These mini tuo cha sell at my local food co-op for $70/lb which is pretty cheap. I bought 4 or 5 minis just to give them a try. They are not green but have oxidized black and they are hard as a rock. A whole one is too much for me because of the number of steepings, but for two people they work. Needed a cold rinse because of the dusty dirt, and a cold rinse can get rid of slight fishy flavor as long as the tea isn’t completely wrecked. Dark red and smoky cup.
I see mini tuo chas exactly like this everywhere, and I suspect a lot of them are from the same exporter, sold in bulk and labeled as needed. Mine are not whole leaves, but small broken leaves compressed together, probably leftovers from larger cake pressings, would be my guess. This is not premium pu-erh and not what I would want to serve to impress a new drinker. The few I have are sitting in the cupboard and I will remind myself to drink them when I am in a rush and don’t feel like taking the time to break leaves off one of my better teas. Recommended for people who know they like pu-erh, can take the dark stuff and are going camping maybe.
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$70/pound is actually ridiculously expensive for mini tuos like this, that’s a huge rip off. Also, when brewing ripe puerh like this, rinse it with boiling water twice (like a 10-15 second rinse and discard the water), that’ll remove a lot of funkyness and also help loosen up the compression so it can brew better.
I guess it is a matter of perspective, many of the teas I prefer are around $15-20 an ounce. The mini tuos weigh out to getting maybe 5 of them for $3-4 total. Rip-off seems a bit strong to me for such a small amount of money.
well, to put it in perspective, $70/pound can get you some real top grade puerh in cake form, especially shu, that’s like a top end dayi shu or something. mini tuos are the bottom end of the market, they should be like $15-20 a pound or less, look at how cheap they are on the more reputable puerh vendors, Yunnan Sourcing sells various shu minis for an average of like $25/Kilogram.
As I said above, these are good for camping, I wouldn’t want to take a full size cake or mess with measuring loose tea while traveling. These can be dropped in a hot pot whole for a tea session for two people. For my budget, buying 4-5 of these while I happen to be at Whole Fools where Rishi Tea is a bulk vendor, $3 cost is not a whole lot for the convenience. I think it is worth it for us who usually drink better and more cost effective tea to review ordinary retail experiences that apply to a lot of people, especially for folks new to tea who are coming here primarily with grocery experience. Personally I am glad my tea hobby, on the whole, costs less than golfing.
$70/pound is actually ridiculously expensive for mini tuos like this, that’s a huge rip off. Also, when brewing ripe puerh like this, rinse it with boiling water twice (like a 10-15 second rinse and discard the water), that’ll remove a lot of funkyness and also help loosen up the compression so it can brew better.
I guess it is a matter of perspective, many of the teas I prefer are around $15-20 an ounce. The mini tuos weigh out to getting maybe 5 of them for $3-4 total. Rip-off seems a bit strong to me for such a small amount of money.
well, to put it in perspective, $70/pound can get you some real top grade puerh in cake form, especially shu, that’s like a top end dayi shu or something. mini tuos are the bottom end of the market, they should be like $15-20 a pound or less, look at how cheap they are on the more reputable puerh vendors, Yunnan Sourcing sells various shu minis for an average of like $25/Kilogram.
As I said above, these are good for camping, I wouldn’t want to take a full size cake or mess with measuring loose tea while traveling. These can be dropped in a hot pot whole for a tea session for two people. For my budget, buying 4-5 of these while I happen to be at Whole Fools where Rishi Tea is a bulk vendor, $3 cost is not a whole lot for the convenience. I think it is worth it for us who usually drink better and more cost effective tea to review ordinary retail experiences that apply to a lot of people, especially for folks new to tea who are coming here primarily with grocery experience. Personally I am glad my tea hobby, on the whole, costs less than golfing.