goishicha ( japanese : 碁石茶 ' go-pebble tea ' ) is a fermented tea originally from china but now grown only in otoyo , kochi and ishizuchi-kurocha , ehime prefecture .

the tea is made by fermenting harvested tea in a two step process , first with aerobic fungi , then with anaerobic bacteria .

a 2011 study suggested that goishi tea consumption exerts an inhibitory effect on eosinophilic and neutrophilic infiltration in the lung , attenuated the increase in airway resistance and increased the production of adiponectin ; thus reducing der f induced allergic inflammatory process in mice .

goishicha

drying : the blocks of goishicha are left outdoors under the sun to dry .
click the button below to add the japan 2015 bancha goishicha dark tea to your wish list .
the reason it is called goishicha is that it resembles the black stones of the board game “ go “ .
because of declining population in the area and demand in general , goishicha production was about to be stopped and eventually disappear .
finally , i’ve reviewed a goishicha from furyu in the next post , just in case that you are curious about its taste .
goishicha ( 碁石茶 , go stone tea ) is a rare japanese dark ( post - fermented ) tea made in ōtoyo town , kochi prefecture .
goishicha is a fermented green tea from ōtoyo in kochi prefecture of shikoku island . to make goishicha the tea leaves are steamed , stacked , covered with a mat and then fermented . after that the tea leaves are filled into a barrel where a weight is placed on the top to continue fermenting . finally , the tea is dried in the sun . the tea is called
goishicha
because it looks like stones from the japanese game igo ( in western countries also known as
go
) .
goishicha is made in the town of ōtoyo in the mountains of central kochi prefecture on the island of shikoku . the name , goishicha ( 碁石茶 ) , is taken from the japanese game igo ( see wikipedia ) because the tea is reminiscent of the igo stones . it is japan’s only fermented team , more specifically , made with a special method called after - fermentation .
to brew in a teapot , use one block ( about 2 grams ) of goishicha and pour 350 ml ( 11 . 6 oz ) of boiling water . brew for 4 to 5 minutes .
in recent years , however , with the support of the local government , a cooperative has been established to produce this tea . japanese tea lovers have taken notice of goishicha once again due to its efficacy as a dieting aid .
today’s tea from yunomi might have the distinction of being the most interesting tea i have ever reviewed , i cannot tell you how excited i was to try furyu’s bancha goishicha ! this rare dark tea from kochi prefecture in the town of otoyo , it is named goishicha because the chunks of tea are reminiscent of the game of go . for a while this tea was extremely rare ( having only one producer ) but recently thanks to the local government there are more producers of this unique tea . one of the things that makes this tea so fancy is the way it is made , using a method called after - fermentation , first the leaves are steamed , stacked , and covered with a mat to allow it to ferment , but wait…there’s more ! after that the leaves are stuffed into a barrel with a rock on top to continue fermenting it , lastly the leaves are laid in the sun to try . you can see that a lot of work went into making this tea . sniffing this hockey puck of tea is awesome , it smells more like food than tea , with notes of old oak wood , soy sauce , salty sea air , a tiny bit of smoke , wet leather , and a bit of a savory meaty finish . i can certainly see why this tea is used to make chagayu , because it smells like food ! i kinda want to eat this tea instead of putting it into my kyusu .
airway hyperresponsiveness ( ahr ) is one of the important traits that characterize bronchial asthma . goishi tea is a post - heating fermented tea that has been reported to have higher free radical scavenging activity . in this study , we evaluated the prophylactic effects of goishi tea on ahr in balb / c mice .
the number of inflammatory cells in bal fluid was considerably reduced in goishi tea / der f and gallic acid / der f groups as compared with tap water / der f group . regarding inflammatory cells in bal , a significant reduction of eosinophils and neutrophils was observed in goishi tea - treated mice ( p < 0 . 01 ) , as well as in the gallic acid / der f group ( p < 0 . 05 ) , as compared with tap water / der f group . in asthmatic mice ( tap water / der f group ) , the intensity of airway resistance increased simultaneously with the increase in acetylcholine concentration in a dose - dependant way . ahr was significantly inhibited in goishi tea / der f and gallic acid / der f ( p < 0 . 01 ) groups as compared with the tap water / der f group . regarding serum specific - igg 1 , significantly lower levels of this antibody were observed in goishi tea / der f and gallic acid / der f groups as compared with the tap water / der f group ( p < 0 . 05 ) . in addition , adiponectin level was significantly higher in the goishi tea group as compared with the tap water treated mice ( p < 0 . 01 ) .
the results suggest that goishi tea consumption exerted an inhibitory effect on eosinophilic and neutrophilic infiltration in the lung , attenuated the increase in airway resistance and increased the production of adiponectin ; thus reducing der f induced allergic inflammatory process in mice .
lately , there has been a growing interest in natural plants extracts containing flavonoids and polyphenols in search of new therapies thanks to their bioactive properties . epigallocatechin gallate ( egcg ) and catechin from green tea , for example , have been reported to improve cardiovascular function , increase fat oxidation in mice and exert free radicals and reactive oxygen species ( ros ) scavenging activity [
since more than 100 years ago , a post - heating fermented tea has been produced in many places in japan . goishi tea , known as
goishi - cha
in japanese language , is one of a post - heating fermented tea which is produced in otoyo town , kochi prefecture , japan , where local people referred to its sour taste as the tea gruel . nowadays , most fermented tea manufacturers have already stopped the production because of lower demand ; and only three of them still continue producing post - heating fermented tea in japan .
goishi tea is made from camelia sinensis leaves , as for green tea . however , in order to make goishi tea , two different fermentation processes are needed that are performed in two steps : the aerobic fermentation ( with fungi ) and the anaerobic fermentation . green tea is processed as follows : harvested camellia sinensis leaves are heated rubbed and then they are dried . recently , traditional tea has become popular especially in japan because of its beneficial health effects . interestingly , goishi tea is named
tea of legend
thanks to its efficacy in diet . up to now , there are few publications on goishi tea and very little is known about its bioactive properties .
] . therefore , we hypothesized that goishi tea consumption might attenuate airway inflammation . in this study , we evaluated the prophylactic effects of goishi tea consumption in balb / c mice induced ahr .
thirty balb / c mice , aged five weeks , were purchased from japan slc ( hamamatsu , shizuoka , japan ) . animals were housed under conventional conditions at the animal facility of kochi medical school in filter - topped macrolon cages with a bedding of wood chips , temperature of 23°c , 50 - 60 % relative humidity , and a 12 - h light / dark cycle . they were divided into six groups of five mice each : ( 1 ) goishi tea / dermatophagoides farinae plus ( der f ) ; ( 2 ) goishi tea / phosphate buffered saline ( pbs ) , ( 3 ) 1 % gallic acid / der f , ( 4 ) gallic acid / pbs , ( 5 ) tap water / der , and ( 6 ) tap water / pbs groups . they received standard lab chow ad libitum . animals were maintained until they were 7 weeks old ( ~ 20 - 24 g body wt ) at the time of sensitization . all research adhered to the animal facility guidelines of kochi medical school ( c000144 ) .
the goishi tea sample used in this experiment was a gift from the otoyo county office staff , kochi prefecture , japan . goishi tea extract was prepared as previously described [
leaves are steamed once in a tank , then fermented on the flat plate for 7 days . afterwards , fermented leaves are moved into another tank and then re - fermented for 10 days . finally , the cooled leaves are cut in 2 × 2 cm pieces , then packed [
goishi tea solution was made following steps ; 20 g of goishi tea dried leaves were boiled in 1000 ml distilled water at 100°c for 30 min . the extract was quickly separated from the leaves by filtration . thus , we used the 20 mg / ml solution of goishi tea throughout the experiment . on the other hand , 1 % gallic acid was used as a positive control . in this experiment , considering the daily intake of water by the mouse strain used ( 4 ml ) , each mouse was receiving 80 mg of goishi tea daily for the goishi tea / der f and goishi tea / pbs groups . mice received tap water , goishi and gallic acid solutions ad libitum according to mice group from day 1 to day 37 .
] . briefly , to measure ahr , mice were anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital ( 60 mg / kg , i . p . ) and the jugular vein was cannulated for intravenous injection of ach . they were injected with pancuronium bromide ( 0 . 1 mg / kg , i . v . ) to stop spontaneous respiration and then ventilated with a rodent ventilator ( new england medical instruments , inc . , medway , ma , usa ) . bronchoconstriction was measured according to the overflow method , using a bronchospasm transducer ( ugo basil 7020 , milan , italy ) connected to the tracheal cannula . changes in respiratory overflow volume were measured using an increasing dose of ach . the increase in respiratory overflow volume induced by ach was represented as a percentage of the maximal overflow volume ( 100 % ) obtained by clamping the tracheal cannula . this experiment was perform with two independent experiments and , given the fact that results were similar , we included only data from the second experiment in this report .
experimental protocol . der f : dermatophoides farinae ; ach : acetyl choline ; ahr : airway hyperresponsiveness .
the area under the curve ( auc ) calculated from dose - response curves for ach was used to express the magnitude of ahr . briefly , ahr chart was saved as bmp format file ; then auc was selected and calculated using imagej software 1 . 44p ( national institutes of health , usa ) with each value of doses converted logarithmically and represented as arbitrary units .
blood samples were drawn from mice on day 35 in order to determine the level of serum ige , allergen - specific igg 1 and adiponectin . samples were kept at - 80°c in the freezer until analyses were performed with the use of specific elisa kits for mice ( mouse ige kit from morinaga & co . ltd . , yokohama , japan ; mouse adiponectin kit from otsuka pharmaceutical co . , ltd . , tokyo , japan ) . the mouse igg 1 kit was prepared in our laboratory ( toxicology laboratory , department of environmental medicine , kochi medical school , kochi , japan ) . briefly , serum igg 1 was bound with coated der f antigen , and then it was detected with horse radish peroxidase conjugated antibody . animals were sacrificed using a high dose of pentobarbital on day 37 .
to perform the bronchoalveolar lavage ( bal ) on day 37 , animals were intraperitoneally administered 500 mg / kg of pentobarbital solution . bal was performed with the use of 1 . 5 ml of saline solution and 80 % ( 1 . 2 ml ) of the 0 . 9 % saline solution were recovered . number of inflammatory cells such as eosinophils , neutrophils , lymphocytes and macrophages in the bal fluid was recorded .
on day 37 , after sacrificing animals , lung specimens from representative mice were taken and samples were fixed in 10 % formalin , embedded in paraffin , sectioned at 10 μm and stained with hematoxylin and eosin ( he stain ) , and periodic acid - schiff ( pas stain ) . to examine the specimens , a light microscope ( olympus bx51 , olympus , japan ) was used at 10× magnification .
results were represented as the mean ± standard deviation . statistical comparison among the treatment groups were performed by one - way anova , followed by nonparametric tukey test , with the use of spss software package . results were considered to be statistically significant when p - value was less than 0 . 05 .
on day 37 of the experiment , bronchoalveolar lavage and cells count were performed for each mice group . the number of inflammatory cells in bal fluid , which reflects airway inflammation intensity , was markedly increased in the tap water /
group . a significantly lower number of eosinophils , neutrophils ( p < 0 . 05 ) and lymphocytes ( p < 0 . 01 ) was observed in goishi tea /
goishi tea consumption attenuates lung inflammation . # : p < 0 . 05 ; # # : p < 0 . 01 ( vs . tap water / der f group ) . * : p < 0 . 05 ( vs . tap water / pbs group ) . p : p - value by one - way anova test ; bal : bronchoalveolar lavage ; der f : dermatophagoides farinae . the figure shows that the number of eosinophils ( a ) , neutrophils ( b ) and lymphocytes ( c ) in bal fluid were significantly lower in the goishi tea / der f and the gallic acid / der f groups ( vs . tap water / der f ; p < 0 . 01 and p < 0 . 05 , respectively ) . mice were intraperitoneally administered 500 mg / kg of pentobarbital solution in 1 . 5 ml of 0 . 9 % saline solution , and 80 % ( 1 . 2 ml ) of the solution were recovered . the number of inflammatory cells was recorded . results are mean ± sd of data from 5 mice in each group .
repeated challenges to mice lung with ach induced ahr in tap water / der f mice in a dose - dependent way . this process was significantly inhibited in the goishi tea /
groups as compared with the tap water in the tap water / der f group ( p < 0 . 05 ) ( figure
goishi tea consumption attenuates ahr . # : p < 0 . 05 ( vs . tap water / der f group ) ; # # : p < 0 . 01 ( vs . tap water / der f group ) ; * : p < 0 . 05 ( vs . goishi tea / der f group ) . * * : p < 0 . 01 ( vs . goishi tea / der f group ) . ahr : airway hyper responsiveness ; der f : dermatophagoides farinae . the figure shows that the increase in ahr , following ach challenges , was significantly inhibited in goishi tea / der f and gallic acid / der f as compared with the tap water / der f group ( p < 0 . 01 ) . in addition , the ahr inhibitory effect in gallic acid / der f group was more efficient than that of goishi tea / der f group ( p < 0 . 01 ) . on the other hand , all der f non - exposed groups showed significantly reduced airway reactivity to ach throughout the experiment ( p < 0 . 01 , vs tap water / der f ) . to measure ahr to ach , changes in respiratory overflow volume were measured using an increasing dose of ach . the area under the curve ( auc ) calculated from dose - response curves for ach was used to express the magnitude of ahr . briefly , each dose was converted logarithmically ; auc was calculated and represented as arbitrary units .
in addition , the ahr inhibitory effect in gallic acid / der f group was more efficient than that of goishi tea / der f group ( p < 0 . 01 ) .
throughout this experiments , gallic acid - treated mice groups and other der f - non exposed groups showed reduced ahr as compared to tap water / pbs group ( p < 0 . 01 ) , especially for the following ach doses ; 250 , 500 , 1000 and 2000 μg / kg .
on the other hand , der f non - exposed groups ( goishi tea / pbs , gallic acid / pbs , tap water / pbs ) also showed a significant ahr inhibitory effect as compared to goishi tea / der f group ( p < 0 . 05 ) ( figure
between goishi tea / pbs and tap water / pbs groups , and also between gallic acid / pbs and tap water / pbs groups ( p > 0 . 05 ) .
effect of goishi tea consumption on serum levels of antigen - specific igg 1 and total ige . * : p < 0 . 05 ( vs . tap water / pbs group ) ; # : p < 0 . 05 ( vs . tap water / der f group ) ; igg 1 : immunoglobulin g 1 , der f : dermatophagoides farinae . the figure 4a shows that the serum level of der f specific - igg 1 was significantly lower in goishi tea / der f and gallic acid / der f groups ( p < 0 . 05 ) as compared with the tap water / der f group . the serum level of der f specific - igg 1 was significantly higher in the tap water / der f group ( p < 0 . 05 ) groups as compared with the tap water / pbs group . the figure 4b shows that the serum level of total ige was significantly lower in goishi tea / der f and gallic acid / der f groups ( p < 0 . 05 ) as compared with the tap water / der f group . the serum level of total ige was significantly higher in the tap water / der f group ( p < 0 . 05 ) as compared with the tap water / pbs group .
) . although lower levels of serum total ige were also observed in goishi tea / pbs and gallic acid / pbs groups when compared with the tap water / pbs group , the difference was not significant ( p > 0 . 05 ) . taken together , the data suggest that goishi tea consumption , as well as gallic acid , exerted an immunomodulatory activity that could inhibit airway inflammation in mice .
goishi tea consumption significantly increased adiponectin expression as compared with tap water - treated mice ( vs . tap water /
) . that was also true for gallic acid treated mice ( vs . tap water /
group ; however , the difference was not significant ( p > 0 . 05 ) .
effect of goishi tea consumption on adiponectin expression . * : p < 0 . 05 ( vs . tap water / pbs ) ; # # : p < 0 . 01 ( vs . tap water / der f ) der f : dermatophagoides farinae . the figure shows that goishi tea ( p < 0 . 05 ) as well as gallic acid ( p < 0 . 01 ) consumption significantly increased adiponectin production as compared with the tap water treated mice ( p < 0 . 05 ) .
as for the trend of body weight , tap water treated mice that were exposed to the allergen had a relatively lower body weight than allergen non - exposed mice ( tap water / pbs ) , whereas goishi tea consumption did not induce a significant change in the body weight as compared with the
goishi tea / pbs
group ( p > 0 . 05 ) ( data not shown ) .
after sacrificing mice using high dose of pentobarbital , full lung specimens were taken from animals for histological analysis . the hematoxylin and eosin staining of lung specimens showed a marked goblet cells hyperplasia and eosinophilic infiltration in allergen - challenged control mice ( tap water /
) . lung specimens in goishi tea / pbs and gallic acid / pbs showed similar to tap water / pbs ( data not shown ) .
histological evaluation of lung specimens from goishi tea - treated mouse and controls . der f : dermatophagoides farinae ; h & e : hematoxylin and eosin staining ; pas : periodic acid - schiff , al , alveolus ; br , bronchiole ; v , blood vessel . scale bars = 100 μm . the figure shows a marked goblet cells hyperplasia ( g ) , eosinophilic infiltration ( e ) and smooth muscle mass enlargement ( s ) in lung specimens from der f - challenged control mice ( tap water / der f ) , while these processes were reduced in goishi tea and gallic acid - treated mice groups .
in this study , while an increased cellularity was observed in the allergen exposed control group ( tap water / der f ) , there was a reduction of inflammatory cells both in lung specimens and bal fluid in the goishi tea / der f group . in particular , goishi tea consumption inhibited eosinophilic infiltration and goblet cells hyperplasia in mice lungs , a characteristic histological feature of airway allergic inflammation . this experiment also showed that goishi tea consumption , as well as that of gallic acid , significantly inhibited the expression of specific igg 1 and ige in mice as compared with asthmatic mice group ( tap water / der f ) . this suggests that goishi tea consumption has attenuated airway inflammation in goishi tea / der f mice .
] . in our experiment , we performed the measurement of this hormone in mice sera . goishi tea has markedly increased adiponectin expression ; this fact may have possibly contributed to the attenuation of ahr that was observed in the goishi tea - treated mice groups ( goishi tea /
this study has some limitation . the results are from animals kept in pathogen free condition and might not reflect exactly what can be found in humans who are subjects to different airway inflammation triggers . further research in humans is needed to confirm the present results .
the reduction of ahr and airway inflammation observed in goishi tea - treated mice might result from the combination of the upregulation of adiponectin expression that it induces , its antioxidant activity and the inhibition of specific - igg 1 expression which were observed in this study .
goishi tea extract inhibits airway inflammation and remodeling and has potentially beneficial effects in asthma .
the authors thank dr . me , dr . mba , dr . as , dr . dn for their wonderful support during the implementation of this study . this study was supported by a grant from the japanese ministry of economy .
rh conceived of the study , participated in its design and coordination and wrote the manuscript , and carried out the biological studies . nn carried out the animal experiments and wrote in drafting the manuscript . mm carried out the cellular studies . hn evaluated histological data . ns performed the statistical analysis . all authors read and approved the final manuscript .
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it’s classified as a type of bancha , although it’s not a green tea .
this tea goes through two fermentation steps , one by mold and the other one by lactic acid bacteria .
in the second fermentation process , the tea is pickled . that’s why it has its distinctive sour taste .
although it was mostly used as an ingredient in chagayu ( a japanese rice porridge with tea ) , nowadays people have begun to drink it as any other tea .
luckily , and thanks to local government support plus a trend for healthy teas , it is now available again .
steaming : the branches with tea leaves are steamed in a barrel . juices of the tea leaves are collected for later use .
fermenting : tea leaves are stacked in a room and are covered . fermentation takes place with the help of mold .
pickling : in a pickling barrel , the leaves are sprinkled with the juices in the first step and are also compressed . the lactic acid bacteria starts the second fermentation process .
cutting : compressed leaves are taken out of the barrel and cut into small blocks .
to see the process , check out this video i found . it’s in japanese but if you’ve read until now , you’ll know more or less what’s happening .
for larger amounts , use a liter of water and add one or two blocks of tea and brew 4 or 5 minutes over medium heat .
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a truly unique tea that is rarely found within japan , let alone outside . it possesses an incredible aroma and an equally unusual and lingering sour taste with elements of lemon , mushroom and soya sauce .
the tea has an equally unique method of processing to go match its unique taste ; it is double fermented with bancha leaves steamed , stacked , mat flattened , left to ferment on the ground and finally stacked within a barrel to undergo a second fermentation .
this page was last modified on 21 september 2015 , at 18 : 18 .
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i ' ll be honest : this is a tea i ' ve been putting off for a while now . ever since it was listed at what - cha it piqued my interest , but it always got pushed back to the wish list when i went to order . finally a month or so ago , this tea went on sale and i bit the bullet and ordered a bag , still not really knowing what to expect .
the tea has an equally unique method of processing to go match its unique taste ; it is double fermented with bancha leaves steamed , stacked , mat flattened , left to ferment on the ground and finally stacked within a barrel to undergo a second fermentation .
dry leaves - ok , that aroma is pungent . i mean wow , that is not a smell you expect from tea leaves . immediately i ' m hit with a wild combination of sour lemon , cedar smoke , and soy and barbecue sauces . i ' m not saying it ' s bad , but it ' s certainly not what i was expecting at all , and i really wasn ' t sure what to expect with this tea anyway . the huge leaves are flattened and stacked into small piles about 10 - 15 leaves thick . i used a whole stack ( ~ 7g ) for this session .
brewing parameters - 212f , 2 x 20s rinse , then 5 - 20s each steep . what - cha recommends long ( 4 - 5m ) steep times , but with as pungent as the aroma is , i don ' t want to risk making the broth too strong , so i treated it like a puer .
surprisingly , the golden yellow broth is not nearly as powerful as the dry leaves , maybe from the short steep times . the tangy lemon is right at the front of the sip , and gives the soup an odd acidic quality . it causes a sour tingle deep in my gums below the molars , and in the back of my cheeks . the tingle quickly fades as the flavor shifts from citrus to a savory , umami medley . the flavor falls somewhere in between a mild soy sauce and a tangy worcestershire sauce , still with a tinge of lemon in the background .
steeps 4 - 6 change significantly . the saucy tangy - ness disappeared almost completely , leaving a more subdued sweet lemony flavor that mingles with a savory mushroom character , ending in the tiniest hint of malt . to be honest , i was kind of on the fence with this tea on the early steeps , but starting with # 4 , i like this tea a lot .
i got 2 more steeps out of it for a total of 8 . i could have gone for more , but it was getting late and i needed sleep . the later steeps are more of a mildly savory citrus , but still retain a good bit of sweetness . i can ' t really pick out any major flavors other than lemon anymore .
everything about this tea is completely unique . the idiosyncratic aroma and flavors may scare some people off , but if you ' d like to try a tea that is different from anything else you ' ve ever tried , i urge you to give this one a shot .
my name is adam , and i am a tea - oholic . i love my dog and my feathered theropod , all things biology , sci - fi / fantasy , and of course a good cuppa .
this blog is the home of all of my thoughts on what i drink on a daily basis . i have a stash of tea around 5 feet high , containing everything from silver needle white teas to dark shou puerh cakes . i primarily drink straight - up tea , no added sugar , flavorings or whatever . bagged teas occasionally find their way into my stash , but the majority is loose leaf teas from various online retailers .
i will try to update this thing a couple times a week , more if i have the time . any questions or requests ? feel free to ask !
what - cha ' s vietnam 2007 wild ' dark forest ' ripe da . . .
what - cha ' s georgia natela ' s gold standard black te . . .
awesome inc . theme . theme images by jason morrow . powered by blogger .
“i bought a sample of this tea and therefore provide only a first impression . i decided against the recommended steeping method from yunomius . i gave gongfu cha a try with this tea and it turned . . . ”
“since yunomi is offering extra points for reviews right now , i figured i’d dig into my recent order , even though my original plan was to sip down a few other teas before getting into it . as a . . . ”
“i feel much better today ! it is delightfully chilly , my minecraft hoodie is out of my trunk , and my cat is nestled in my lap . pretty sure all my problems were being caused by allergies , after a . . . ”
although this tea has been drunk and loved by people living on the islands of setonaikai ( inland sea of japan ) , it is known as an extremely rare tea because of the decline in its production . at one point there was only one producer of this tea .
the tea tastes a bit sour so we recommend that it be served cold . ( make sure to cool the tea in the refrigerator after brewing the tea . )
i bought a sample of this tea and therefore provide only a first impression . i decided against the recommended steeping method from yunomius . i gave gongfu cha a try with this tea and it turned out to be a good idea . my parameters : 2g / 80ml / 95°c / 10 - 20se , up to 10 infusions the smell of the dried leaves was a little bit difficult to describe : for me it was a slight scent of lactic acid which even the steeped leaves had . the color of the liquor was a clear honey - yellow with the same smell . the smell did not appear stronger or weaker . the flavor was characterized by a mild sweetness with a slight acid base note . the sweetness was more or less neutral , maybe a touch of honey ? but i´m not really sure . the acid notes were wonderfully refreshing and discreetly lemony .
since yunomi is offering extra points for reviews right now , i figured i’d dig into my recent order , even though my original plan was to sip down a few other teas before getting into it . as a bonus , i ordered a sample size of this one , which was only 2g , so this is a sipdown .
i’m really into trying new and unusual things , so i knew i had to give this a shot when i saw it . this tea really is unique – i’ve never smelled or tasted a tea that’s even remotely similar to this one .
i followed the steeping directions to the letter – 350ml of boiling water for 4 minutes .
smell of the liquor distinctly reminds me of zongzi ( sticky rice dumplings ) with pork and shitake mushroom . it’s a very complex smell , that combines the filling ingredients with soy sauce , sticky rice and bamboo leaf .
on the palate , it’s a bit sour ( but not nearly as sour as expected ) and intensely savoury . the flavour is well reflected in the smell – shitake mushrooms , pork , soy sauce , umami , bamboo . very broth like . this has a long finish with mushrooms and soy sauce lingering at the back of the mouth .
one of the recommended methods of prep is to use the tea to make rice porridge . i can definitely see how that would be delicious and a fantastic use of these flavours . i could see using this tea to make congee with dried shredded pork and preserved duck egg .
drinking this feels more like a meal than a beverage . it tastes and feels like soup , and it’s making me crave my grandma’s cooking pretty badly .
i accidentally took a five hour nap after mu first cup , so i’m going to hang on to my leaves and have something else before i continue steeping these .
i don’t think i would reach for this tea very often , but it’s delicious and unique and i would recommend trying a sample .
oh , accidental 5 - hour naps . my fave ( unless i should have been doing things ) .
i clearly really , really needed the sleep , but it kind of messed up my evening a bit . i woke up from my nap at 2 : 30pm , and then was supposed to go to bed by 11 , which i couldn’t . tried to fall asleep at 2 : 30am , and was restless and having back spasms , probably fell asleep at 3 and then had to be up by 7 . yesterday was a little rough , but i got through it . : )
i feel much better today ! it is delightfully chilly , my minecraft hoodie is out of my trunk , and my cat is nestled in my lap . pretty sure all my problems were being caused by allergies , after a really scary asthma attack last night i decided to take some allergy meds and oh man , such an improvement . i forget that my allergies go bonkers in autumn in kansas city , i am so glad i am escaping to pa , i might avoid the worst of it . allergies or no , i love this time of year…being under blankets and having a snugly heat - seeking cat make it extra wonderful . i am in an excellent mood .
so , after giving the chunk of tea a five minute steep , my kyusu is leaking some powerful aromas , i am not sure the word pungent fits , but wow , that is fascinating ! the aroma of the wet leaves is sauce , seriously guys , it smells like sauce , like someone blended soy sauce , ponzu sauce , mirin sauce , kelp and old wet leather . the liquid smells like food too , the same saucy concoction but with a hint of rice and more of an aged , oak cask aroma .
wow ! ok that is so weird ! it does not taste like any tea i have ever had , and i have had a lot of tea ! it starts off very sour , like lemons mixed with soy sauce , a nice dash of kelp , with a finish of leather and mushrooms . it tastes like a mix of my favorite sauces and is really intense , i decided to try it chilled as well so i refreshed my cup and put it in the fridge for a few . cold takes the edge off the sour , so if you find that lemony sourness is too much for you ( i eat salt covered lemons as a stomach soother , so it is totally not too much for me ) i suggest chilling it .
guess who is going for a round two ? yeah , it is me , i want to see what this chunk of aged tea can do ! the aroma of this steep has a sweetness to it , along with of a leather tone with a great combo of saucers from the previous steep . this steep is much milder , it is still sour , but instead of tasting like an entire lemon , it is like a little squeeze of lemon with notes of mirin and soy sauce . the aftertaste is smoky and leathery with a lemony quality that lingers for a long time . i am amazed at how refreshing this tea is , i feel rather invigorating , but not in a caffeine way , but more of a i just dove into a mountain creek in summer kind of refreshed .
oh man , the third steep is where it is at ! the aroma is pretty much identical to the second steep , so no new observations there . the taste however , well , that is just fun ! it is the perfect balance of sourness , sweetness , and savory . the notes of sweet plum wine , leather , mushrooms , soy , lemon , kelp…it is awesome ! the lemony sourness lingers along with gentle smokiness , again i feel really refreshed after this steep . i had a great day with this tea , i sat sipping it all day being enamored by the uniqueness of this tea . i certainly want more , i want to make all my tea friends try this , i want to cook with it , i want to have it around when i need a pick - me - up tea . this tea is absolute love .
you made me scared and fascinated by this tea… . that’s a good thing !
this tea sounds… . . interesting . i think i would try it if it were offered , but i would not go seeking it out on my own .
i think most cats are too cute for their own good , and they know it .


tryg is a scandinavian insurance company present in denmark , norway , sweden and finland .

the company is the second largest provider of general insurance services in the nordic countries and is listed on nasdaq omx copenhagen .

tryg

tryg acquired baltica and continued operations under the name tryg - baltica . the name was simplified and changed to tryg in 2001 .
tryg acquires the english company colonia baltica , which was integrated into tryg ' s reinsurance company tryg - baltica international to form tbi .
the mutual company tryg demutualised and the ownership of the new limited company was placed in tryg i danmark .
tryg - baltica was listed on copenhagen stock exchange . tryg i danmark retained a 60 % ownership share .
dansk kaution ( now tryg garanti ) became a part of tryg . tryg entered the polish insurance market , acquiring a strategic stake in the company energo - asekuracja , which was established in 1994 . tryg gained controlling influence of energo - asekuracja in 2000 and in 2002 the name of the company was changed to tryg polska .
tryg merged with denmark ' s second - largest banking group , unidanmark and the general insurance activities of unibank was integrated with tryg .
tryg , vesta and unibank contributed to the formation of nordea . tryg i danmark by this hold a 6 % share in the nordic banking group .
copenhagen ( reuters ) - denmark ' s largest insurance company tryg ( tryg . co ) said on saturday it was in talks about a possible acquisition of its unlisted competitor alka .
tryg is in a dialogue concerning . . .
tryg acquired the estonian insurance company nordicum kindlustus , which was established in 1990 .
1972 tryg joins process development group at general mills chemical incorporated ( gmci ) .
1969 tryg graduates from university of minnesota ( u of m ) school of pharmacy .
denmark ' s tryg ' s $ 1 . 3 billion alka deal to boost market share
maxwell : that ' s it . thank you , tryg . gus hauser thanks you .
rating action : moody ' s affirms tryg forsikring ' s a1 ifsr ; outlook stable . global credit research - 07 dec 2017 . rating affirmation follows tryg ' s announcement to acquire alka .
in 2010 , codan forsikring a / s acquired tryg - vesta ' s nordic marine portfolio .
1984 tryg earns computer science degree from u of m , begins programming for stat - ease .
tryg forsikring changed its name to trygvesta forsikring . vesta forsikirng in norway became a branch of tryg forsikring . the norwegian branch also changed its name to trygvesta , the new brand name in norway .
edited transcript of tryg . co earnings conference call or presentation 11 - apr - 18 8 : 00am gmt
edited transcript of tryg . co earnings conference call or presentation 23 - jan - 18 9 : 00am gmt
edited transcript of tryg . co earnings conference call or presentation 10 - oct - 17 8 : 00am gmt
edited transcript of tryg . co earnings conference call or presentation 11 - jul - 17 8 : 00am gmt
later that year , tryg i danmark smba acquired nordea ' s non - life insurance activities and forms trygvesta . the group continued using the brand name tryg in the danish market and vesta in the norwegian market .
tryg paid out a quarterly dividend of dkk 1 . 6 per share for the first time in april 2017 .
for the second year running , tryghedsgruppen paid out a member bonus corresponding to 8 % of the premium paid to tryg for 2016 , or the payout of dkk 700m in total to tryghedsgruppen ' s members who are tryg ' s danish customers . in november , tryg held a capital markets day in london presenting its new financial targets and customer targets for 2020 .
average tryg life expectancy in 1999 was 83 years . this was higher than the general public life expectancy which was 75 .
1980 henkel usa forms quality assurance group with pat , mark and tryg as nucleus , mark earns mba from u of m .
alka , founded in 1944 , is the eighth largest p & c insurer in denmark . two analysts said the deal could boost tryg ' s market share to about 22 percent from 18 percent now , cementing its place as market leader . shares in tryg rose as much as 4 . 9 percent , reaching levels last seen in april 2015 .
on 6 april , tryg initiated an extraordinary share buy back of dkk 1bn , which was completed on 16 december 2016 . christian baltzer was appointed group cfo , taking up his new position on 15 april 2016 . in march 2016 , tryghedsgruppen’s board of representatives decided to pay out a bonus to its members ( tryg’s danish customers ) , corresponding to 8 % of the premium paid for 2015 . on 1 june 2016 , a bonus of dkk 696m was paid to members . 5 october 2016 was the official opening of the camp , a co - work space for start - ups at tryg’s head office in ballerup . in december , moody’s upgraded tryg from ‘a2’ to ‘a1’ with a stable outlook .
1988 version 1 . 01 of design - expert (
dx
) written in basic code debuts in march . tryg and mark join stat - ease full - time .
stine bosse was appointed ceo of trygvesta and launched an ambitious turnaround project under the headline combined ratio 95 . the aim was to prepare tryg for a listing within a few years .
census records can tell you a lot of little known facts about your tryg ancestors , such as occupation . occupation can tell you about your ancestor ' s social and economic status .
dansk kautionsforsikrings - aktieselskab ( now tryg garanti ) was establised on the 18th january 1895 . the main purpose of dansk kaution was to provide guarantees for authorities and business people against direct losses .
dansk kaution ( now tryg garanti ) extended its business area to the entire nordic region . trygvesta garanti became the brand name in norway , while vesta garanti became the brand name in sweden .
group ceo stine bosse resigned after 24 years with tryg and eight years as ceo . the supervisory board appointed morten hübbe as her successor . morten hübbe has been with tryg since 2002 and been cfo since 2000 . on the 1st june , tryg implemented an organisational change that aimed to guarantee a greater focus on profitability in the individual business areas . the new organisation had a simpler structure , with a clear allocation of roles and responsibilities and short decision - making processes . on the 2nd july , a violent cloudburst hitted denmark . this cloudburst leaded to claims of dkk 1 . 2bn , as a result of reinsurance , tryg ' s expenditure totals dkk 196m . on the 1st september , tor magne lønnum took up the position of cfo . tor magne lønnum came from a position of cfo and deputy ceo of gjensidige forsikring asa .
census records can give you a fascinating window into the day - to - day lives of your tryg ancestors - like hours worked per week , level of education , veteran status , employers , and more .
tryg has agreed to acquire alka forsikring , the 8th largest danish p & c insurance business . transaction is expected to close during h1 2018 , following a period of regulatory approval . download presentation link to conference call acquisition details
announcement : moody ' s : nordic p & c insurers if and tryg to keep outperforming european peers . global credit research - 14 dec 2017 . london , 14 december 2017 - - the nordic property and casualty insurers if . . .
tryg tables offer a unique and artful statement in conference and collaboration areas . choose from a wide palette of both top and base materials with the complete confidence that the structural design of the table will provide uncompromising stability yet be easy to install and maintain .
in december , tryg acquired alka forsikring , the eigth - largest non - life insurance company in denmark with a market share of app . 6 % of the private market . the transaction is expected to be closed in h1 2018 following a period of regulatory approval .
an unusually short lifespan might indicate that your tryg ancestors lived in harsh conditions . a short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family . the ssdi is a searchable database of more than 70 million names . you can find birthdates , death dates , addresses and more .
at this juncture pat whitcomb decided to devote full time to stat - ease , a doe software venture pat started on a moonlighting basis in 1982 . pat incorporated stat - ease in april of 1985 , and with programming help from his colleague tryg helseth , completed development of design - ease . in june of 1985 they sold their first copy , but sales didn ' t take off until 1987 , when a professor from the university of minnesota 7 described design - ease as
incredibly easy to use
in a widely - read review of doe software . with profits now rolling in , stat - ease could afford to bring tryg on as a full - time programmer and hire another former colleague , mark anderson , as the business manager .
tryg publishes the group’s q2 and h1 results 2018 at around 7 : 30 cet and hosts a conference call at 10 : 00 cet . ceo morten hübbe and cfo christian baltzer will present the results followed by a q & a session . conference call details : + 45 35 44 55 83 ( dk ) + 44 ( 0 ) 203 194 0544 ( uk ) + 1 855 269 2604 ( us ) sign up for email reminder
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copenhagen experienced what was later to be known as the copenhagen fire of 1728 . the fire heightened public awareness of the need to insure oneself .
the oldest component of trygvesta ' s history was the danish insurance company kjøbenhavns brand . kjøbenhavns brand was established by royal decree as a result of the copenhagen fire of 1728 .
the name vesta was derived from roman mythology . vesta is the goddess of hearth , home , and family .
vesta in norway establised a subsidiary by the name of dial , which name changed to enter in 2000 .
today enter is a subsidiary of trygvesta and sells insurance through selected business partner including car dealers .
at the end of 1999 , the norwegian insurance company vesta was acquired from skandia .
the group simultaneously acquired zurich ' s danish and norwegian non - life insurance activities .
trygvesta was listed on the omx nordic stock exchange copenhagen on the 14th october 2005 with an opening share price of dkk 230 .
in december 2005 , trygvesta became a part of the omxc20 index comprising the 20 most traded shares on the omx nordic stock exchange copenhagen .
in line with trygvesta ' s strategic focus on the nordic region , trygvesta divested chevanstell limited , the uk business in run - off .
dansk kaution changed its name to trygvesta garantiforsikring a / s . the new name makes the affilication with trygvesta clear and is connected with the trygvesta garanti ' s new nordic strategy .
trygvesta and axa corporate solutions entered an agreement whereby trygvesta would use the international network of axa corporate solutions to meet nordic customers ' international insurance requirements . trygvesta set up a swedish corporate business , initially with an office in stockholm .
trygvesta and nordea extended the successful partnership , which operated from 1999 to 2013 .
the acquisition of the swedish insurance company , moderna försäkringar , was completed on the 2nd april 2009 making moderna a part of trygvesta . moderna contributed around 250 employees and a 4 % share of the swedish market to the group .
trygvesta launched an ambitious refurbishment project called the living house . the project was to transform the head offices at bergen and ballerup into workplaces of the future and was completed in 2011 .
in march , former ceo of siemens denmark jukka pertola joined the supervisory board as deputy chairman and is expected to take over as chairman in 2018 .
the website you are about to visit is progenealogists ® , operated by tgn services , llc , a subsidiary of ancestry .
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historically , surnames evolved as a way to sort people into groups - by occupation , place of origin , clan affiliation , patronage , parentage , adoption , and even physical characteristics ( like red hair ) . many of the modern surnames in the dictionary can be traced back to britain and ireland .
codan forsikring a / s was established in 1916 by four different companies . in 1940 , the company merged with phoenix assurance company ltd . later , the group was joined by fjerde søforsikring and hafnia forsikring ( both with substantial marine insurance departments ) .
since 1990 , royal & sunalliance has held 71 , 7 per cent of codan ' s share capital , making the uk - based insurer the company ' s largest stakeholder . royal & sunalliance is rated a - by standard & poor .
in 1999 , the company bought 100 % of the stockholm - based insurance company trygg - hansa .
in 2000 codan forsikring a / s together with trygg - hansa , established a marine insurance office in gothenburg .
in 2001 codan forsikring a / s established a marine insurance office in bergen , norway , codan marine services a / s .
in 2005 , the renewal rights of top danish as ' marine portfolio were acquired .
in 2007 , codan forsikring a / s acquired pohjola marine helsinki . the same year the marine division was rebranded to codan marine services to help emphasiste this complete nordic marine organsiation .
in 2008 royal & sun alliance changed name to rsa , simplified and refreshed the corporate brand . so did codan and the marine division is now working under the name codan in all nordic countries .
sirius international insurance group , ltd . ( sirius group ) is a bermuda - domiciled holding company whose operating companies offer a rich variety of reinsurance and insurance products serving clients and brokers through our global office network .
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bringing design of experiments ( doe ) to england might be likened to delivering coals to newcastle , but that ' s what three u of m it alumni 1 accomplished via their company , stat - ease , inc . , when they displayed their design - expert ® software , 2 at the international industrial statistics in action conference at newcastle university . attendees from the united kingdom , europe and worldwide responded very enthusiastically . as testimonial , statisticians from smithkline beecham pharmaceuticals put up a poster saying that easy - to - use software , specifically design - expert , must be made available to all experimenters to foster use of doe . 3
the irony of this trans - atlantic software success is that doe methods came to the usa from england . sir ronald fisher , a distinguished british statistician , developed the basic tools while at rothamsted agricultural station in the 1920 ' s . he published the seminal
design of experiments
in 1935 . during this period , most of the doe work occurred ( literally ) in the field of agriculture . for example , in a pioneering study , researchers from the university of minnesota made use of the statistical tools developed by fisher to evaluate different types of barley . 4 they randomly applied the various treatments within several blocks of land at various agricultural stations around the state . after removing the block differences and accounting for natural variability in yields , they saw statistically significant advantages to growing certain types of barley . the design used for this one - variable experiment is called a randomized block .
the principals of stat - ease learned doe while working together at general mills in its chemical research laboratory only a few miles north of the university campus . they recognized an opportunity when ibm came out with its original pc : the methods described by fisher and box could be incorporated in a menu - driven computer program that would make doe easy for non - statisticians . by then , the chemical division of general mills had been sold to henkel of germany . for various reasons , such as minnesota being the
siberia of the us ,
the new owners decided to disband all operations in the area .
in 1988 , the company released its first version of design - expert , which provided the tools for response surface methods ( rsm ) for process optimization . this package complemented design - ease . design - expert also provided innovative statistical tools for optimizing mixtures—a big attraction for users in the chemical process industries . with this product line extension , sales grew at a healthy rate and stat - ease added many new employees to handle orders , provide statistical help and program new features .
a major milestone occurred in 1996 : stat - ease incorporated all of the features of design - ease into design - expert version 5 and translated it all to the graphical user interface of windows . by then its user base approached six figures , so the demand for upgrades stimulated sales and allowed further hiring of programmers and other personnel . they contributed to development of version 6 . 0 of design - expert software released in 2000 , and rounded out the array of designs , including the ability to combine mixture components with process factors . design - expert ( now on version 8 ) is widely recognized as one of most powerful programs for doing doe , yet is easy enough for use by non - statisticians who do industrial experimentation . design - expert is also used as a teaching tool by colleges and universities . it even comes packaged with one of the leading textbooks for doe . 8
the stat - ease mission is
statistics made easy .
this would be mission impossible without proper education . unfortunately , most scientists and engineers get very little statistical training in college . stat - ease fills the gap with a variety of computer - intensive short courses from
experiment design made easy ,
the most popular workshop , up to advanced sessions on optimization and beyond . aided by a stable of in - house and contract consultants , pat and mark teach hundreds of technical professionals the tools of doe at dozens of workshops worldwide . for those who need help getting off the ground , they have authored two non - academic books that make doe and response surface methodology ( rsm ) as easy as possible for non - statisticians . 9
stat - ease now employs about more than a dozen employees at its headquarters in minneapolis . the company is represented by consultant / resellers at major cities throughout the us and in most of the developed nations . the future looks very bright for stat - ease here in the center of north america , throughout the continent , and across the atlantic to england and europe . the next region to be conquered will be on the far side of the pacific . stat - ease already has a foothold there via its connections to us - based multinationals , one of whom commissioned pat to teach at its technical facilities in japan , taiwan and korea . india has become a new major area of activity for doe in the pharmaceutical field . it ' s now just a matter of time for the word to spread throughout the rest of the far east on how easy doe can be with stat - ease software .
patrick whitcomb ( bsche ' 73 , msche ' 76 ) , mark anderson ( bsche ' 75 , mba ' 80 ) , trygve helseth ( bspharm ' 69 , bscsci ' 84 ) .
marion chatfield and gillian smith , smithkline beecham pharmaceuticals ,
experiences of promoting the use of design of experiments in synthetic chemistry .
see
x - factor files divulge minnesota mystery : alien plot ?
in the september 1999 issue of stat - ease ' s stat - teaser newsletter , which can be downloaded from here .
box and wilson ,
on the experimental attainment of optimum conditions ,
journal of the royal statistical society ser . b , 13 , 1 , 1951 .
box , hunter and hunter , statistics for experimenters , john wiley , 1978 .
nachtsheim ,
tools for computer - aided experiments ,
journal of quality technology , vol . 19 , no . 3 , july 1987 , pp . 132 - 160 .
montgomery , design and analysis of experiments , 8 th ed . , john wiley , 2012 .
anderson and whitcomb , doe simplified , practical tools for effective experimentation , 2nd ed . , taylor & francis / crc press / productivity press , new york , ny , 2007 .
larntz and whitcomb ,
use of replication in almost unreplicated factorials ,
42nd annual fall technical conference , corning , ny , 1998 .
oehlert , a first course in design and analysis of experiments , freeman , 2000 .
oehlert and whitcomb ,
a unified approach to power calculations for designed experiments ,
44th annual fall technical conference , minneapolis , 2000 .
1973 pat graduates from u of m chemical engineering school and begins work at gmci .
1974 mark hired as summer engineer at gmci prior to senior year at u of m chemical engineering school .
1978 gmci hires professor kinley larntz from u of m ' s school of applied statistics to teach doe to its r & d staff .
1982 stat - ease started by pat whitcomb to develop software for design of experiments ( doe ) .
1985 stat - ease is incorporated , and first software released in july . this is design - ease 1 . 04 for dos written in turbo pascal .
1986 henkel moves r & d and other people out of minnesota . design - ease 1 . 10 is released in november .
1987 glowing review of design - ease (
de
) published in journal of quality technology and version 1 . 20 of design - ease is released in october .
1989 2nd version of dx ( version 2 . 00 ) released in october . this version is written in more efficient code ( pascal ) and with greater capability . first full - time employee hired to do customer service .
1991 de 2 . 00 released in june with more versatile regression - based algorithm for analysis , and the second full - time programmer is hired .
1994 million dollar award given to stat - ease , inc . by minnesota high tech association for surpassing this sales milestone with design - ease , de3 released in june with graphical user interface ( gui ) for windows and mac developed in c + + . dx4 for dos is released in april with stepwise regression and multicomponent constraints for mixtures .
1996 forbes recommends stat - ease software for multivariable testing (
mvt
) .
1997 v5 of dx combines de4 and dx4 and converts to windows , de5 becomes a subset of dx . dx5 is released in january while de5 debuts in april .
1997 dx made optional with doug montgomery ' s 4th edition of
design and analysis of experiments
by john wiley and sons publishers .
1998 larntz and whitcomb ,
use of replication in almost unreplicated factorials ,
wins shewell award at 42nd annual fall technical conference , corning , ny .
2000 version 6 of dx released in april , version 6 of de released in october .
2007 pat and gary win the shewell award for best presentation at the 2006 fall technical conference ( ftc ) —the 2nd time for pat to win this award . ( see page 8 on link )
2013 pat whitcomb receives the charles w . britzius distinquished engineer award from the minnesota society of professional engineers and the minnesota federation of engineering , science and technology societies .
2018 martin bezener wins runner - up in the spes outstanding presentation awards for his presentation at the 2017 joint statistical meetings .
© stat - ease , inc . 2018 . copyright © stat - ease , inc .
you ' re sure to take sides in the fearsome battle of the ages once you witness the epic history of the hostility between the colas . answer the call to arms and defend your favorite this week at trbc !
myhren : no . it was interesting . we set up what would be called a super brokerage . there are food brokers across the country . we took on products for companies like kimberly clark , shell oil chemicals , gulf oil chemicals , continental can , etc . who had consumer products but really didn ' t have a traditional consumer products sales force . and we sold them for them .
myhren : we would select the food brokers , the food sales force , in individual markets . then we had seven people across the country who were super brokers who would select a number of brokers in a number of markets , contiguous markets , and then work through them for the good of a kimberly clark , or a continental can .
myhren : so that was one of the properties that we had developed in this company . shell wanted to buy this whole thing . without getting into those complications , what we decided to do was to sell to them . my other two partners signed long - term contracts with them . i said ,
i ' m not going to do that .
and i actually took a lesser part of the sale because i wouldn ' t sign the contract . but i went away with a little bit of money and was off to do what i wanted to do . i went into a company called crm , communications research machines , in delmar california . we had properties like psychology today magazine , something which had the improbable name of intellectual digest , which was so improbable that we killed it off a short time after i got there . in any event - talk about a name with a conflict built right into it – but we were a major textbook publisher , we became a major educational film maker , and we did a number of other things . i went into that company as a vice president of marketing and ran the company fairly shortly thereafter .
myhren : well , it was john veronnes who now is veronnes suhler in new york . interestingly enough , john suhler was there when i got there . t . george harris was running the magazine part of it . the
c
in crm , which was called communications research machines for the purpose of some day maybe going public – it sounded sexy – was actually a guy named nick charney .
maxwell : charney – that ' s the name i couldn ' t remember .
myhren : a fellow named marsden , and the
r
was a fellow named reynolds who was a psychology professor at the university of california , san diego , where we got a lot of our texts written . in any event , we took that business – when i went into it , it was losing a lot of money – we got it turned around within a two - year time frame . boise cascade owned it - and i was under a contract with boise when i went there - actually sold the company to bill ziff . bill , at the time , was the largest special interest magazine publisher in the world .
myhren : a lot can be said about bill ' s eventual sale and then subsequent start up in the computer magazines . bill and i became pretty good friends . then one day he dropped a bomb on me , walking on the beach at delmar , he said ,
you know , i really want to move the company back east and i want to sell parts of it .
so the proposal he made to me was that we ' d sell the books ( which we ended up doing to random house ) , and we ' d sell the films ( to mcgraw hill ) . our 60 films outsold their 2 , 000 educational films . i think we ' d found the sweet spot . in any event , we sold all that . i didn ' t want to sell it . and i didn ' t want to move . but there wasn ' t much choice because bill really owned it .
myhren : yes , he was quite a decision - maker . we got the whole thing moved out . then he wanted to take the book clubs and the magazines back to new york , and he wanted me to come back and run those and then he would give me additional responsibilities . so it was at that point where i began to think . . . . . and the minute we made the announcement that this was going to happen , that the company was in the process of moving out some of its properties and moving things back to new york , i started getting phone calls from head hunters . one of them happened to be russell reynolds , in the person of tony thompson and bill long , who had been put on the case by a guy named monty rifkin in denver who had started american television and communications . at the time , royal little was the chairman of the company .
myhren :
we ' re going to announce that we ' re going to do this hbo thing .
and that got me , of course , even more intrigued . now i knew more about what satellite was going to do . so i really was intrigued to get there . but i couldn ' t go because i had this commitment at the other company . in any event , i arrived in denver on may 1 . immediately after i got here , the nuggets signed david thompson and marvin webster , and i ran over and got my nuggets tickets . i was part of the denver community . that ' s sort of how i got to atc , and i came in as vice president of marketing and within a couple of months i was marketing and programming . over the years at atc , as we went through the 70 ' s , one thing that occurred was that time inc . made an offer to buy us .
myhren : that was in very early ' 78 or very late ' 77 . we turned it down . we didn ' t think the price was big enough . time inc . had come to know us because time inc . had four cable television systems earlier in the 70 ' s that they had not been able to do anything with , hadn ' t improved them much . they were very unprofitable , and they were dragging down a public company ' s earnings . they eventually wanted to sell them . we bought them for stock . we used atc stock to buy them .
myhren : they got a piece . they got a 9 . 9 % piece of atc .
myhren : i believe one was southwest cable down in san diego . yes , they were scattered – midwest and west coast . in any event they got a fair amount of our stock for that . they put people on the board – jim shepley , the then president of time , went on the atc board . so they had this position . then , of course , we ran the things really well . we ran the cable systems well , turned them around , they work . and they said ,
gee whiz , maybe there is something good about this business , and if we ' re going to be in the business , we ought to be in it with these guys .
at least that was the . . .
myhren : i ' m on the other side of this , but that was as i saw their logic . so they came in to do that .
maxwell : and in parallel , hbo is beginning to be a real thing .
myhren : exactly . also , one of the things that we did that i think gave them some confidence in us followed the satellite introduction of hbo , on sept . 30 , 1975 . and it happened in two places in the country . monty had made a deal to do it in jackson , mississippi .
maxwell : that led to your breakthrough in the concept that maybe cable could sell an ad .
myhren : exactly . the idea was that if you clustered yourself that way , what you could do was that you could sell advertising in direct competition with the other media . but you were also in a position , from a defensive standpoint , of being able to market competitively against satellite people . or if telephone companies were going to end up with programming that they could offer , which we worried a lot about in those days , we wanted to be able to market on a full market . it ' s extraordinarily difficult , as you know , if you ' ve only got this piece of it . a media market and your competition enjoy the efficiencies of full market coverage .
maxwell : let ' s take a tiny shift there . as you ' re describing atc and then time cable , you called it atc though after that for a long time .
myhren : yes . we called it american television and communications . even after the time warner merger it was called american television and communications . there came a time , after i had been ceo for a fair period of time , when we decided that we really should ipo the company . we ipo ' d it as american television and communications . we took 20 % of time inc . ' s ownership . . .
myhren : . . . and took it to the public in 1986 . that was the largest ipo in the world that year , interestingly enough . it was $ 300 + million dollars for that piece of the company , and it created the world ' s largest ipo that year . they ' ve gotten a lot bigger since .
myhren : but at the time it was a big deal , and it helped to validate cable as a real player in the financial world .
maxwell : i ' d like to shift slightly to a public policy side . as cable got more sophisticated and was clearly growing , and programming started feeding the growth of cable at that time , some public policy aspects – you got strongly involved , across the early 80 ' s , with different groups . so talk a little bit about the ncta , cab , ctam and cablelabs ( which was much later ) .
myhren : maybe starting back in 1975 actually , when i first entered the industry . . .
maxwell : . . . ctam was created at o ' hare airport . . .
myhren : as a matter of fact , i was fortunate enough to get asked to join a group of people at the o ' hare airport where you , gail sermersheim , greg liptak , . . .
myhren : yes – whose lawyers told him it wasn ' t a good place to be . and andy goldman from teleprompter and rod warner from storer .
myhren : yes . all these people in a room saying ,
you know what – this business could be a lot bigger than people think it could be . now we ' ve got satellite distribution . we ' re going to be able to distribute signals pretty efficiently . we can start to compete in the real media world . we ' ve got to start being better marketers . we ' ve got to think about programming harder . what it is we ' re offering people . we ' ve got to worry about customer service . we really have to take the industry to the next level .
that meeting ended up with everybody agreeing we ought to form this organization which , at the time , was called cable television administration and marketing society – ctam . the first president , i think , was greg liptak .
myhren : right . monty , of course , had been a chairman of the national cable television association . i went on to the ncta board when monty left in the beginning of ' 81 . i went on very quickly to the executive committee , and became very involved in the public policy aspirations of the industry .
myhren : well , it was us and tci . as we came through that period in the 70 ' s after i joined , first it was teleprompter .
myhren : . . . because of the history and the way those industries ' rights had been laid out . with cable , they could charge fees to have a franchise . they could charge all kinds of fees to lay lines . they could do things that they were in a position where they couldn ' t do with the others . so in addition to having the commercial opponents , we had a government opponent to freedom . the best they wanted for us was to have us survive .
maxwell : i remember it well . we had the good luck , at that point , . . . you were in colorado . we have to say something nice about our friend from boulder , but . . . . just before you got involved with that , at & t had , of all things , sent private investigators after one of the colorado congress people who had just gotten elected in the ' 72 reaction to the vietnam war . he was still there in the late 70 ' s when we got friendly with him . tim wirth was a congressman from the 2nd district in colorado . at & t treated him like some kind of pariah because he had walked in one day and said ,
why are the rules like this ?
myhren : which was a very reasonable question , but they didn ' t view it that way .
maxwell : that ' s exactly right . so i remember at a small publishing company _ _ _ _ _ _ _ i had at the time . we invited you , monty , glenn , bill daniels and everybody else in the neighborhood to a cocktail party that we gave for tim wirth to introduce him . later he , of course , became a senator from here and very instrumental in , while not championing so much , helping take away restrictions .
myhren : he was particularly helpful , before he got to the senate actually , when he was in those congressional days , because he ended up as chairman of the communications consumer protection and finance sub - committee in the house . [ house subcommittee on telecommunications , consumer protection and finance , of the house committee on energy and commerce ]
myhren : i ' m thinking it was called commerce but it was john dingle ' s committee . tim was the chairman of the sub - committee that really looked at communications ' regulations and a number of other things . he ' s an enormously intelligent guy who saw through the kinds of restrictions that had been put in place . after we met tim through your good offices , we became very supportive . i spent a lot of time , and i raised money for tim .
myhren : i talked to him a lot . he was not a handmaiden of the industry .
myhren : he was a guy who clearly had his own ideas , but he was willing to listen to reason . he understood the real frustrations we had , and he understood the importance of trying to unleash more diverse voices in the media .
maxwell : the first part he actually got , i think , was pole attachment .
myhren : i was vice chair of the ncta at the time , later to become chair . but i had not become chair at that point because a lot of things had been going on in our company . i had asked ed allen , who had been a terrific chairman , whether he would remain for another year . he agreed to do that . but he said one thing :
in the fall of next year , when you ' re doing that , i am going away for a long vacation with my wife , gerry , and i ' m not going to be there , and you ' re going to have to run that meeting .
myhren : well as it turned out , that meeting ended up being
the meeting
. it was wild and wooly but , in the end , we got it done . a lot of kudos go to tom wheeler , who really brought us to that point , to jim mooney who i think was able to provide the sharp expertise , a lot of people who really contributed on the ncta staff side , and a huge number of people in the industry who worked like heck on it . a number of people helped us in the congress , tim wirth clearly being one . another one was senator dan inouye from hawaii , where atc had almost all of the cable systems . that was a big period .
i then went on later to become chairman of the industry , and , in fact , something that people remind me of often – in the fall , 1986 at the ncta board meeting at a closed session , i told the board that i was very , very concerned about what would happen when pricing regulation , as a result of that bill passed at the end of ' 84 , came off . the pricing regulation came off the industry january 1 , 1987 . i gave this impassioned talk about that . a couple of the very good operators in the business , big operators , told me i was nuts , that we ' d had our prices tamped down for so long it was time we got ours back . i said that if we have that attitude , we ' re going to get re - regulated .
maxwell : took less than eight years and we certainly did get re - regulated .
myhren : it was really unfortunate . and there ' s no question , the people that were saying that were right in their own way . the fact is that we did have a right , and you might say almost a moral right , to raise our prices some at that point . it was question of how it was done . it was interesting . i was warned by the lawyers that you can ' t even talk pricing . i said ,
i ' m talking about keeping prices down not talking about putting them up !
so i did talk about it . and people disagreed with me , and some of them completely disregarded the advice . so we ended up getting re - regulated .
maxwell : yes . that made some good friends . it ' s a small world . your old friend bill ziff ' s ex - top broadcasting guy turned out to be responsible for the . . .
maxwell : . . . right . . . . one system where a . . .
maxwell : . . . a future senator ' s mother got a rate raised too much .
myhren : in any event , their company unfortunately was in the eye of the storm when rates went up because he was in al gore ' s territory .
maxwell : right . and he was tripping systems and raising them . . .
myhren : there are those who would argue that al gore ' s home territory was a hotel in washington and a private school in washington . but for those who thought he really came from tennessee , that ' s where he came from .
maxwell : and his mother ' s old farmhouse got like a 34 % rate increase with no change in programming .
myhren : we had some responsibility there too - american television . i left american television in ' 88 in a dispute with the then president of time – a fellow named nick nicholas . we had some very serious issues between us . one of them was my steadfast refusal to raise rates in honolulu , dan iouye ' s home country .
myhren : not really owed dan , but we had a 1 % franchise fee at the time there , and i really didn ' t want to disturb that . you can run through the economics of that and recognize what ' s going to happen if you raise rates – you ' ll go to 5 % on franchise fee and so on . but my argument was much more profound than that – it was that we had made a commitment there to keep the rates reasonable . shortly after i left the company , the rates were raised dramatically .
myhren : and i called back to top management , but i was no longer in the company . i didn ' t have any clout whatsoever , but really protested it , and was essentially told that that wasn ' t my business – which i knew , of course .
myhren : but i felt the obligation to protest . inouye went crazy . henry juney who was the sergeant at arms in the senate , and was inouye ' s buddy , called me and said ,
what the hell is going on here ?
i said ,
there ' s not a lot i can do about it , but i will try .
as i said , i tried . the unfortunate fact is that not only was that raise made then , but nine months later another raise was put in . . .
myhren : . . . and at which point inouye just said , . . .
myhren : . . .
you guys are out of control , don ' t live up to obligations . but in addition , you ' re really penalizing the people here in hawaii for reasons we don ' t quite understand .
it was a very , very nasty period there . but there was the situation in tennessee , that particular situation in honolulu . . .
myhren : . . . and others – all over the country that have been documented – obviously led to a nasty bill . frankly the bill that was passed in 1999 , which was very tough on the industry and really hurt the industry a lot , was much tougher than it needed to be . but , it never would have passed because the bush veto of the bill was lost by one vote . and there ' s no way that it would have ever been that close had these incidents not happened . so i think the whole industry learned lessons at that point .