OT: Who Are You ?

Absolutely concur with that Mike. Unfortunately don't the time to brew a decent cuppa using the machine in the mornings - my wife and I don't do mornings well.

If I have a late start - I sometimes whip out the French press - but that still pales compared with a nice thick crema on top of an espresso.

Name: Dean Origin: Pennsylvania Living: Near Philadelphia Vintage: 1951 Wife: Yes Kids: 3; 2 all grown up and left the coop, 1 still in college Obsessions: Christianity, tea, wine, music, food/cooking, gardening, walking Job: Electronic Engineering Manager Favorite Tea: Darjeeling (esp. 2nd flush), Chinese and Taiwanese oolongs (prefer jade style), red Chinese (esp. Keemun)

I also enjoy coffee, and roast my own beans.

Ozzy

Mal,

I'm of the humble opinion that assuming you start with good fresh beans a French press makes the best coffee there is.

Regards, Dean

teas/special edibles/drinkables in small towns, etc

local red tea in Yixing, Jiangsu.

That would be Yangxian, right?

/Lew

That would be the name of a county of yixing or an area in yixing? The tea I am referring to is produced by the locals in the same town zisha clay is supposedly mined. They often use this tea to 'raise' their pots because it helps to stain quicker. I've raised two pots using this tea so far, and it does well, actually.

Would that be a hongcha? Yangxian Jinhao ? Shen

That's what I've heard.

A while ago, Ripon was sure of this tea being "the" Yixing hongcha, but I just tried Googling for it in Chinese characters and came up with precisely one hit, which seems kind of strange.

/Lew

quoted text -

This tea has no name besides yi xing hong cha. I bought it from some vendors that sell zisha pots. They grow it in the city and make it themselves.

quoted text -

Again, I learn more from foreigners about China than the Chinese know. I ran the name yangxian past the guys I got the tea from and one guy's grandmother knew it, but that's all. She thinks it was an old...really old name for yixing, she said it was probably closer to pronunciation of the local language of the name of the town and yixing was from Mandarin. But even she isn't sure totally.

Anyway, this tea is cheap locally. I have to pay about 5USD for 250g bag of the stuff here, well, because it's in Dongguan, but you can probably get the same stuff in the city itself from the locals for less. Don't pay much for this tea if it suddenly becomes popular.

Name: Not sure anymore - a pharmacy labeled my refill for "Barry" Origin: Honolulu, Hawaii Vintage: Old enough to know better, young enough to not to care Living: Usually in Oklahoma, been on the road since October Spouse/children: Not yet Consistent Interests: Travel, writing, photography, fountain pens (easiest writers that don't require electricity), movies, books, classical music including opera

Inconsistent Interests: kites, stamps, wine, Christian music, hiking, geocaching for the sense of adventure & scenery (urban or not), not so much for the prize

Former Interests: Scuba diving, horses, cycling, motorcycle trail riding, sailing

(Was I supposed to list tea anywhere?)

Job: Former programmer/analyst, quit to pursue writing and travel interests Favorite Teas: Snow Buds, Lung Ching, Earl Grey, Prince of Wales, decaf'd Chinese green with apricot, straight and flavored rooibos (I know, I know)

What does a producer do? I've got it in my head, somehow, that an executive producer goes after the money, the investors, the distribution company, the studio (as opposed to the prod co), maybe the rights to produce as with a book or life story. My impression is that a producer handles the nuts & bolts, getting the people together, casting, music, technical crews, location, catering, etc., and resolves issues that may arise that any of these can't handle with their own resources.

Please correct me where I'm wrong and give me a better picture.

Thanks.