all in this tea

For general/other topics related to tea.


User avatar
Apr 13th, '09, 13:43
Posts: 9
Joined: Jan 27th, '09, 22:08
Location: MICHIGAN

all in this tea

by irish13 » Apr 13th, '09, 13:43

If anyone is interested there is a documentary on the sundance channel called all in this tea.It is also on at 830 est. tonite

User avatar
Apr 13th, '09, 13:46
Posts: 504
Joined: Nov 3rd, '08, 13:46

by Janine » Apr 13th, '09, 13:46

Thanks Irish, I'll look for it

User avatar
Apr 13th, '09, 14:30
Posts: 9
Joined: Jan 27th, '09, 22:08
Location: MICHIGAN

by irish13 » Apr 13th, '09, 14:30

Your welcome

User avatar
Apr 13th, '09, 15:36
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Been thanked: 2 times

by Chip » Apr 13th, '09, 15:36

Thanks for the heads up!
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!

User avatar
Apr 13th, '09, 19:20
Posts: 734
Joined: Jan 27th, '09, 09:52
Location: Alice's Tea Party

by woozl » Apr 13th, '09, 19:20

Very cool!!!
Looks like it will be on again for those who miss.

I love the scene when he is handed a big sac of tea, gives a sniff and immediately is no sorry, chemicals.....
“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
“I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone: “so I ca’n’t take more.”
“You mean you ca’n’t take less,” said the Hatter: “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.”

User avatar
Apr 13th, '09, 19:57
Posts: 233
Joined: Feb 16th, '08, 11:51
Location: Bayonne, NJ
Contact: horsencl

by horsencl » Apr 13th, '09, 19:57

Definately a must see. I watch my copy of it quite often.

User avatar
Apr 13th, '09, 20:03
Posts: 1598
Joined: Jan 11th, '07, 16:13
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: SF Bay Area, CA

by scruffmcgruff » Apr 13th, '09, 20:03

I thought this movie was dreadful. He spends half the time talking down to locals for not making their teas right, and the other half talking about himself! I would like to see him determine which tea was made with chemicals in a blind test. Just another self-righteous aging hippie if you ask me.

I do agree that the red tape involved in buying tea that was demonstrated was pretty ridiculous, but that has changed a great deal since the film was shot so it is only relevant if you want to know about the system over a decade ago.

User avatar
Apr 14th, '09, 00:04
Posts: 5151
Joined: Dec 20th, '06, 23:33
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Been thanked: 1 time

by Salsero » Apr 14th, '09, 00:04

I am with Scruff ... though it was worth watching once. And the guy was building a cave to hold his puerh!

User avatar
Apr 14th, '09, 00:15
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Been thanked: 2 times

by Chip » Apr 14th, '09, 00:15

Did someone say "TeaCave????? :evil:
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!

User avatar
Apr 14th, '09, 15:01
Posts: 2044
Joined: Jan 11th, '07, 20:47
Location: Los Angeles, CA

by wyardley » Apr 14th, '09, 15:01

I'm curious to watch it, whenever Netflix starts carrying it, but after seeing clips of it online, I'm really afraid that watching it is going to make me very cranky. In the clips I've seen and the interviews, DLH comes across as really arrogant and obnoxious, as well as not that knowledgeable about / respectful of Chinese culture (for someone who's spent 'years in the backwoods of Asia' or whatever they're claiming). And I think the claims of his I've heard that he can tell whether a tea has been treated with pesticides by smelling it are ridiculous. Acting as if he's going to school the Chinese about organic agriculture seems a little obnoxious too.... the Chinese have been picking, processing, and cultivating tea since before anyone else (and since the existence of pesticides) for thousands of years... somehow, I don't think all that know-how has gone completely out the window.

I am a little skeptical of the claims that he's some sort of pioneer, because I'm pretty sure people besides DLH were bringing good Chinese tea to the US before him, just maybe not catering to the same clientele (i.e., white people), but maybe I'm wrong.

I'm really hoping that I'll be forced to eat my words once I actually see the movie, but I'm not holding my breath.

User avatar
Apr 14th, '09, 15:45
Vendor Member
Posts: 2084
Joined: Sep 24th, '08, 18:38
Location: Boston, MA

by gingkoseto » Apr 14th, '09, 15:45

I have a videotape of this film given by a friend. I liked it very much. But by the time I watched it, I didn't know many crazy tea loving westerners yet. Now knowing so many teachatters around, the film might not look that phenomenal :P

Worth seeing anyway. I like the part he was talking about finding some green tea with good flavor and mediocre appearance. That's actually a nice way to get good deals on tea :D I also like the how he is devoted in raising earthworms for organic fertilizer. It was amusing scene that he was talking about it enthusiastically to a few local officers and those people didn't seem to care about it at all. I really hope this earthworm thing could work in tea production.

And I don't know what other people think about the tea performance at the beginning of the film (and probably in the middle of the film as well, I don't remmeber). The tea performance in China is usually carried out by pretty girls. The performers are cute and elegant, but very often I just couldn't bear with seeing this kind of pretty girl tea performance - it makes me get goose bumps all over :twisted:
By sitting in peace and doing nothing,
You make your one day worth two days.

User avatar
Apr 14th, '09, 16:43
Posts: 504
Joined: Nov 3rd, '08, 13:46

by Janine » Apr 14th, '09, 16:43

I met him once but very briefly. He came into Imperial Tea in Berkeley to check it out - he wanted to see Roy Fong (the owner) but Roy wasn't in. He just left word that he liked what Roy had done. He had this complete entourage with him. Rather impressive in that sense. But then again I'm not big on acolytes :-)

I haven't seen the film - I recorded it so I'll get to it. It's kind of interesting that people here talk about organics. Roy is now starting an organic farm for jasmine blossoms in addition to organic tea farming... it's quite an adventure always in tea it seems.

BTW I have met others who claim they can smell chemicals and additives in tea, who are taken very seriously. I have no verdict on these abilities myself. I suppose it depends on the person. But I do think honest skepticism is always a healthy companion.

User avatar
Apr 14th, '09, 17:39
Posts: 1574
Joined: Dec 30th, '08, 21:16
Location: The foot of the great Smoky Mountains

by iannon » Apr 14th, '09, 17:39

The earthworm farming is actually pretty interesting. I have actually done it at my house in barrels. The castings from the worms are wonderful natural fertilizer for your garden.

User avatar
Apr 15th, '09, 11:31
Posts: 504
Joined: Nov 3rd, '08, 13:46

by Janine » Apr 15th, '09, 11:31

Hi again - just wanted to check in to say that I have watched about half the movie and I really enjoyed it. I didn't think he was talking down to anyone - he was really talking about the difficulties of bureaucracy and the Communist system. What's interesting is that now so many people are doing just what he advised - working together directly with the farmers. Right now I know that Roy Fong (of Imperial Tea) is actually producing/selling his own "probiotic" organic fertilizer so that the tea farms he buys from grow organic products that he feels will be better teas. As I said above (I think) he's even starting a farm in China to organically grow jasmine because he feels the quality in the scent of jasmine blossoms has deteriorated to where it is no longer the same tea it was decades ago.

I also was surprised that Winnie Yu of Teance is in this film (I just didn't know she was), also I think James Norwood Pratt was involved somehow? I have to watch more.

One more thumbs up reason: my husband actually enjoyed watching and was really interested... a well-done film by respected documentary film maker. I look forward to seeing the rest of it.

User avatar
Apr 15th, '09, 21:54
Posts: 233
Joined: Feb 16th, '08, 11:51
Location: Bayonne, NJ
Contact: horsencl

by horsencl » Apr 15th, '09, 21:54

My boyfriend also gave it a thumbs up. It even helped me convince him that we should take a tea tour of China. :D

+ Post Reply