We've just met with the Slow Food Nation office and it is time to flesh out who exactly can attend and make tea and who is willing to donate tea and loan us tea ware. Deadline: I need to get a list of donations & people assisting to the Slow Food Nation office by 6/25. Here are a few helpful links:
First, the link to the initial blurb on the Slow Food Nation website about the Tea area of the Taste Hall to give you an idea of how they envision it.
Second, here is the link to the google spreadsheet series where you can fill in what you will be able to bring, whether its yourself, your tea, your teaware or just your good wishes. I've also pasted the link into the column on the right--->
Alternatively, you can just email me, Alice Cravens, and tell me your thoughts.
And here's a recap of what we think we need:
Tea Needs: we are thinking 15 pounds can get us through the Taste Hall event (100 people every hour for 19 total hours for single 4oz tastes at 200 servings per pound = 9.5 total pounds). It looks like we also might need additional tea for making blended beverages that can be put on carts and strolled around both Fort Mason & the Civic Center. We have yet to decide what blended beverages (chai? yak butter tea? soups?) will be carted around and if there will be a charge for them.
Tea People Needs: We need to work out a schedule with 5 tea enthusiasts plus 5 facilitators at each of the 5 sessions of the Taste Hall.
Tea Ware Needs: I'm going into a bit more detail here because I'm realizing the importance of everyone being comfortable with the environment. Conceptually, each of the 5 tables can run with different teaware. The advantage is that we can stretch the imagination and keep our overall teaware numbers low(enough for 2-3 sessions per table), the disadvantage is that we can get complicated in trying to keep different teaware organized. But I think we can keep it to four styles or less. Options:
Let's start with the less familiar to our attendees; gaiwans. Gaiwans would probably need to be handled only by the tea enthusiasts & facilitators because of the potential for those unfamiliar burning their hands. And, with only 15 minutes to vertically educate, you don't want to have to spend a lot of time on how to handle the tea ware. This is a classic tool for making tea for a group and some tea enthusiasts might want to bring their own along with a duplicate set with enough cups for 7 - that is aok, but we just need to plan for it and have the tea enthusiast understand they will be making all the tea with 7 other faces in their gaiwan. But this could also lend itself to quicker multiple steeping experiences if 2oz cups or aroma cup sets are available.
Teapot cups lend some more familiarity and might be an easier way to make some teas needing hotter water that want multiple steepings. This one has a 4oz cup and there are spare cups available.
Tea steeping cups might be a good way for a group to personally make black teas, particularly India black teas. Thank you Maria Upenski, for suggesting these.
And, western style professional tasting cups are a fun way to really get the leaf into peoples faces. I think each attendee could use their own tasting cup,but tea facilitators would need to be more hands on to help with pouring off the liquor here.
Cups: what is not shown is other cup options. Heath pottery has offered 4 oz cups which have a pretty thick body. Between all the generous offers, I think we'll be able to use our thinner cups from many of you instead with the Heath cups for the possible cart/blended beverage option. Again, we just need to decide. You'll notice on the spreadsheet if you are donating tea, there is a column where you can mention your tea ware recommendation.
That's it for the moment. Please let me know your involvement as soon as you can, either by filling out the spreadsheets or emailing me. And please feel free to comment, either directly in this blog or by email. Thanks!
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