No, it's not appropriate for Alaskans, especially men, to carp and
snivel about Gov Sarah as VP. I see some, like Lida Green, even
trying to rail at Sarah as a ridiculous choice for McCain's VP,
pretending their spiteful remarks are politically savvy. (I hope Lida
Green keeps her promise of leaving the senate due to Sarah's
popularity, but suspect she will now find some excuse for staying on
as Senate President.)

My take on the Sarah factor in today's political scene is that she
represents the very significant women's vote for equal rights,
possibly even ascendancy. She is the shrewd McCain counter to the
Obama-Hillary Clinton gambit, and even Obama admits that. I predict
that in the coming debates, she will star against even Joe Biden,
because she will demonstrate her virtues of sweetness and light, plus
maybe some Alaskan frontier spirit. It's going to be a real treat to
see her up against Hillary, who she has already credited with cracking
the glass ceiling against women in politics. Don't know if the claws
will come out or not, on these wildcats. bookburn

Sorry, wrong address. bookburn

> wrote:
>No, it's not appropriate for Alaskans, especially men, to carp and
>snivel about Gov Sarah as VP. I see some, like Lida Green, even
>trying to rail at Sarah as a ridiculous choice for McCain's VP,
>pretending their spiteful remarks are politically savvy. (I hope Lida
>Green keeps her promise of leaving the senate due to Sarah's
>popularity, but suspect she will now find some excuse for staying on
>as Senate President.)

Sure, but how will this affect tea sales?

Which brings to mind a big question... aren't a lot of the big tea growing
regions in Georgia actually in the Abkhazian region? With the current
political crisis there, how is tea production being affected?

I have had a couple very nice teas from the area, and I think they deserve
more attention. They don't seem to have much of an export market.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 08/30/2008 15:28:15 (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> Which brings to mind a big question... aren't a lot of the big tea
> growing regions in Georgia actually in the Abkhazian region? With the
> current political crisis there, how is tea production being affected?

> I have had a couple very nice teas from the area, and I think they deserve
> more attention. They don't seem to have much of an export market.
> --scott

Scott, I think Nigel of Nothing But Tea had a major part in Georgian tea development and production. He also sells some excellent examples through his site, nice full leaf red teas, for example. I drank one this morning, and will drink another later today. I hope Nigel is at hand to answer your excellent question.
Michael

On 30 Aug 2008 15:28:15 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:


>Sure, but how will this affect tea sales?
>
>Which brings to mind a big question... aren't a lot of the big tea growing
>regions in Georgia actually in the Abkhazian region? With the current
>political crisis there, how is tea production being affected?
>
>I have had a couple very nice teas from the area, and I think they deserve
>more attention. They don't seem to have much of an export market.
>--scott

Senator McCain has at least one lobbyist for Georgia on his staff, so
maybe that's an avenue or platform for promoting Georgia tea imports,
or something? bookburn

On Aug 30, 7:21*pm, Michael Plant > wrote:
> Nigel of Nothing But Tea had a major part in Georgian tea development and production.
> Michael

I emailed him about it 1-2weeks back, but he might be on vacation (as
i see on the nbtea frontpage)

Many thanks for the mention Michael, and no, I have not been on
vacation SN, I have been in Rwanda with a client on a quest to acquire
a stunning tea factory there. More details later if we are
successful.
I too have been concerned about the Georgian teas and the tea makers
there during the Russian incursion. My information so far is that
they are all safe. However, all my hand made tea makers are in the
hills around Ozurgeti in Guria District well away from the recent
conflict. Scott is correct that a lot of tea was grown in Abkhazia,
much less so now - the total of tea from Georgia is currently around
3,500 tonnes, down from 180,000 tonnes in 1990. A catastrophic drop.
When I visited factories in Abkhazia in 2003 there was much bomb
damage still evident from the 1992 civil war, and lack of power,
spares, and capital, let alone a market, was deterring even doughty
Georgian entrepreneurs.
Incidentally I gave a well attended talk about hand making of tea in
Georgia last evening at the Georgian Embassy in London to launch a new
brand of Georgian tea - Caucasus Arts' "Natela Gold" and "Nagobilevi
Village". See www.caucasusarts.org.uk The Ambassador was still
recalled in Tblisi but his number 2 was quite upbeat about the
Georgian position and the PR damage that the Russians have heaped on
themselves.

Nigel at Teacraft


On Aug 31, 12:21*am, Michael Plant > wrote:
> On 08/30/2008 15:28:15 (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>
> > Which brings to mind a big question... *aren't a lot of the big tea
> > growing regions in Georgia actually in the Abkhazian region? *With the
> > current political crisis there, how is tea production being affected?
> > I have had a couple very nice teas from the area, and I think they deserve
> > more attention. *They don't seem to have much of an export market.
> > --scott
>
> Scott, I think Nigel of Nothing But Tea had a major part in Georgian tea development and production. He also sells some excellent examples through his site, nice full leaf red teas, for example. I drank one this morning, and will drink another later today. I hope Nigel is at hand to answer your excellent question.
> Michael

Nigel said:
> Incidentally I gave a well attended talk about hand making of tea in
> Georgia last evening at the Georgian Embassy in London to launch a new
> brand of Georgian tea - Caucasus Arts' "Natela Gold" and "Nagobilevi
> Village". See www.caucasusarts.org.uk The Ambassador was still
> recalled in Tblisi but his number 2 was quite upbeat about the
> Georgian position and the PR damage that the Russians have heaped on
> themselves.

I would just like to say that I took Nigel's advice and ordered some
tea from the Caucasus Arts folks, and I have nothing but good things to
say both about the tea and Mr. Kalandadze. It was a bit of a pain getting
money off to him in pounds sterling, but it all worked out well in the end.

These folks are selling three different kinds of tea right now:

Natela Gold Handmade Georgian Tea:
This is a large-leaf tea with a wonderfully flowery smell and a small
hint of wintergreen. It's almost kind of like the flavour of the Oriental
Beauty tea, which is made from deliberately damaged leaves. It's subtle
without a heavy tannic flavour and requires no milk.

Nagobilevy Village Georgian Tea:
This is a similar style to the Natela Gold, but not quite as flowery.
It's still a very pleasant cup of tea.

Laituri Village Georgian Green Tea:
This stuff has a chopped-up texture, like it was harvested with
hedge trimmers. The only tea I have ever seen with this texture was
an inexpensive Georgian black tea, but this has clearly had very
different processing. It's got some of that grassy flavour that a
sencha has, but it doesn't have the rest of the sencha taste. It's
a very mellow, very rounded thing, almost buttery, but with that grassy
taste at the back of it. This is totally different than any kind of
green I have tried before. My friend Andrey thought it was a pu-ehr
when he drank it.

I know that there was a posting here recently from a fellow in the UK
who was soliciting suggestions for teas to carry in his new tea shop,
and I think this would be one of the first things I would recommend
for something both out of the ordinary and very good quality.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."