Has just about nothing more to be said for it, except it is ultimately
potable. I'm finishing up the last four teabags as iced tea. Then I'm
moving on to other green teas- I'm now sampling senchas, which I
already know I like better. Toci

toci > wrote:
>Has just about nothing more to be said for it, except it is ultimately
>potable. I'm finishing up the last four teabags as iced tea. Then I'm
>moving on to other green teas- I'm now sampling senchas, which I
>already know I like better. Toci

The free trade process is a great idea for a commodity item, in that it
makes sure the grower gets paid a reasonable amount for his work.

BUT, it turns anything that is made into a commodity item, because the
grower now has no real motivation to grow anything better.

Free trade coffees and teas tend to be lowest common denominator types;
you aren't going to see high grade specialty materials made that way.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Yep, I think what I want in a breakfast tea is a commodity item.
Something like the second sweeping off the tea assembly floor, mixed in
with a little cigarette butt tobacco. So far, the nearest I've found
is something called Irish Breakfast. Any further suggestions here?
I'm hunting for a little more delicacy and nuance for the rest of the
day. Toci

Yep, I think what I want in a breakfast tea is a commodity item.
Something like the second sweeping off the tea assembly floor, mixed in
with a little cigarette butt tobacco. So far, the nearest I've found
is something called Irish Breakfast. Any further suggestions here?
I'm hunting for a little more delicacy and nuance for the rest of the
day. Toci

toci > wrote:
>Yep, I think what I want in a breakfast tea is a commodity item.
>Something like the second sweeping off the tea assembly floor, mixed in
>with a little cigarette butt tobacco. So far, the nearest I've found
>is something called Irish Breakfast. Any further suggestions here?

Well, by all means you should try Bewley's. It has a higher cigarette
ash content than the others, and also more rat excrement. Or at least it
tastes like it does.

>I'm hunting for a little more delicacy and nuance for the rest of the
>day. Toci

After a cup of that stuff, _everything_ seems more delicate and nuanced
in comparison.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Hehe.... I can probably help you guys out, but its too much to go into at the moment and I have to get back to work. Read my reply to Gills' post today to see what I mean. L8rs.

Scott /19/05

> toci > wrote:
>> Has just about nothing more to be said for it, except it is ultimately
>> potable. I'm finishing up the last four teabags as iced tea. Then I'm
>> moving on to other green teas- I'm now sampling senchas, which I
>> already know I like better. Toci
>
> The free trade process is a great idea for a commodity item, in that it
> makes sure the grower gets paid a reasonable amount for his work.
>
> BUT, it turns anything that is made into a commodity item, because the
> grower now has no real motivation to grow anything better.
>
> Free trade coffees and teas tend to be lowest common denominator types;
> you aren't going to see high grade specialty materials made that way.

Scott,

I'm not disagreeing with you, but re your final observatipn above,why not?

Michael

Michael Plant > wrote:
>Scott /19/05
>>
>> Free trade coffees and teas tend to be lowest common denominator types;
>> you aren't going to see high grade specialty materials made that way.
>
>I'm not disagreeing with you, but re your final observatipn above,why not?

Because if the grower _does_ have something special, it's probably going
to be more profitable for him to sell it as such, rather than selling it
as free trade. And if it _is_ sold at the free trade price, and the broker
has any idea how good it is, _he_ will tend to sell it at a higher price.

The only time this changes is if there are production quotas (cf the
"communicating vessels" of Bordeaux wine in which high grade wines are
sold as lesser types because an estate can only sell a certain amount at
a particular grade). Or if the local market is really, really flooded.
Or if someone somewhere along the chain is not checking for quality at
all.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Hi All,

I have been lurking for a while. The discussions are usually very
interesting. But this is the first one that makes me feel like I must
weigh in.

First off, the term is "fair trade" and is totaly different from "Free
trade". The two are typically opposites, as without fair-trade there
is no guarantee that the growers of the tea (or coffee or chocolate or
bananas) get a fair price for their product. The markets tend to be
structured in ways that allow big retailers to pay very low price to
the growers. For more info, see he
http://www.transfairusa.org/

The assertion that "fair trade" products are of low quality is
completely inaccurate. Without fair trade, a retailer can still charge
a few hundred dollars for a 1/4 lb of tea but still pay a few pennies
to the growers. All fair trade does is ensure that the people who are
growing the products are making a living wage and are not starving. If
anything, fair trade products are better on average because a) they
tend to be produced by smaller coops that have more personal investment
in producing higher quality products, rather than by people working in
near-sweatshop conditions, b) the coops tend to be in better position
to invest in high quality growing. At worst, fair trade does nothing
harmful either to the quality of the product or to the lives of people
who produce it.

Unfortunately, unlike coffee business, tea business has not yet
embraced fair trade. Rishi offers a few fair trade certified items.
In Pursuit of Tea espouses a philosophy that is akin to fair trade.
But their teas are not formally fair-trade certified. I think also
fair-trade certification is a bit more common in Indian teas than in
Chinese or Taiwanese ones. But in the coffee world, fair trade has
become very widespread.

Cheers,

Maxim

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Michael Plant > wrote:
> >Scott /19/05
> >>
> >> Free trade coffees and teas tend to be lowest common denominator types;
> >> you aren't going to see high grade specialty materials made that way.
> >
> >I'm not disagreeing with you, but re your final observatipn above,why not?
>
> Because if the grower _does_ have something special, it's probably going
> to be more profitable for him to sell it as such, rather than selling it
> as free trade. And if it _is_ sold at the free trade price, and the broker
> has any idea how good it is, _he_ will tend to sell it at a higher price.
>
> The only time this changes is if there are production quotas (cf the
> "communicating vessels" of Bordeaux wine in which high grade wines are
> sold as lesser types because an estate can only sell a certain amount at
> a particular grade). Or if the local market is really, really flooded.
> Or if someone somewhere along the chain is not checking for quality at
> all.
> --scott
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott /20/05

> Michael Plant > wrote:
>> Scott /19/05
>>>
>>> Free trade coffees and teas tend to be lowest common denominator types;
>>> you aren't going to see high grade specialty materials made that way.
>>
>> I'm not disagreeing with you, but re your final observatipn above,why not?
>
> Because if the grower _does_ have something special, it's probably going
> to be more profitable for him to sell it as such, rather than selling it
> as free trade. And if it _is_ sold at the free trade price, and the broker
> has any idea how good it is, _he_ will tend to sell it at a higher price.
>
> The only time this changes is if there are production quotas (cf the
> "communicating vessels" of Bordeaux wine in which high grade wines are
> sold as lesser types because an estate can only sell a certain amount at
> a particular grade). Or if the local market is really, really flooded.
> Or if someone somewhere along the chain is not checking for quality at
> all.

Sorry Scott,

I misread. I had my mind on "fair trade," which is another thing. Disregard
all my previous correspondence.
Michael

Michael Plant wrote:
> Scott /20/05
>
> > Michael Plant > wrote:
> >> Scott /19/05
> >>>
> >>> Free trade coffees and teas tend to be lowest common denominator types;
> >>> you aren't going to see high grade specialty materials made that way.
> >>
> >> I'm not disagreeing with you, but re your final observatipn above,why not?
> >
> > Because if the grower _does_ have something special, it's probably going
> > to be more profitable for him to sell it as such, rather than selling it
> > as free trade. And if it _is_ sold at the free trade price, and the broker
> > has any idea how good it is, _he_ will tend to sell it at a higher price.
> >
> > The only time this changes is if there are production quotas (cf the
> > "communicating vessels" of Bordeaux wine in which high grade wines are
> > sold as lesser types because an estate can only sell a certain amount at
> > a particular grade). Or if the local market is really, really flooded.
> > Or if someone somewhere along the chain is not checking for quality at
> > all.
>
> Sorry Scott,
>
> I misread. I had my mind on "fair trade," which is another thing. Disregard
> all my previous correspondence.
> Michael