conceptually speaking: tea in the taste hall

First off, what is the Taste Hall? The Taste Hall will be in Fort Mason and its purpose is to allow people to experience food in a way they haven't before. Each curator is trying to make the best vertical education opportunity available to the public who will be paying $35 - $70 per person for their 4 hour experience. Please see Slow Food Nation's Event Overview if you want a sense of the entire event that will take over San Francisco's Civic Center & Fort Mason areas at the end of August.

Tea is officially one of the 14 categories featured in the Taste Hall. We are coming from the viewpoint that tea is probably one of the most original slow foods. Not necessarily because we sip it slowly, but because the most memorable cups of tea are the ones that connect - connect you to the past, to the earth, to the weather, to the grower, to the moment. But I digress from the specific goal here. Sorry.

We think that the best way to provide vertical education about tea (in, ahem, 15minutes) is to have attendees make tea with a person that knows the tea- where they can together see the leaf go from a twisted dry thing back into a leaf and hear the story about that particular tea. Then, the realization that this is just one of hundreds of teas, each with its own story, can begin to expand a person's concept about tea. And they can form a connection to the discovery of tea that we in the industry still constantly enjoy.

This means our list of needs is unusually simple in a way and unusually fun:

1) Taste Hall teas & tea makers: We are asking those that import teas if they would like to be a part of the Taste Hall by bringing in a "slow food" tea(one or several), be an expert at the table and make this tea with the attendees at the table. What is a "slow food" tea? In general, it needs to fit into the realm of "good, clean & fair." Specifically, for example, "clean" means that no pesticides or liquid chemicals were used on the plant at all, not just that the leaves were picked before pesticides were used and could be certified "pesticide free."

2) Discussion groups & more in depth tastings: there will also be the opportunity to lead or co-lead a discussion group or tasting event that focuses on tea. This would be where an attendee would pay ($5-$80) to join in on an event- a comparison tasting of oolongs, a professional tea tasting, a tea and wine "dueling banjos" discussion and tasting are just some immediate thoughts. But you all have more experience than I do on popular tea events. Suggestions are welcome.

3) Tea ware: we are in discussion with Heath Ceramics about an in kind donation of the use of their small cups which would have some applications, but we also have the luxury of our design allowing us to have separate pods for each expert to be with a group of people. This means separate pods can each use different tea ware. We'll want to keep this as streamlined as possible of course but we'll be looking for teapots & cups to borrow for the event and this borrowing would be considered an in kind donation and recognized.

4) Overall organizational assistance: if this event really grabs you and you want to live and breathe it, please let me know. I'll be living and breathing it, but I'll need help!

Comments are welcome. Thanks so much everyone! - Alice