I've always thanked heaven that my first pu-erh wasn't a small
tuocha--those things tend to be disgusting. The only one I've had that
I liked was the "high grade camel's breath" from Holy Mountain (which
I assume was resold from Silk Road, given the similarity of that and
many other Holy Mountain products to ones from SR). Even then I only
brewed 1/3 to 1/4 a tuo, since the whole thing would produce a
horrible black liquor. Eww.

My first pu-erh was the basic loose pu-erh from Upton teas. It's
pretty good for the price--you might try that one.

Another good pu-erh to try is Funalliance's "pu'er cake."
http://funalliance.com/tea/htm/tea/870101026.htm
Unusually, Kam (who runs Funalliance) will sell 1/4 of a cake, $7.8
with shipping. It's good, particularly for a beginner.

Hope that helps.

Many happy infusions,

ZBL

"Ben S." > wrote in message >...
> Steve Hay wrote:
> > I just retried the Specialteas Pu-Erh Tuo Cha in a final attempt to
> > appreciate this tea before giving up entirely on it for another year.
> > This time, I rinsed it in freshly boiling water for 30 seconds before
> > drinking it, and steeped it in boiling water for 6 minutes each steeping.
> >
> > Finally, I was able to taste this tea without the need to throw it
> > away.. Previously, I had just not been able to enjoy this tea due to
> > its (shall I say) earthy tones. This time, for some reason (I don't
> > clearly remember how/if I rinsed the tea before), it came out much
> > better. The earthiness was appropriately subdued enough to drink, and
> > the complexities of the tea started to come out. Obviously, I'm a
> > beginner at Pu-Erh (and tea in general, if that makes sense), but I get
> > the sense this tea is probably too straightforward for me. If I am
> > going to taste something earthy, I want it also to be complex and
> > interesting, with other flavors in the profile (wine term?). I look
> > forward to some Green and White Pu-Erh tea I have in the mail from IPOT,
> > and who knows, maybe I will actually give some other Black Pu-Erhs a
> > try, now that I know I can drink them with an appropriate rinse.
>
> This was my first pu-erh, and though I liked it I've come to enjoy just
> about every other black pu-erh more than this one. I'm not saying that
> special teas' pu-erh is bad, just that there's a whole world of it
> waiting for you to try.
>
> -ben