South Louisiana in the 70's was not a hotbed of tea drinkers !... When
> Community Coffee"Paquet Rouge" is the mainstay, (very cultural...the Cajun
> French and coffee)and where Cafe du Monde Coffee and Chickory with
> beignets
> are the rage of all the vistors. I grew up on French Roasted
> Coffee...Seaport Brand. It was not until in the military that tea showed
> up...and then only at the "Chinese" Restaurants... I loved the hot
> tea...not
> sure what it was...may some oolong dustings...Then in college I ran into
> some "kindred spirits" and we discovered Twinings China Black loose tea in
> the tin...very strong and satisfying brew considering the coffee that we
> drank pots of it daily...Later years enter Celestial Seasonings Red
> Zinger,
> Emperor Choice, etc....then a hiatus...just recently I began wanting to go
> back to China Black...couldn't find the Twinings (it is available in
> teabags
> !!)...so enter the 'net...I was astounded at the returns on China
> Black...I
> found 5 or 6 that I had to try and of course they were the more expensive
> ones...nonetheless...this lead to the purchase of 2 yixing teapots...then
> I
> decided to try TKY...of course it had to be competition grade monkey
> picked
> (Specialteas). I'm hooked...I loved the blacks, couldn't get enough of
> the
> oolongs, greens are for pallets way above mine...I found DaHongPao and
> TiHuLan...bought a artisan grade yixing for the DaHongPao...Now my problem
> is how to make time to drink all that tea....Hey, but I'm working on it.
> I
> still drink coffee, grind my own beans (home and work)...but I truly enjoy
> my teas...the wife truly enjoys the TiGuanYin with me....
>
> Doug
Original reply was to rufus not the group...
"Rufus T. Firefly" > wrote in message
m...
> How did everyone get interested in tea? Many of you have lived in
> Asia, but are not from Asia. Did your interest develop after you went
> to Asia? Why tea when the world is interested in coffee? (I,
> personally, have never liked coffee, but I envy those who do.) How do
> those around you view your fascination with tea (for those fascinated
> with tea)? Do they see it as eccentric? It is obviously not very
> eccentric when you're caught up in it, but I fear most people cannot
> understand this interest, regardless of where in the world one might
> be.
>
> Excitedly awaiting your stories,
>
> Rufus T. Firefly
> Tokyo