The Culture and Marketing of Tea, C.R. Harler, 1956, Oxford Press. His
first edition was published in 1933. This edition updates till the
post war. On pages 206-208 he discusses pickled tea. "In Burma, the
pickled tea, is called Leppet-so, while dry or green tea is called
Leppet-chauk. In Siam the Lao tribes pickle the leaf which is called
Lao tea or Miang. In South Yunnan the dry tea is called Pu-erh, after
the town of that name although it is grown and prepared in the I-Bang
district." He desribes where Leppet-so is compressed and buried in the
ground for up to six months. "Leppet-so has the smell of wet organic
matter which as decomposed in a limited air supply, as of retting jute.
It also has a distinct leathery smell and a slight sweet smell as of
alcoholic fermentation The whole aroma is not unpleasant and might
easily become an acquired taste". Sounds like some of our posts. This
might be called your grandfather's pu-erh. He also postulates that the
area from North East Indian, Burma, Thailand, to south Yunnan was the
historical source for making "Jungle" tea and not China where it was
first recorded.

Jim

On 18 Apr 2005 08:05:21 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:

> The whole aroma is not unpleasant and might
> easily become an acquired taste

Talk about speaking euphemistically. "The whole aroma is not unpleasant..."
meaning "it doesn't stink too badly...." Heh.

Thanks for the reference, Jim. I'm going to have to add that to my
"treasure hunt" book list.

--
Derek

Success is a journey, not a destination. So stop running.

On 18 Apr 2005 08:05:21 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:

> The whole aroma is not unpleasant and might
> easily become an acquired taste

Talk about speaking euphemistically. "The whole aroma is not unpleasant..."
meaning "it doesn't stink too badly...." Heh.

Thanks for the reference, Jim. I'm going to have to add that to my
"treasure hunt" book list.

--
Derek

Success is a journey, not a destination. So stop running.

Derek wrote:
> On 18 Apr 2005 08:05:21 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:
>
>
>>The whole aroma is not unpleasant and might
>>easily become an acquired taste
>
>
> Talk about speaking euphemistically. "The whole aroma is not unpleasant..."
> meaning "it doesn't stink too badly...." Heh.
>
> Thanks for the reference, Jim. I'm going to have to add that to my
> "treasure hunt" book list.
>


This reminds me of some thoughts I had pre refrigeration days of
mankind.

Just exactly who thought up cheese and yogurt, let alone actual
fermented things like wines and other intoxicants?

You had to be _really_ hungry, really really hungry to eat some of this
stuff, eh?


TBerk

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:29:59 GMT
T > wrote:

> Derek wrote:
> > On 18 Apr 2005 08:05:21 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:
> >
> >
> >>The whole aroma is not unpleasant and might
> >>easily become an acquired taste
> >
> >
> > Talk about speaking euphemistically. "The whole aroma is not
> > unpleasant..." meaning "it doesn't stink too badly...." Heh.
> >
> > Thanks for the reference, Jim. I'm going to have to add that to my
> > "treasure hunt" book list.
> >
>
>
> This reminds me of some thoughts I had pre refrigeration days of
> mankind.
>
> Just exactly who thought up cheese and yogurt, let alone actual
> fermented things like wines and other intoxicants?
>
> You had to be _really_ hungry, really really hungry to eat some of this
> stuff, eh?


Cheese is thought have been an accidental discovery. All you have to do
is try to store milk in a stomach. You'd have to ask the turks why they
thought up yogurt.

I'm unsure of the origins of beer and wine, but once they were
established they were actually the preferred beverages, being less prone to
giving you a possibly deadly bout of dysentery than raw water.

Some anthropologists credit modern civilization to the popularity of
coffee and tea. Before their broad availability in the UK, for example, it
was normal for the common man to drink several pints of beer throughout the
day, and most people probably walked around slightly under the influence
nearly all the time.

I found it on Ebay through a Canadian seller. Of course it spent time
in Customs and the package was open. It is hardback and 260 pages.
The author's entire career was an insider doing research for the tea
industry in India. His chapters on Further India and IndoChina are
notable. He does explain pharmacology,soils,chemistry which not
readily available elsewhere. He did predict that Africa would become
the world's leading exporter of tea. While not all of my black puerhs
taste like tanning solution what the West calls acquired the Chinese
call desired. I've come to enjoy the taste perse. I drink it at
supper meals because it is an incredible digestive aid. The greens I
enjoy standalone.

Jim

Derek wrote:
> On 18 Apr 2005 08:05:21 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > The whole aroma is not unpleasant and might
> > easily become an acquired taste
>
> Talk about speaking euphemistically. "The whole aroma is not
unpleasant..."
> meaning "it doesn't stink too badly...." Heh.
>
> Thanks for the reference, Jim. I'm going to have to add that to my
> "treasure hunt" book list.
>
> --
> Derek
>
> Success is a journey, not a destination. So stop running.

Space Cowboy > wrote:
>I found it on Ebay through a Canadian seller. Of course it spent time
>in Customs and the package was open. It is hardback and 260 pages.
>The author's entire career was an insider doing research for the tea
>industry in India. His chapters on Further India and IndoChina are
>notable. He does explain pharmacology,soils,chemistry which not
>readily available elsewhere. He did predict that Africa would become
>the world's leading exporter of tea. While not all of my black puerhs
>taste like tanning solution what the West calls acquired the Chinese
>call desired. I've come to enjoy the taste perse. I drink it at
>supper meals because it is an incredible digestive aid. The greens I
>enjoy standalone.

I have had a number of excellent African teas. If you like a very
robust CTC tea, the Malawi BOP from Upton is really quite excellent.
It's deep without being too tannic.

My worry is that the political situations in Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania
are not exactly conducive to the sort of long-term investment that is
needed for serious tea plantations. Well, maybe Kenya.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

(Scott Dorsey) writes:

> Space Cowboy > wrote:
> >[...]
> >He did predict that Africa would become the world's leading
> >exporter of tea.
> >[...]
>
> I have had a number of excellent African teas. If you like a very
> robust CTC tea, the Malawi BOP from Upton is really quite excellent.
> It's deep without being too tannic.

Sorry, but doesn't BOP imply orthodox, i.e., non-CTC?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On 19 Apr 2005 06:43:03 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:

> I found it on Ebay through a Canadian seller.

I'm not surprised that you found it in Canada. I found it through a used
book store, but they'd ship from their partner in England.

I'm just not sure it's worth $66.

--
Derek

Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up

If I found this volume in a used book store I'd pay $25 max. I think
it is a nice addition but not a required edition.

Jim

Derek wrote:
> On 19 Apr 2005 06:43:03 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > I found it on Ebay through a Canadian seller.
>
> I'm not surprised that you found it in Canada. I found it through a
used
> book store, but they'd ship from their partner in England.
>
> I'm just not sure it's worth $66.
>
> --
> Derek
>
> Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up

If I found this volume in a used book store I'd pay $25 max. I think
it is a nice addition but not a required edition.

Jim

Derek wrote:
> On 19 Apr 2005 06:43:03 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > I found it on Ebay through a Canadian seller.
>
> I'm not surprised that you found it in Canada. I found it through a
used
> book store, but they'd ship from their partner in England.
>
> I'm just not sure it's worth $66.
>
> --
> Derek
>
> Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up

Africa is not far behind after all:

http://www.teaandcoffee.net/0305/special.htm

Jim

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Space Cowboy > wrote:
> >I found it on Ebay through a Canadian seller. Of course it spent
time
> >in Customs and the package was open. It is hardback and 260 pages.
> >The author's entire career was an insider doing research for the tea
> >industry in India. His chapters on Further India and IndoChina are
> >notable. He does explain pharmacology,soils,chemistry which not
> >readily available elsewhere. He did predict that Africa would
become
> >the world's leading exporter of tea. While not all of my black
puerhs
> >taste like tanning solution what the West calls acquired the Chinese
> >call desired. I've come to enjoy the taste perse. I drink it at
> >supper meals because it is an incredible digestive aid. The greens
I
> >enjoy standalone.
>
> I have had a number of excellent African teas. If you like a very
> robust CTC tea, the Malawi BOP from Upton is really quite excellent.
> It's deep without being too tannic.
>
> My worry is that the political situations in Kenya, Malawi, and
Tanzania
> are not exactly conducive to the sort of long-term investment that is
> needed for serious tea plantations. Well, maybe Kenya.
> --scott
>
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Africa is not far behind after all:

http://www.teaandcoffee.net/0305/special.htm

Jim

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Space Cowboy > wrote:
> >I found it on Ebay through a Canadian seller. Of course it spent
time
> >in Customs and the package was open. It is hardback and 260 pages.
> >The author's entire career was an insider doing research for the tea
> >industry in India. His chapters on Further India and IndoChina are
> >notable. He does explain pharmacology,soils,chemistry which not
> >readily available elsewhere. He did predict that Africa would
become
> >the world's leading exporter of tea. While not all of my black
puerhs
> >taste like tanning solution what the West calls acquired the Chinese
> >call desired. I've come to enjoy the taste perse. I drink it at
> >supper meals because it is an incredible digestive aid. The greens
I
> >enjoy standalone.
>
> I have had a number of excellent African teas. If you like a very
> robust CTC tea, the Malawi BOP from Upton is really quite excellent.
> It's deep without being too tannic.
>
> My worry is that the political situations in Kenya, Malawi, and
Tanzania
> are not exactly conducive to the sort of long-term investment that is
> needed for serious tea plantations. Well, maybe Kenya.
> --scott
>
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 20 Apr 2005 05:20:28 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:

> If I found this volume in a used book store I'd pay $25 max. I think
> it is a nice addition but not a required edition.

I'd agree with you there. I found it on Amazon for $40 plus shipping. But
it didn't have the dustcover.

--
Derek

You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and, statistically
speaking, 99% of the shots you do.

On 20 Apr 2005 05:20:28 -0700, Space Cowboy wrote:

> If I found this volume in a used book store I'd pay $25 max. I think
> it is a nice addition but not a required edition.

I'd agree with you there. I found it on Amazon for $40 plus shipping. But
it didn't have the dustcover.

--
Derek

You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and, statistically
speaking, 99% of the shots you do.