Does anybody know what this is?

[biznack]

Found it in my brother's room:

It's a dark brown pressed brick of some kind of wood/leaf material.
It's about the size of an inch-thick palette of printer paper.
According to my brother, who took it from my grandfather's belongings after he passed away, it smelled very strongly when he took it out of the ziploc bag it was kept in. He says the smell was so powerful that he had to put it back in the bag, where it has been for the past 7 or 8 years.
It smells a little like tobacco now.

The writing and archway in the image lead me to believe it is of Chinese origin. Can anyone verify this?

I think the plant in the pressed image will tell a lot about its area of origin and possibly what it is made of. Does anybody know what this plant is?

On the back there are grooves which separate the brick into 16 smaller segments in such a way that they could be broken off.

I'd really like to find out what this is. My grandparents were both involved with the Merry Pranksters and the beats in Oregon and California, so I'm really interested to know what it could be. Although my dad had said it was "probably just some shit" that my aunt had bought for him, I'd still like to know why she would have thought he'd want it.

 

[thespliff]

Hashish.

 

[skoat]

I'm guessing some old beautifully pressed hash.

 

[Ason Unique]

Smoke dat shit what are you doing

 

[Pillthrill]

Your brother is preserving your grandfather's drug collection. Its really nice. I suggest you put it back.

 

[Sega420]

it looks definitely japanese. (the text)
pretty archaic japanese at that.

most likely some hashish/tobacco mix.

chip off a TINY bit and send it for testing at ur local lab/college lab?

or hey, ask your grandma or ur granddads siblings (if any)


OR -
do the smart thing and smoke that shit!

 

[Wise420]

Damn thats a beautifull block of hash

 

[weekend addiction]

90% chance its hash as I have seen similar blocks of hash. Don't smoke it. Save that shit. It looks beautiful. You wouldn't smoke the Mona Lisa would you?

 

[Sega420]

OP, on looking into this-
it could be pressed, medicinal Tea-

http://dojorat.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

 

[weekend addiction]

OP, on looking into this-
it could be pressed, medicinal Tea-

http://dojorat.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

Ahahahahaha. I hope it isn't. If I found a big block of pressed medicinal tea I think I would cry. Chinese do press tea into block similar to a block of hashish. The tea can be many different colors including black. That is somewhat possible because if it was hash I imagine somebody might have smoked it by now.

 

[Sega420]

solved it-

its a pressed tea block.
i googled tea block n it came up with this-

http://www.hammondharwoodhouse.org/Tea%20Lesson.htm
even had a few different of these in the results page-

sorry OP, aint hash.
enjoy your tea though


your one is even on the wiki page-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_brick

seems pretty common in asia

n ancient China the use of tea bricks involved three separate steps:
Toasting: A piece was broken from the tea brick and usually first toasted over a fire. This was likely done to sanitize the tea brick and destroy any molds or insects. Such infestations likely occurred when the bricks were stored uncovered in warehouses and storerooms or in covered jars underground. Toasting also imparted a pleasant flavor to the resulting tea.
Grinding: The toasted tea brick was broken up and ground to a fine powder.
Whisking: The powdered tea was mixed into hot water and frothed with a whisk before serving. The color and patterns formed by the powdered tea were enjoyed while the mixture was being imbibed.
In modern times, bricks of pu-erh type teas are flaked, chipped, or broken and directly steeped after thorough rinsing. The process of toasting, grinding, and whisking to make tea from tea bricks is now uncommon and not generally practiced.

 

[biznack]

solved it-

its a pressed tea block.
i googled tea block n it came up with this-

http://www.hammondharwoodhouse.org/Tea%20Lesson.htm
even had a few different of these in the results page-

sorry OP, aint hash.
enjoy your tea though


your one is even on the wiki page-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_brick

seems pretty common in asia

Well that's one mystery solved. Explains the tea plant image on it.
Figures. My grandfather wasn't much of a smoker by the time he went, considering among his things was also a copious stash of aging marijuana.
Thanks for looking into it, now I can drink some Hanan black tea to his memory. Maybe I'll have a smoke to go with it. Cheers.

 

[weekend addiction]

^ Yuck. Do you know how bad old ass tea taste? I had some loose leaf tea in airtight container which tasted like asshole 3 years later. Tell us how it goes.

 

[biznack]

^ Yuck. Do you know how bad old ass tea taste? I had some loose leaf tea in airtight container which tasted like asshole 3 years later. Tell us how it goes.

I just laughed my ass off. Yeah, I'll still drink it.

 

[Sega420]

those bricks were made to last.
and that one you have looks relatively young by tea brick standards.

might not be hash but at least the mystery is solved.
like you said you can put his stash to good use and drink some of the tea with it

happy bicycle day & have a happy 4/20 tomorrow also!

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

It's tea.

It's probably Pu-ehr tea made into blocks and used for decoration.

Don't drink it as those blocks are expensive and people pass them down. Are you Asian?

 

[thespliff]

bummer

 

[!_MDMA_!]

i say drink it i bet u got better shit to remember your granpops by

 

[mdman24]

unluckyy mate i would of cried when i found out it was tea