TeaChat

ole wrote:Well, I came across this yesterday,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i0aNSaEkUQ so maybe there is hope for a tea culture.

Ok, aside of their intentions (which are probably good), just a little something about the way they are expressing their... thing.

"...certified tea master..." - 14 weeks, about 3K $ and you are a "tea master". This is probably the main thing I don't like about this video - how the guy makes an accent on something which is not real. Asians are studying for decades to get to the "tea master level" and here you pay some bucks, and here it is, you are an all-powerful jedi of tea. They probably also has "A" tea masters, "B" tea masters", and "C" tea masters. Speaking of devaluation of culture - that's where it all starts.

"...sitting down for tea will make your children's grades go up, their perception of morality, their vision of future career path will become clear..." - probably people won't be as hard on Chas if Chas won't be saying obvious not-so-much-true things and advertize tea instead of educating people. He is not saying that tea drinking gives _opportunities_ or MIGHT help, he states that it WILL help, just like a salesperson.
And, Chas, in case you will read this message: there are corruptionists, gang members, murderers, and tyrants who like tea and appreciate it on daily basis. So it's probably not the best "magical pill" to give kids for morality.

All the "changes made in American tea ceremony" in the video are just optional alterations people all over the world use in their tea ceremonies. Substituting the ceramic tea pot with a glass french press to make it "more fun" without explanation why people used ceramic first of all - looks like a marketing trick and nothing like education.

debunix wrote:The LA Times has noticed this trend too:

In the beverage industry, it's definitely tea's time.

Unfortunately, I suspect a lot of this is coming as flavored, sweetened stuff in cans and bottles rather than the real deal.

RTD teas are growing the fastest but the quality of the RTD teas is growing too. But that isn't just America, you are also seeing RTD teas growing in China and Japan as well.

hopeofdawn wrote:Wow. That's um ... wow. I'm kind of embarrassed to be an American now ...

So am I...for the last decade or so.

Anyways, isn't the -essence- of America being ready to adopt foreign things?

A meal of steak, French fries and kraut taken with a good pu'er -is- American.

M.

... hrmmm ...

I will give them a thumbs up on creating a concept such as "the American Tea Ceremony" and then actually creating a ceremony fitting their vision. Involving the fam is a nice concept. Kudos.

However, I would probably be a bit more appreciative of their efforts and concept had it not been a force feeding and presumptuous. Instead perhaps referring to it as "our version or vision of a potential American Tea Ceremony" as perhaps some may embrace this ... however not likely anyone on TeaChat.

It is kind of like they are saying, "you and your family need this, and we created it for you." Most TCers rebel against this, I suspect.

Speaking in absolutes as Chas does as to the resulting tremendous benefits of this ceremony could have been better presented as "potential benefits."

However, I will give them this, they took initiative and did it. Perhaps we could have members present their vision of "the American Tea Ceremony."

I did have to chuckle, at some point Ms. Salazar says to create a peaceful and relaxing environment ... something like that ... and then there is the crazy knife display behind her.

I turned it of when I saw the shot glasses.
For real! certified tea master Ms. Salizer. Certified by grand master Chas himself. Give me a break.
I appreciate what they are trying to do. But the way they go about it is off andthe fact that they call themselves tea masters makes it pretty obvious they don't know what they are talking about. The whole thing was kinda creepy.

They probably do have good intentions, but they might consider hiring a publicity consultant to tone down the creepy if they really want to win people over. The video gives off a very fake vibe.

Yeah, I think that was my main problem with it. I don't know these people personally, and for all I know they're very genuine in their love of tea. But the video felt like an infomercial to me--it felt like they were trying to sell me something prepackaged and fake.

Just my two cents: if America is to develop a tea 'ceremony' or culture, I think people are going to embrace it the way I did. Step 1: have someone who knows a great deal about tea introduce you to really good teas/different brewing methods. Step 2: drink lots of different kinds of really good tea. Step 3: Read/learn more about tea and tea brewing, and share freely. Step 4: Go back to step 2 and repeat.

Or to be even more concise--drink lots of tea, and hang out on Teachat!