Agreed. AFAIK it was created as a method to transport tea efficiently all across the Tang empire (and as a mean to keep the peace within it) while not crushing

Agreed. AFAIK it was created as a method to transport tea efficiently all across the Tang empire (and as a mean to keep the peace within it) while not crushing the leaves. I have no idea about what kind of tea made it to the west back then. Even today most western people aren't aware of the variety of teas there are out there or how wildly different the final product is depending on the processing methods, let alone bush cultivar, age, flush stage, altitude etc. Pu-erh really can be weird, Hei-Cha even weirder I think. It took my quite a while to like pu-erh and if it wasn't for its aesthetics I'm not sure I'd have bothered to try that much. For my palate, Shou pu-erh teas were an easier taste to acquire. It took me a lot of trial and error to get my palate around Shengs but now I like it well enough to get the same kind of craving I get for a good coffee.