What You've Been Waiting For

Some of you will remember Aromaserene.com from back in February of this year.

Beware as the same gentleman who started that fly by night site is now translating articles into English for Pu-erh Teapot magazine. He has gone by many names over the months including Aaron Fisher, Oahspe, and many pseudonyms. He is now translating articles to English for Pu-er Teapot magazine and I have personal experience and undeniable evidence that he lies frequently and without remorse.

He has surfaced several times since the Aroma Serene days, including forums like the Pu-erh LJ community, and even on the streets of Kunming with his "Tea Master" from Taiwan. His information has always been tainted with mysticism that was just a little too hard to swallow, and on several occasions he has even admitted to flat out lying to me.

I dont know if the OP is the same person or not but beware as Aaron is now affiliated with that organization. I am not sure what his motivation is but this Aaron Fisher person, or whatever he is calling himself today, is not to be trusted.........

Mike

snipped-for-privacy@m7g2000cwm.googlegroups.com10/6/06

Phyll,

With all due respect, your additional information is wanting: You need to tell us who exactly is the tea enthusiast working with the "Aaron" on an article about tea. Perhaps I'll then change my mind. At this time however, having examined several numbers of Teapot Magazine, I deem it a vendors' and tea producers' propaganda organ. The magazine is weighted heavily to advertising; and the articles, being written for the most part by and about vendors, are suspect. The overarching theme of the magazine appears to be to get me to buy more Pu'erh. I smell a rat.

Michael

I know not who Phyll refers to but I do know that Guang is involved in some measure, he is positioning himself as the US distributor for the magazine, albeit I do not question Guangs honesty or integrity, it is unfortunate that he has associated himself with Aaron Fisher.

Further evidence that points to Aaron and this "Executive Editor" being one and the same is the total lack of any attempt to contact me or my site. From a marketing prospective any puerh magazine would almost certainly send an announcement to "Pu-erh.Net" unless they knew they were not welcome.

Actually I seriously considered creating an association with Pu'er Teapot magazine at one point, with Guang making the introductions, but when I found out Aaron was heavily involved I bowed out.

-- Mike Petro

This is typical Aaron Fisher style. He has been known to frequently be cagey about revealing himself in the past. He loves to use a variety of names and email addresses. He also likes to swear people to secrecy when communicating with them. The shedding of light uncovers the truth.....

Your friend is not alone. Aaron Fisher has written several friends of mine addressing himself as "Executive Editor". While yet another penname was used, his writing style was unmistakable, this was confirmed by several English Professor friends (PhD types) who are experts at identifying such prose style. He has contacted many people attempting to get articles for his magazine. The fact that I was never approached is somewhat telling as well, and trust me I am not in the least bit jealous nor do I feel slighted, but many puerh related ventures contact me hoping to cash in on the credibility and popularity of Pu-erh.Net and the fact that this one hasn't is a bit revealing. Think about it, an English Language Puerh Mag that doesn't make an announcement to Pu-erh.Net? I suspect he knew what to expect!

The stuff I posted on LJ is just the tip of the iceberg. I have tons of email from this guy, including many under various other names but using the same IP address and the same writing style. He posed as a "Shill" by posting a message to my website recommending Aroma Serene while "pretending" to be a satisfied customer, and the list goes on. He eventually admitted to many of these lies (including the Shill incident) using a variety of excuses. He has no credibility in my book. While he may be knowledgeable about tea and/or puerh, he is not to be trusted.

I also tasted samples of each of his teas and the tea doesn't lie, it was NOT what he portrayed it to be. He sold several of $300 bricks of crap tea and I have yet to hear a single person speak favorably of the tea.

I have nothing against your friend, nor anybody else for that matter. I also have nothing against Puer Teapot magazine, but their new employee has no credibility in my opinion. I do have a bit of history with Aaron Fisher and I feel obliged to make the tea community aware of his sleaziness. My reputation in the tea community stands up to scrutiny, does Aaron's?

-- Mike Petro

Mike,

While I much appreciate your investigations on these creeps -- I say creeps based on having drunk Aroma Serene's supposedly most excellent Pu'erhs and having found them to be pure junk to the point where I threw the rest of my stashes away in the trash -- I think we should beware of throwing the baby away with the bath water.

A bit of silent ritual enhances the tea experience. A bit of mysticism that brings us to a greater awareness of what the tea is doing in our mouths does not go amiss; and any method we bring to the table that tunes and enhances our concentration is a good thing. Fine trees deserve that. But, as somebody far greater than I suggested, when we make a big thing out of the mystery and the ritual, we are in danger of worshipping the pointing finger, rather than the sacred thing to which it points. Yadayadayada enough. (He reads his own insufferable prose, and goes to hide in a little dark windowless room for the rest of the day.)

Michael

Point taken, and I do agree, but this character has taken the mysticism to a whole new degree. I suspect mysticism was a vehicle to enable him to cover the truth.

Mike

-- Mike Petro

The more I think about this the less I agree. In this "business" it seems that mysticism is used predominantly for marketing and seldom for spirituality. Almost every time I see mysticism brought into play it is to create some "story" whose prime purpose is to inflate the price of the tea. I feel that tea should be sold for what it is, an agricultural crop. Like any other agricultural crop skilled processing and farming can greatly increase the quality.

One can be extremely aware of most anything one consumes, this is a good thing. Spirituality, the awareness associated with consuming the tea, is valid and fantastic. However it should have absolutely nothing to do with sale price of the product. It is simply a matter of how one consumes the product. To each his/her own and all.

When mysticism is used to "sell" a product it is the consumer who always loses.......

Just MHO,

-- Mike Petro

Yes, of course. I was not referring to vendor hype; only saying that a sharing of tea in that way takes us into new dimensions. It's another discussion. How tea is sold is still another matter.

To which I say, Amen. But, ahem: Let us not throw out this dimension because some damnable vendor abused it.

Well, usually....

Michael

Word. I always hate to reply in one of these threads because while the conversation is excellent... the original post just keeps getting more airtime and never just goes away.

With the amazing talent, knowledge, and genuine love for tea it would appear to me that there is enough skill here to produce a very good magazine. Rather than sit idle and constantly be annoyed by the false attempts to create an English language tea magazine by less than honorable individuals, I'm always one to put my time, effort, and money behind doing something about it and to correct a situation. Even though my prose here and on my new blog are fairly raw and un-edited I did work as a writer/reviewer and editor. I also was lukcy enough to receive the National English Merit Award in 1998. (I'm almost ashamed to say this now, since most of you have read the poor excuse for English I type here daily) And I know the diverse and educated backgrounds around here easily cover the spectrum and then some.

It is a big undertaking and I'm not trying to rattle the troops into wasting time and effort on a pipe dream, but it could be done if there was interest.

I don't like the mystical nature of a lot of what is said and sold with regards to tea, I'm also not a fan of those who make these over-reaching claims of health benefits either. When people are informed it always works in their favor. I have been disgusted with the total lack of culture and tea in my area (near Pittsburgh) and I have been steadily laying groundwork to do somethign about it and open my own shop that offers real tea, at normal prices, brewed properly, and in a nice atmosphere with a nod to local musicians/artists. I'd rather try and fail than do nothing and wish for better. My family is composed of artists, with my grandfather having been quite renowned, and there is very little outlet for that as well in my area and growing smaller daily. Reality shows, Paris Hilton, and gangsta rap are about as cultured as many young folks are in my neck of the woods... but I believe there is a desire for a little more, a little depth, in a large majority of the youth and it is going unfilled. Not just youth but young adults and the under-30 crowd as well. Starbucks is not the answer, and there are no alternatives for anything less commercial and more "real."

Sorry to go on a tangent, but I am an individual who believes in taking action. That is the only true way to combat these issues.

- Dominic

----------------------------------------------------------- Michael,

With respect, I don't think I should mention the person's name lest I undeliberately cause him/her to be viewed as guilty by association, since the main mood of this thread is such. This would be a breach of personal trust on my part to that person. I apologize. I don't mean to be secretive here, but it would just be irresponsible of me if I did. I hope you understand.

I have not touched a single publication of the magazine, in Chinese, Urdu, nor in English. Ok, I don't think they publish in Urdu.

Phyll

Phyll, I respect your judgement on the matter. Michael

To offer another side to an otherwise one-sided scandal I will go against my better intuitions and offer my voice here. Truly I feel that gossip and rumors say more about the one doing the gossiping than the one they discuss, but in this instance some of what is discussed is based on fact, though exaggerated, and my own faults should be made public.

Yes I did start an online review and tea website called "Aroma Serene." In the beginning, I think my intentions were very good. I didn't really need the money, as I am already a successful school teacher. (*Gasp* a school teacher of little children, yes. And contrary to the rumors, I also don't have horns either) I sold tea to ONLY two individuals, Mike Petro and a man named Gerald. Both orders were just a few samples and totaled around 30$, including the 13 dollars or so for air-shipping from Taiwan. The teas were authentic and vintage 60's teas, though they had indeed spent time in wet storage. However, that kind of tea is misunderstood in the West, I have since learned, and not appreciated the way it is here. Anyway, neither of them liked the tea and they are definitely entitled to their personal opinions. I also don't wish to dispute the teas again, please.

I then closed shop for two reasons: One reason was that I saw that they had not appreciated the tea I had access to. The second was that I noticed in myself that my good intentions to share tea culture had indeed been affected by Greed. I did begin thinking about selling the teas, and the cakes were approximately 300 dollars (though I never sold one) and I would have had about 50 dollars profit from each one. I planned to spend the money on more tea for myself. When I recognized that emotion in myself, I decided the endeavor wasn't healthy. It was wrong to let money pollute one of the great passions of my life.

I had indeed asked a friend to send a "schill" to Mr. Mike Petro to come to the website and it was dishonest and wrong. I also did in fact publish a few of Gerald's emails to me on my site, but it was more out of ignorance to the mores of internet culture than a desire to deceive anyone. When he mentioned it, I immediately removed them. For both of these wrongs I here publicly apologize. I am sorry.

And if you are thinking that this public apology is too little too late, I should like to tell you that some months ago I already apologized to both of these individuals privately. I sent both of them boxes containing a heartfelt apology, hand painted calligraphy I did myself, some nice porcelain cups and over 20 bags with 10-15 gram samples of some vintage Puerhs and aged oolongs each. It cost me quite a bit, but obviously wasn't enough?

Then, some months later someone was posting information on a forum and Mike Petro accused me of doing this and of having lots of email addresses, etc. His evidence for accusing me was that his team of "PhD linguists" had analyzed the blog posts and discovered that it matched my prose. The other evidence was that some photos were used that had also been used on my website Aroma Serene. I am a part of a group of hundreds of tea-lovers that share tea and meditation together and the pictures came from that group. They are public property. Nevertheless, I understand that I will be faulted for this too and regardless of my involvement or not, will indeed be blamed. I can accept that. After all, I am here admitting to guilt that Mike Petro never has, and his word is of greater weight in this environment. It is foolish, immature and downright silly to speak on it anymore. None of these people that slander me have ever met me or even spoken to me. I exchanged a total of 2-3 emails with Gerald and about 5-10 with Mike. That's it. I have never had any contact with any others here (I think).

If your world is so black and white that you think mistakes turn people into sleazy and dastardly devils whose only intention in life is to hurt others, you've been watching too many cartoons. I'll spare you the suspense and tell you now publicly and without shame that I am a sinner. I have done wrong in my life. Sometimes I am angry, sometimes naughty, I have lied; but I have also done good, sometimes I'm a good friend, husband and/or father, sometimes I do well by my students. If you wish to hate me, you may; but I don't hate any of you, even Mike or Gerald who are only expressing that they felt wronged.

Finally, I would say at last that judging a magazine based on one of its editors is equally driven by a love for tabloidish scandal and immaturity. I am but one of a huge staff of people here, and also but one of hundreds of authors that will be represented. The first issue has 25 or so articles and only 1 was written by me. Feel free not to read it or to criticize it to shreds. When you buy a new computer you choose a brand based on what's in the computer and how it runs, not whether you like the CEO of HP or Apple better! Diversity makes any publication good, newspaper or magazine. I am not The Art of Tea Magazine and it is not me. The magazine will speak for itself, and it is. We already have had thousands of pre-orders in Asia and have had more than 200 positive emails about subscription and distribution from many Western countries, including two major bookstore chains that are considering it for retail on their shelves. Judging the magazine based on me personally or my past mistakes is silly, and only prevents you from sharing in on all the hundreds of Chinese authors that will now be translated for you, and who have never done anything to you.

As for the financial backing, my bosses, knowing me: of course they do. Unlike Mike Petro or Gerald, they have spent considerable time working with me and enjoying tea in our free time. These guys have been in this business for twenty years. They are very smart and wouldn't hire someone that was lying to them, nor would they be fooled culturally as communication isn't a problem between us. And that is the sad thing about all this silliness, if Mike, Gerald and I met randomly and anonymously in person, I'm sure we'd get along great and be good friends.

Whether you want to check the magazine out or not is up to. We will have avenues for you to criticize it and voice your opinions too. But I wish you well in tea and ask forgiveness for my part in any misunderstanding with any individuals anywhere. I honestly wish no hard feelings, even all business aside. If you cannot forgive me, there is nothing else I can offer beyond my apology and admittance of the guilty part I played in any of this.

Aaron Fisher

Ah, so after all this, you finally stopped signing "Executive Editor" and using your real name?

That's a start. After all, what's so secretive about a tea magazine?

Your reputation preceeds you, Mr. Fisher, and for a good reason I believe. You have tried on the LJ Community to pose as somebody else (a Chinese gentlemen was your persona) and then trying to get people to hook up with your friend JFree to, probably, buy tea from you at some point. Such underhanded business tactics are ALWAYS frowned upon, no excuses necessary.

Hmm I guess your email below was yet another lie then? Or is the above statement the lie? Heck, the first time you sent me an email you said you wouldn't sell any tea at all online, to anybody, under any circumstances.

Actually I have close to 50 emails from you in my archives, many are extremely prolific. Another small example of the typical - uh - "inaccuracy" in your statements.

I can punch holes through many of your other claims as well, but why bother...

Look Aaron, in this business we Westerners MUST trust our vendors as we are usually buying tea sight unseen, often at several dollars per gram . This means that "trust" in a relationship is valued more than anything else during the process. Without trust we Westerners cant effectively do business with Asia.

You can deny all you want, but the things you yourself admitted to me in your emails are reason enough for me not to trust you. You have violated my trust by lying to me so many times that I have lost count, some by your own admission, and I have email trails to substantiate the rest of the "inaccuracies".

If you are so honorable why do you always cloak your identity? Why have you used so many different names and email addresses? You hid your identity here too until I outed you, why didn't you use your real name when you spammed this group, the Puerh LJ Community, and several private enthusiasts two days ago? . What are you always trying to hide? It is REALLY hard to trust a man who hides his identity!

With so many "inaccuracies" why should I expect your publication to be any different? And YES, the fact that you hold a title of such significant responsibility, "Executive Editor", does indeed link your personal reputation to that of your publication.

JMHO,

-- Mike Petro

Mr. Fisher, please allow me to remind of our encounter on-line. I recieved several emals from you, first posing as a ficticious Mr. Wu, and later with your name on them. The following link should refresh your memory:

While I am here, I should state that I have the utmost respect and trust for Guang as a person and business operator. He stands as a model for how someone can run a small business based on a love and passion for his product. I realize that his connection to Aaron F. and Puer-Teapot is entirely tangential, and does not reflect on him. I also hope that the Art of Tea turns out to be a wonderful and informative resource for English languange tea enthusiasts.

This thread now touches on a zone of compelling interest to me: the way synthetic mysticism is used to support and inhibit direct personal experience.

(Zen references trimmed to avoid objectifying the absolute)

Some make a distinction between two forms of hidden knowledge: mysteries and secrets. Secrets are information known and directly transmissible, whose concealment provides advantage to some. Releasing this information reduces or eliminates its special value to the holder.

Mysteries include the kind of informedness that requires non-verbal transmission and direct experience. Concealment and "trading" transactions are irrelevant, because the content cannot be coded into words in a way that conveys the important meaning. Some mysteries are described as self-secret: they are available everywhere, all the time, but will not be perceived and understood until the vessel is properly cleaned and seasoned. Most true spiritual teachings are like this: well-publicized, impossible to understand beyond the level of slogan and cliche and truism until the moment of personal insight exists, and then blindingly obvious in a way that remains very difficult to communicate to a non-seer. One definition of a teacher is someone who can help the student to prepare his/her own vessel, then put forth a truth with such clarity and simplicity that it can easily be received.

There is a third category of non-knowledge: ignorance. IMO, this society is crippled by a fear of ignorance, and a driving need to fill creative emptiness with any sort of chaff, no matter how much that may impede further development. Ignorance and confusion are honorable; without both, there would be no progress.

In agreeing with Michael and Mike, I would further elaborate that many people in the tea world seem to experience a need for knowledge-as-control even where this does not enhance their direct relationship with their drink. So we find endless procreation of myth, misinformation and gratuitous dogma. Or, as indicted in this discussion, ignorance wrapped in a cloak of either secrecy or mystery. Threads here and elsewhere have questioned the righteousness of vendors who choose not to disclose production details of their offerings. That, to me, is a perfectly reasonable business decision for both parties: what to tell, whether or not to buy, and on what basis of information, reputation, relationship or other coin of credibility.

I hold, though, that counterfeiting mystery where none exists is a direct assault on the real gold here, the simple enjoyment (alone or in company, with a tin cup or a vintage set of celadon, with tuppence worth of stale leaf or a couriered pick of mountain green, before a shrine or a television) of the brewed leaf. Many paths, perhaps even many ways. IMO, anything that diverts a seeker of truth or pleasure from the self-revealed personal path, whether through rigid rules, deliberate obfuscation or the mindless objectification of legend, is an exercise in service of ego and counter to the good of all. The priciest leaf in a good cigar is the wrapper, but the best tea comes in very plain packages.

-DM

Thank you!

Oh boy, this is like watching Foley.

art of tea magaz> To offer another side to an otherwise one-sided scandal I will go