Are you sure it wasn't just a big tuocha? A cha beeng is a flat
discus of tea although it usually has a little indentation on the
back.

I currently have two yixing pots for puerh and will add a third and
possibly fourth in the future. My breakdown right now is one for
young green puerh and one for black. I'm going to add another for
aged green puerh and possibly another for golden tip varieties of
black puerh like gold bud beeng and topaz/imperial puerh.

As far as buying aged puerhs goes, you can either deal with reputable
retailers or buy in person (vastly preferable). Since I'm in the
middle of the Canadian prairies I'm stuck with online retailers for
now. I'm slowly building up a collection of immature cakes, and I'll
wait until my next trip to Asia to buy the bulk of my aged puerhs.

I find that puerh (green and black) brewed in yixing pots is very
different than in glass and gongfu is another thing entirely. I
generally use a lower ratio of leaf-to-water than I do with oolongs.
For seasoning pots it makes sense to season it with the same grade of
leaf that you'll be brewing on a regular basis. It makes no sense to
break in a pot with the best leaf if you'll be drinking a lower grade.
I've been working on a short guide to seasoning yixing pots and I'll
send you a copy if you're interested.

Cheers,

Cameron


(Melinda) wrote in message . com>...
> I am brewing up a little of a bingcha (? larger than a tuocha but
> still bowl shaped) that I got at my local Asian market...it wasn't
> expensive. It looks black. I am wondering from those that do this, how
> many yixing do you devote to puer and how do you separate them out,
> i.e. do you put green in one and black in another, that would be two
> pots, or do you break it down even further? I wouldn't know how,
> personally, except by age, but then you have to take the vendor's word
> for the age, or guess if it's not stated.
>
>
>
> I'd like to get a yixing for puer but I wouldn't know what to season
> it with, since puer's so strong I'd be afraid to use anything cheap. I
> can imagine it is QUITE different making it gongfu and making it in a
> glass pot like I did this morning.