CE - Curt E.iJm_e.28408$hp.18724@lakeread089/27/05

> 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.

Curt,
You are actually quite lucky to have come to us in time. Please do the
following: Telephone Silk Road Teas in California -- you might have to try
a time or two -- at 415-458-8624, and talk at length with Ned. Explain to
him what you explained to us, but assume that it all comes with taste and
tasting; that is, the more you drink the more you'll experience and out of
that the more you'll know. He'll hook you up with different kinds of tea.
(Silk Road sells in quarter pound lots for the most part, and has a $50.00
minimum order, supposedly. Mention my name if you want a smaller order and
remind him of the gargantuan order I put in a few days ago. (Actually, on
second thought, don't do that.)

I'm serious here. It's a good approach, I think. (You could order from one
of the big internet presences, but I guarantee they will not be able to tell
you much about the teas they sell, and much of what they do tell you will be
hogwash. Ned at SRT will steer you rightly.

No, I don't. I sold my shares before posting this post.

Michael