Hey Melinda thanks. I am not looking for a quick learn. I have been
homebrewing beer for 15 years and know how the knowledge comes with
experience and time. I figure I have another 20 years or so to know what I
want to know with that hobby of connoisseurship. Tea...A life
time?....Great! I'll savor every moment! I have recently been getting into
collecting fancy pipes and fancy pipe tobacco and from what I've read on
those newsgroups good homeroast coffee and good "smokey" teas are good (even
supposedly better than homebrew) to go with a bowl of fine tobacco...so I
tried it with some Bigelow tea and could see that there might be something
to this...so the interest. Also my wife drinks tea every night before bed
and was recently inquiring about the finer aspects of teas and how it may be
similar in genre to my recent tobacco and long time beer connoisseurship
hobbies.

I work allot and have two lovely little children (4g&9b) and live in a
wonderfully old historic house (to work on). These culinary-ish hobbies are
relatively cheap, have rich histories and involve somewhat technical (read
here ...nerdy) processes that make them complex...yet...take relatively
little time ...and half the fun is just reading about it all.

FYI: The alt.smokers.pipes newsgroup has recently had it's fair share of
marketeers in "sheep's clothing" here recently too.

I'm sure I'll be posting with further questions as soon as I find some good
info and some good teas to start to try.

thanks again,
Curt E.


"Melinda" > wrote in message
...
> Curt: there is no quick and easy way to learn everything there is to know
> about tea. There MIGHT be a Tea for Dummies out there somewhere but it's
> really not needed. (OK, that's a straight line, someone use it hmm?) If
you
> want information read the FAQ for this list at
> http://pages.ripco.net/~c4ha2na9/tea/faq.html. Basically you have to read,
> and if you choose to continue to learn about tea then it's going to be a
> lifetime(s) process. Read the newsgroup. Look in your local library. Read
> info pages from some of the major vendors. Drink a lot of tea. Though
there
> are vendors I could recommend to purchase from I'm not gonna right now
> because I'm kinda fed up with shills and don't want to get into it.
>
> So: short hand. Read lots, drink lots of tea. Have fun!!! This isn't a
> chemistry exam....yet (apologies to all the chemists out there)
> Hope SOME of this helped...
>
> Melinda
>
> --
> "I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows,
> and Henry knows we know it."
> We're a knowledgeable family." ::smiles:: -Geoffrey, Lion in Winter
>
>
> "CE - Curt E." > wrote in message
> news:j7%Ze.28320$hp.5329@lakeread08...
> >I know there are rich histories and complex processes of tea production
and
> > tea preparation. I realize there are many different teas and blends
> > thereof. I want to learn all about it and where to get the freshest and
> > best of it all.
> >
> > Where should I go...web...web store...real store/place...books? What
> > should
> > I do?
> >
> > Any help is greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Curt E.
> >
> >
>
>