How much is TOO much?!

33 Replies
MaddHatter said

Where I work we have a hot water tap on the water cooler and the water comes out perfect temp every time… we’re spoiled! and I am spending the summer with two other tea lovers – my hubby calls it: “Bad news” lol

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Tamara Fox said

Too much depends on the person, I’d say. I don’t often have a huge variety of teas in my cupboard – maybe 30 at most. What I have found to be too much is when I order too much of one flavor and then grow tired of it. That’s why I like to have some variety – something for iced teas, something green, something white, and something black…oh, and oolong…must have oolong.

MaddHatter said

I agree with oolong, I love oolong, although I must admit I doubt I would ever tire of long life oolong from DAVIDsTEA

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Gotta agree with the general consensus: “too much” is too subjective!

I only have about 9 different loose-leafs and a few boxes of bagged… but I can tell from how I’ve been buying and from my general personality that I’m going to have a TON of different loose leaf teas before long. I already have different moods for different Assams at different days or even times of day… other times it’s “which Darjeeling?” or “I need my Keemun”. This’ll only get worse (better?) as time goes on, lol.

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Some tea are better aged while others are best when enjoyed fresh. Know what you are buying and your experience will tell you what quantity to buy for each tea. Most tea drinkers I know have a STOCKPILE of tea at home. Is that too much? Not really, as long as you drink them. You’ll know you are wasting tea when you have tea that you don’t touch for months (other than the ones you purposely buy to age).

Aaron
http://derentea.blogspot.com

Sammerz314 said

I agree. I think it makes more sense to have, say, 100 sheng puerh cakes than 100 bags of green tea (some people maybe argue that sheng is green tea, I disagree – green tea doesn’t age well)

mrmopar said

+1 on Sammerz314 post.

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Nerys said

What is too much? I think that depends per person. If you have nice teas use them and enjoy them. I have too many things over the years tea included which I used too sparingly or not things ended up off/bad/binned. Not doing that anymore have it, use it up , enjoy is what I do now. No saving for a future day. I lost my favorite raspberry tea that way during a house move 28 years ago do not remember the name brand was a gold tin is all I know

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john12 said

Wow. I feel much better about myself now. I have 2 DVD storage boxes full of tea tins and pouches. I don’t think I ever have more than 20 types of tea at one time.

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Katiek said

As long as you’re using and enjoying them regularly, I dont’ think it’s too much. If you get to the point that you can’t find where you stored a particular tea, or don’t even know what you have, then I’d worry. And if you’re still exploring, I’d recommend buying smaller or sample sizes (or doing trades here to get small sizes) and not investing in larger sizes till you’re sure you really like something and will use that quantity.

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When I first started drinking loose leaf tea I thought I would never ever have need of more than two or three teas at a time. Once I discovered how much variety is out there and that I am interested in variety, I quickly changed my mind. I like to keep my tea stash under 50. More than that and I start to get anxiety because I don’t like too much “stuff” (not just tea) in my cupboards. The only way to find new teas that I like is to get lots of teas (preferably sample sizes, but not always). There will undoubtedly be teas you get and don’t like. You can have 15 teas in your cupboard and only like 2 or 3 of them, so it really isn’t a choice of 15 anymore. In this case, I find swapping, giving away, even selling (yes, people will buy your opened teas!) the best option to keep my stash under control while allowing me to sample a large variety of teas. If your collection gets too out of control, consider starting a traveling tea box. Put all of your overflow into a large box and send it around to a bunch of people who take and replace teas along the way. When it comes back, you will have (hopefully) lots of new teas to try.

ETA: gah, I keep replying to these outdated re-bumped threads and then I feel that my response is no longer relevant. Oh well. Maybe someone has a similar question :)

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Rachel said

I like seeing these topics bump up! Being new to tea, they all interest me. I have been drinking loose leaf tea for about 3 months now. I have primarily been purchasing/sampling .5-1oz of each tea I come across. Due to these small sizes, I only have about 15 or so teas in my cupboard. It has been super helpful in me finding out what I love and what I don’t care for. Next, I need to invest in some good tins for storage.

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