On Jun 7, 8:05 pm, pgwk > wrote:
> You guys are so helpful..........
>
> Re the snacks..... No cucumber sandwiches!!!! What little nibbles help
> cleanse the palate? I thought of very light French cheeses and
> cornichons. A Bucheron? Caprice des Dieux? I get your point which is
> to engage their tastebuds. By the way, we are now talking about 350
> people in the Ballroom --scares me a little since I ain't the world's
> greatest organizer, but the hotel seems relaxed.
>
> It's looking like September -- the hotel wants to mobilize their
> marketing and media coverage and that takes time.
>
> I cannot express enough my admiration and appreciation for the
> response of people like you to my messages.
>
> peter
>
> On Jun 7, 10:31 pm, DogMa > wrote:
>
>
>
> > What follows is probably redundant; might take me a while to read all
> > the posted responses.
>
> > > Black teas:
> > > 1. A Darjeeling
> > > 2. A Taiwan Lapsong
>
> > To me, lapsang souchong is mostly about the smoke, and goes along with
> > lychee and osmanthus-flavored types: good, but not tea. It's really
> > moving in another dimension (added flavoring) to do this. If I had
> > three, I'd do a Keemun mao feng, a new/old style high-ferment, aromatic
> > Darjeeling (I've recommended one purveyor here recently) and a Yunnan
> > gold. (Two, I'd drop the Keemun.) Black tea that isn't black - a nice
> > touch, and introduces the tippiness proposition for "Far Too Good For
> > Ordinary People" and that whole system, as well as the 2L+B for "fine"
> > tea vs. stems & seeds for wild-arbor Puerh.
>
> > In that vein, since good green Puerh is relatively inaccessible as to
> > price, technique and taste, what about merging the Black and Puerh into
> > Black/Red? The three above would go well with a decent cooked looseleaf
> > Puerh.
>
> > > Oolongs:
> > > 3. Iron Goddess
>
> > Personally, I would (and often do in tastings) drop the old TGY.
> > Instead, as others have said, a really peachy dan cong with long,
> > perfect leaves, and a fisted Anxi oolong of high roast and strong fragrance.
>
> > > Greens:
>
> > I agree with those who say that a less-fragile sencha might be safer.
>
> > > Whites:
> > > 7. White Peony: again, easy to enjoy and savor. I kept away from
> > > Silver Needles ...... and it's a good
> > > way to end the tasting - where we began, in Darjeeling.
>
> > I try to move from lighter to heavier, and from fragrance-intensive to
> > taste/mouthfeel-intensive teas. For me, that usually means
> > white-green-oolong-black/red. So you could preserve the bookends. But
> > I'd go with the silver needles, followed by the white peony. A tea with
> > no color, delicate but very focused aroma and mild taste is a great way,
> > in my experience, to bring the mind into resonance with tasting. If you
> > want to fill the white slot with a Puerh silver needles, tea Gallery's
> > 2004 special cake (still available a couple of months back when I bought
> > another) is the best I've ever tasted, and would go well before a White
> > Peony.
>
> > > Anyway, back to the NYC event. ... hope that at least a few of you will be my guest at it.
>
> > Will you be posting dates? Some of us live away from NYC, but get there
> > occasionally.
>
> > How will you handle snacks? Aside from the palate-clearing and
> > something-to-play-with aspects, keeping blood sugar stable can be
> > important in a serious tasting.
>
> > Hope it goes well-
>
> > DM- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Cheese and tea - yucky
Try simple wheat meal crackers - slightly sweet with not too spicy or
fruity flavours. Spicy, or fruity disguise the flavour of the teas and
cheese coats the taste buds (especially in women) and distorts the
taste of the tea.
We just did a tasting with Roy Fong of current greens and Grace served
two buns - one baked sweet/coconutty and a very mild, steamed
barbecued pork bun. Personally, I like not-very-sweet "red crystal"
bean steamed buns with tea.
Shen