Gazeli, you and Skip are a breath of fresh air. Glad you guys are here.
What I do is put fresh tips in a tupper wear bowl (I always burp the bowl) and soak them overnight in milk.
Come the next morning I pour the whole mess over some Cherrios and eat them.
The morning after that (timing is everything here) I fish them out of the crapper and give them a quick rinse.
I find that they come out a nice chocolate brown, medium to medium hard, and that pressing isn't necessary. Just dry 'em and apply 'em.
Thus far, I have noticed a couple of things, while playing with them, I feel is worth mentioning. (1) I detected a slight, but distinct odor when breaking with them. (2) My cholesterol level went down ten points.