Ozzy wrote:
> "G.Stojakovic" > wrote in
> oups.com:
>
> > I just picked up a low grade but very inexpensive pu-erh in NYC's
> > Chinatown from Kam Man on Canal St.
> >
> > It is in a red tin with the major label "Nor Sun Pu-Erh Tea" and is
> > packed by Ten Fine Trading Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong.
> >
> > 150 grams was $3.50.
> >
> > The quality of the leaves is coarse and the tea has a strong odor not
> > so much of "earth" but of dirt.
> >
> > I'll brew some up and let people know how it came out. I'm not
> > expecting much at the price but at the price..........
> >
> > Maria Stojakovic
> >
>
> I picked up a can from the same source last month and was pleasantly
> surprised at the quality to price ratio. So ultimately was at least one
> other person who has far more expertise: <http://dcs.nac.uci.edu/
> ~strombrg/tea.html> "...My current box is pretty decent though, for such a
> cheap tea."
>
> Ozzy

Here's my initial report. I don't think it is very good because I've
never written up something like this before and I'm not sure what words
to use.

I used 6 grams of tea for a bit less than 16 ounces of water.

I first washed the tea in boiling water, as suggested, for 15 seconds.

I then poured off the wash water, refilled the pot with fresh boiling
water, and let it steep for 3 minutes.

The tea had much less of a bouquet than I would have suspected from
smelling the dried leaves. It had a sort of mild flowery smell that
increased as the tea cooled a bit and then feel off.

There was also a slight smell of dirt that seemed to hit the nose from
inside my mouth a second after the tea was swallowed, particularly if I
let it rest in my mouth for any length of time.

The tea had a very low tannin, not at all the type of tea that Lipton
once described as "brisk."

It produced a creamy feel on the tongue without the taste of cream of
course. After a few sips the descriptive word that came to mind was
"teflon." I don't mean that to be negative as if the taste was plastic.
It was just very slick, almost slippery.

After everything in the pot had cooled I smelled the used damp leaves.
The smell of earth was even greater then when they were dry.

However, on to the second infusion which was with boiling water for
five minutes.

The bouquet was much the same as the first infusion.

The taste was a bit less and had a bit of a "plastic" quality to it.

Overall it isn't among my favorites.

But with one infusion of 3 grams to a pint of water the cost works out
to seven cents a pint. If you use two infusions the cost is less than
two cents a cup.

Given that and the posts indicating quality improves with age I'm going
to keep it around.

Maria