On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 01:50:17 -0600
"Bluesea" > wrote:


> Are these already tea people? I've tried to convert only one who wasn't
> already into supermarket teabags and I never heard back from him about
> the samples I sent.
>
> OTOH, I gave an avowed green tea-drinker a bunch of green tea samples as
> well as a tin of white and a Chatsford mug for Christmas and to date,
> none of it has been commented on, either.


Maybe the most effective advocacy method is going to turn out to be "My
this is nice tea, care for a cup?"

It's pretty easy to make bad tea from good leaves, maybe they tried
it and it turned out badly and they figure it's their fault and don't
want to talk about it.

I doubt that giving gifts is a good way to go about it. Everybody has
their own preference. I could send you samples of what i think is great tea
and you'd probably loathe them 'cause they're really, really malty assams.

I considered sending some tea to my brother, who I know is a tea
drinker, who's wife is from india and who makes chai in an open pot on the
stove with whole spices. And then i realized, I have no idea what kind of
tea these people are drinking. Maybe they *like lipton yellow label. There
must be some reason they sell that stuff in the indian markets.


> Yes, it's like they're following some sort of diet fad that they'll
> abandon when the fad-food wind changes. Some will stick because they'll
> have discovered the nuances of taste. As for the others, I've decided
> that they're the Ordinary People that certain teas are Too Good For
> (TGFOP). I suspect that my avowed green tea-drinker friend falls into
> this category because she's into really healthy stuff anyway and said
> that she doesn't drink black tea because it doesn't have as many health
> benefits.


I've met more than one person who grimaces through cups of awful green
tea for the 'health benefits'. fits right into my theory of food
flagellation. Take for example carob - it's scorched locust bean gum. It's
got nothing to recommend it unless you're sensitive to alkaloids. It was
literally invented by a bluenose who was concerned about the effects of
chocolate on human morality.

Why do i know so many vegans who eat carob?! You would think that,
having denied yourself so many tasty things in the world, that chocolate
would be your one pure indulgence. A nice, dark chocolate, just cocoa,
cocoa butter, and sugar. Why carob?! Flagellation, only possibility that
makes sense.