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>> I almost didn't send this message and also thought carefully about
>> dropping out of RFDT, which would be a big loss for me - I enjoy the
>> group and am learning so much. I have decided to address the
>> underlying issue very directly: Space Cowboy. The second part of this
>> posting is a firm effort to rescue the group from him. I do not intend
>> to discuss it/him or respond to him; as I stated after his last and
>> silly attack on me, no reply is needed or merited. But, something
>> needs to be done and I hope I can help RFDT in this regard.
>
>> Message Part 1
>
>> I have an interesting and, hope, fun challenge for you, my colleagues
>> in the delightful exploration of the inexhaustible pleasure of teas. I
>> am a pygmy in the field and neither knowledgeable nor an industry
>> expert, but I do have some visibility in the business and academic
>> fields, where a few people are finding out about my interest in tea
>> and my forthcoming book. This is resulting in some intriguing new
>> contacts and opportunities. This message is about one of them, where I
>> would love your insights and opinions.
>
>> Up in New York City, just next to Fifth Avenue, where taking one's
>> wife shopping can cost about a thousand dollars a block, there is a
>> hotel with a famous name that has contacted me about putting on some
>> little showcase events around tea. I meet with the Banqueting Manager
>> next week. Here's my thinking (By the way, I don't expect to make any
>> money on this, though should he insist on stuffing hundred dollar
>> bills into my pocket, I will assuredly not resist him; I am doing this
>> because it's fun and it will help sell my book; which will earn me
>> maybe $1.20 a copy. Samuel Johnson famously said that no one but a
>> blockhead ever wrote except for money - hi, call me Blockhead.)
>
>> So, here is the challenge. You have an audience of newbies, You - I -
>> want them to leave elated and converts. What would you serve them? I
>> will have the chance to serve them any teas, with plenty of staff in
>> the black jackets and white gloves. It's a one-time opportunity so I
>> need to get it right. Again, what would YOU offer?
>
>> I've decided to keep it simple and offer just two blacks, two oolong,
>> two greens, two whites plus a couple of "theatricals."
>
>> Here's my current choices, with a few comments as to why:
>
>> Black teas:
>> 1. A Darjeeling, obviously, and one that is fragrant and full and
>> contrasts with any hint of the English Breakfast most of the people
>> will probably associate with "tea." I'm leaning to either an Ambootia
>> second flush or Poobong first flush.
>> 2. A Taiwan Lapsong because I simply love it and also because most of
>> my newbie friends are very struck by how different it is from any tea
>> they know. I converted my CPA yesterday to whole leaf tea rfom
>> Celestial Whatevers, when she came to my house to tut-tut about my
>> record-keeping through a steaming, glow in the dark Lapsang. She
>> phoned me today to say she stopped at Wegman's on her way home and
>> bought an Ingenui infuser. So, when my kids ask "Dad, what did you do
>> to help save the planet?" I can say, I rescued Susan from drinking
>> lawnmower effusions.
>> Both my choices are traditional and safe. I thought of a Guranse or
>> big Assam, instead. I want something that makes the audience forget
>> about Earl Greys and English Breakfasts. I've excluded Ceylon estate
>> teas, much as I love them, for that reason.
>
>> Oolongs:
>> 3. Iron Goddess, again obviously; safe and good.
>> 4. Golden Lily, mainly for its vibrant appearance and how it expands
>> in the infuser.
>> I didn't want anything too light, which led me reluctantly not to
>> exclude Spring Pouchong. I also wanted to avoid anything too expensive
>> - a major theme in my book is how inexpensive great teas really are --
>> so no aged oolong.
>> I love oolongs, which are the tea most unfamiliar to newbies -- 1%% of
>> total US tea sales? I'm not excited by my choices. Any ideas on some
>> Wham!!!!! alternatives?
>
>> Greens:
>> 5. Gyokuro: the toughest choice of all. I screw up two out of three
>> attempts to make it and don't know how to ensure a reliable and fresh
>> supply. No Matcha, for the same reasons. I thought of Houjicha, and
>> even Genmaicha for its novelty value. Obviously, I need a Japanese
>> green in the show, especially to wean people off Korean supermarket
>> sawdust and Indonesian cement powder.
>> 6. Pi Lo Chun: I stayed away from Dragonwell only because I've found
>> that most of my newbie friends are very disappointed by it - too light
>> and too grassy. Plus, too many quality/grade problems, and the high
>> cost of Imperial Dragonwell. Pi Lo Chun seems an "easy" tea to get to
>> know.
>
>> Whites:
>> 7. White Peony: again, easy to enjoy and savor. I kept away from
>> Silver Needles and Adam's Peak because these are in my opinion teas
>> that you come to once you have explored the fuller and stronger ones.
>> 8. White Darjeeling, from Poobong. I love this stuff and it's a good
>> way to end the tasting - where we began, in Darjeeling.
>
>> Now, for theatricals. Yixing teapots (I get to take them home; I love
>> them.). Adagio Ingenui infusers to get across the point that whole
>> leaf tea is as convenient and easy to use as tea bags. I am clueless
>> about Japanese teaware but obviously the Gyokuro needs its own special
>> equipment. I'd welcome recommendations.
>
>> A flowery white and a pu-erh for the finale. I don't like most
>> flavored teas but a Numi Lavender Dream, Pearl Jasmine or the like
>> sure looks great as its little floret or teaspoon becomes a glass
>> teapot underwater forest. Then, an affordable pu-ehr - in big cake
>> form. Master of ceremonies (me) hands cake and knife to nice lady or
>> gentleman and asks her/him to cut off a slice. Nice l/g fails so out
>> comes the hammer and chisel. Smash!
>
>> So, that's the menu. In addition, I need a good speaker from Fair
>> Trade/Eco Exchange or the like to talk about the social issues of tea,
>> an expert with good photos to show about hoofing it up in the
>> mountains to get great tea, and an industry specialist to talk about
>> the future of great teas in the U.S. If you know of candidates, I'm
>> interested. Obviously, I will add to the agenda something about the
>> Yunnan earthquake and provide an opportunity for the audience to make
>> a donation; I need advice/contacts on how to do this.
>
>> So, that's the idea. If it is of interest to you, I'd love to hear
>> your own views. I will give full acknowledgement to contributors. If
>> it does turn out that I make some money out of this, I will ensure
>> that contributors/speakers get a share of it.
>
>> I hope that the group will totally change my agenda and generate a
>> more interesting list of teas.
>
>> Message Part 2
>
>> Now, one other point. Always lurking, anonymously and cowardly, with
>> no profile published even after many years on RFDT, is the paranoid
>> and very cruel Space Cowboy, whose itchy fingertips are probably ready
>> to launch yet more vitriol in response to this message. SC is in fact
>> P--- A---, a Colorado Rockies fan, lover of soccer, superbly
>> knowledgeable about tea, who has made over the years a few visits to
>> such sites as alt.sex.movies. P---, what were you thinking of -- snuff
>> films and lesbian powder room kiss scenes and half-open blouse
>> cleavage!!!!???? His violence of language appears to have begun around
>> 2004, according to the two professional mental health counselors I
>> asked - legally - to look at his diatribes. I'm the founder of a
>> little agency that helps victims of domestic violence, so I know the
>> scary pattern of escalating threats leading to potential real damage;
>> my advisers think that Space Cowboy is more a danger to himself than
>> to others but one of them comments that once the threats from a
>> sociopath start - his verbal symptoms appear to be what is termed
>> secondary sociopathy - then worry. I have a personal concern here, in
>> that my web site got hijacked a year ago by a P-- type expert and I
>> had to put up with hundreds of Space Cowboy equivalent logomania
>> assaults. I have, on the advice of my website genius, taken my site
>> down for a week or so, to Cowboy proof it. So, Paul, don't even think
>> about it. Oh, and be careful on the threats. The last one, about
>> contacting my publisher to drive me out of "here", crosses the line
>> between bluster and danger. If I'd sent you my publisher's e-mail
>> address as you demanded and you'd actually followed through, you would
>> have committed a Federal crime. To quote approximately from memory one
>> of my neighbors, who works in a relevant government agency (when you
>> live 30 miles outside DC, as I do, you have a lot of helpful pals who
>> work for Fed alphabet soup names to talk to) and to whom I've shown a
>> few of your rants: "Another Master of the Universe, who thinks he is
>> the law. We see a hundred ot them, a week. They don't know what they
>> are doing till an agent turns up on their doorstep." Oh, and please do
>> read Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code before you tell me what I
>> can't quote and cite from RFTD archives.
>
>> After discussions with a number of members of RFDT, I've decided to
>> make public my findings and concerns because they damage our group,
>> individually and as a community. There are only 600 or so members and
>> activity is "medium." It should and could be 1,600 and "heavy." How
>> many newbies are scared off by what they see? How many really good
>> contributors withdraw from RFDT? The first Space Cowboy slash and burn
>> attack that I came across was his vicious and truly weird assault on
>> the publishers of the Art of Tea magazine, in April as I recall. I
>> note that they haven't come back. Please do, Guys, it's for me a great
>> publication, typos and all.
>
>> Anyway, back to the NYC event. I would love to hear your
>> recommendations, will make sure I do not misuse any information/ideas
>> you give me, and hope that at least a few of you will be my
>
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