(Note, this is not so much a post about the way this tea is to drink (awesomesauce) as it is a post about the thought processes it gave me this morning. Feel free to skip the following ramblings)
Om nom nom nom! I love this tea and I could probably buy it again.
Shang Tea gave me excellent customer service the one time I ordered from them and earlier still than that when I had a question. But it just strikes me as so backwards and impractical when I as an international customer have to contact them first by email and then email my order in. At least that’s how I did it the first time, I don’t know if it would still be that way but I have to assume it would. I know it’s silly if that’s how it works for international customers, but I still feeling like I’m imposing.
And not only that, but then I get to cross my fingers that Customs don’t decide to charge me for the package. I realise that they might as well do that on stuff shipped from China, but it has just never happened to me with any other mail than stuff coming from the US. I suspect they’re checking US packages more diligently because people are far more likely to do their internet shopping from the US than from China. Last time I got charged was a package from 52teas with all of three pouches in it. BAM! That tea was suddenly twice as expensive.
So all in all, I’ve got a few American tea shops that I can order from, but I always do it with my hopes up and my fingers crossed… I hope the 52teas Christmas box will make it through the eye of the needle. I’m trying again this year in spite of Danish Postal Service’s major cock-ups last year. And that’s cock-ups plural. Yes, they did the same idiotic thing twice with the same package. And lost one other package and misplaced another one too while they were at it.
So yeah, I’ll be on the lookout for some sort of alternative. To that end I was checking TeaSpring, as I thought they would probably be my most likely candidate of delivering something similar. No such luck, although I have made a note of a few others that caught my interest.
After that I inadvertantly wound up on Nothing But Tea’s website where I accidentally put something in the basket (seriously, I didn’t meant to initially), and then while I was at it anyway, I figured I might as well continue.
So I’ve just placed a rather substantial order that I was not even allowed to make yet (still have one tin and five samples to go). It just happened, I don’t know how! Instead I shall be saving my TeaSpring order for when the requirements of decupboarding have been met.
I think it’s something in the tea that inspired me to do that. I think it’s that thick honeyed sugary note that tastes like the top of a creme brulee that does it. I’ll do anything for a nommy dessert. Nearly.
In the meantime, suggestions for similar alternatives are appreciated. Don’t worry about whether or not the brand is available to me, I’ll figure that out myself. I know some brands that aren’t, but there are many I’ve never checked.
