Steepster Select November Giveaway

I’m giving my vote to Harney and Sons tins. Simple design, very functional.

For designed tins, I’d also like to point out Jericho and Jeeves tins. They look pretty nice.
http://www.jeevesandjericho.com/BREAKFAST-TEA

Are we talking about packing when an order is shipped or storage in our own homes here?

For the former, I go in for eclecticness in my tins! When I see them here and there in the right size, I often get a tin or two, and when I buy from companies where the tea comes with it’s own tin like for example Kusmi, A&D or Jeeves & Jericho, I keep the tin, wash it carefully and use it for something else.

For my Standard Panel, however, the teas I always try to have on hand, I’m streamlining a bit and am slowly switching everything into dark green 250g tins from A C Perchs. They’re simple and elegant and not so expensive that I have any problems throwing them out and replacing them when they start to go rusty on the inside. http://www.perchs.dk/default.asp?page=specifik.asp&id=2856

For the latter, keeping shipping fees down is something I appreciate, but wether or not it’s been pre-tinned usually don’t have that great an impact on that in my experience. I think it’s great when teas come with their own tins, but I’ll just as happily tin it myself upon arrival. So as long as it’s air-tight, I’m not to bothered about wether it arrives in tins or pouches or bags or whatever, just so long as it can’t escape. Only air-tightness counts for me, really, and a non-fragile form of packaging. I don’t even care, in shipping, whether or not it’s light-proof, although I know too much exposure to light can be damaging, because when it’s in transit, it’s packed inside boxes and wrapping and whatnot, so that keeps out the light anyway, and as mentioned above, I can tin it myself on arrival.

I don’t really have original packaging/tins from very many companies, but I would have to say that my favourite is probably Harney and Sons classic square tins. I have a lot of tea, and I appreciate any measure that makes storing it easier while also being aesthetically pleasing.

Lately I’ve taken to tinning small amounts of my own tea for travel and work in any ‘appropriate’ tin I can find. Accordingly I have a Mario coin block and Mushroom waiting to hold some lovely tea.

I really like the glass jar that my Aveda Comforting tea first came in (in the past tense, because since I make it myself now for a fraction of the price I no longer need to shell out $24). It’s a deep, rich brown that protects the herbs and keeps them fresh. I like the label too…Aveda’s style is very relaxing. I’m all for any company that provides a nice tin or jar with their product.

I love tins but nothing is more pracitical and elegant then the harney and sons square tins. The are pretty as well as functional!

I too have to give props to Harney and Sons. They really stack nice and keep my tea really fresh.

I had been receiving samples in small pouches or plastic bags; then Enjoying Tea sent me some samples and the packaging seemed different and left me wondering what it was? I don’t usually open things right away.

Once I did find time to open them, I was most surprised at the smallness of the Indian Mocha Chai tin and the Lemon Grass Chai. I thought; how fantastic that they did this for me; but not so. They send samples like that all of the time.

Last month I received from another vendor some samples which came in flat FedEx envelope; so this bemused and baffled me with wonderment as to what they were? (Not opening right away) I shook the package to try and decipher what was inside…I could hear loose rambling of sort; so I thought great: more loose leaf teas; Eventually, I took the time to open the FedEx envelope and found small disk like tins with clear glass like top with the company name on top sealed and the item description name & lot ID on the back. I thought how clever; small little petri dish samples. I like being able to view the leaves and shake them about prior to opening the tins.

I should say when one shakes either styled tins they sound the same…crunch, crunch, but the quantity in the tins makes the difference in sound deepness; the flat tins are not full, so they shake more; Enjoying Tea’s Tin are fill to the rim so the crunching noise is not as pronounced as those bouncing in the tin disk of The Tao of Tea.

I can also discern tea bags in boxes shaking them and knowing it is tea bags sounds quite different in the rumbling. For example some stores package the individual tea bags in small bags to be removed prior to steeping; and some vendors just package the teas bags in rows of threes for 100 counts; I think same for smaller boxes of 48-50 tea bags; anyhow shaken box with tea wrap teabags sound different and weighs a bit more than loose teabags in row within a box.

I am not making sense. I do not open things right away; so at times a shake is all they get from me whence arrived. Sorry!

My favorite type of packaging is the little “indivudal-sized” (I think its 7g or so) bags that I get some oolongs in – I can’t give a good reason why, I just like them (plus I rarely drink enough of one type of tea to buy a tin of anything, I’d rather try small amounts of lots of different types instead).

http://www.whittard.co.uk/gifts/gifts_1/stop_for_tea_gift_set_1.htm

I love this Whittard of Chelsea gift set. The English bus shaped ones are particularly adorable.

I am also a fan of the Harney and Sons tins. Nostalgia plays a large role for me. Hot Cinnamon Spice was one of the first teas I fell in love with. Here is a link:
http://www.harney.com/Hot-Cinnamon-Spice-Loose-tea-in-7-ounce-tin/productinfo/48009/