Michael Plant wrote:

> I'm talking about those ong paper rectangles
> that form a pouch for the tea and are long
> enough to drape over the side of the mug.
> You can put in any amount of tea and leave
> the sleeve in the mug as long as you like.
> When finished, you can disgard the wet
> and expanded sleeve. (Sounds a bit like a
> do-it-yourself you-know-what, right?)

Never seen those. I have some small cloth you-know-whats that I bought
before I got my first teapot; I don't use them any more.

> Young sheng Pu'erhs can be damned
> tastey IMHO, and are a class of their
> own, quite different from aged ones.
> They present fruits and flowers and
> mustiness that the aged ones don't.
> It's all a matter of taste, is it not?
>
> For me there are two big issues: First,
> making good sheng choices since most
> are not to my liking, and second avoiding
> their awkward adolescences since they
> take a lot of time to soften into mint and
> plum and camphor and before they lose
> that cigary smokiness, when that's present.

I've only tried three or four shengs, all from Tao of Tea -- a couple
in brick form, plus the "mini tuocha" and the loose-leaf. At worst
they put me in mind of the gunpowder that I'm drinking as I type this,
but the 2003 brick has that "cigary smokiness" that you mention. (the
smaller "Jing Mai" brick is marked 2004, but came sealed in plastic so
it's technically 2005 as I consider it)
I thought the "smokiness" was a feature of its aging; when I first
tried this brick I was pleased that unlike the other raw puers it had
some of the "earthiness" that I tasted in the cooked types. So this
attribute goes away with time, does it?

stePH
--
in cup: pinhead gunpowder from Wild Oats (aka Natures)
2nd infusion -- the first always goes down the sink upon brewing.