michael]
Bottom line: A caffeine buzz is a caffeine buzz, but qi is whatever you
want it to be, and less......

M

Hi Mike,
The tea I described was actually one from Northern Laos, and thus not
really a puehr as such. I was a pipe shaped stick of tea wrapped in
thin stips of bamboo. The tea was a grean tea, which, I believe, had
been roasted in a wok over a bamboo fire. I got it from Marriage Freres
in Paris about two years ago. Interestingly enough, I, like Sasha (or
Alex?) also had two sticks, one of which was superb and the other sub
par.
I'm not necessarilly interested in finding one exactly like that. I was
mainly intruiged by the pictures on your homepage a while back. I
thought, being that you had tried a good number of puehrs, and you
declared this one as one of your favorites, that might be be a good
place to start.
I've also taken a look at your recomendations, especially the kilo
brick on ebay. Have you been drinking this one or letting it sit? Also,
would it work to devide a brick or cake, keeping some for storage and
the rest for immediate consumption?

Always appreciate the help,
Nico