SunnyinNY said

Raise your hand...

if you have logged onto Steepster to find a review on a particular tea when you are in the supermarket & debating on whether to buy a tea or not?

Earlier tonight my friend & I were in the local Fairway supermarket & we were checking out some teas. I joked & told him to check on Steepster for a review….to which he did.

I love this site! :)

24 Replies

I would if I had a smartphone! :)

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Teaotic said

tea from fairway? ;)

i shouldn’t be such a snob, i know, hehe…

did you see that article in the New Yorker 2 weeks ago, comparing which NYC grocery store we prefer to our religion? Fairway Reform, Zabars Orthodox, The Altar of Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s etc? Pretty hilarious, there was a bit about New York being the only place you would find a woman charged for slapping someone in the face over a box of frozen vegan pad thai…. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/16/120116fa_fact_marx

i love my Whole Foods, couldn’t live without it, but i wouldn’t buy loose leaf there when i could get better tea (literally the best tea’s in the world) for less money online…

I like tea both online and in the supermarts, some of the most interesting stuff I found or shall I say obscure are even making their way in the supermarts! I have found pu-erh, turkish black tea( really obscure), even flowering teas which I find to be quite lovely. Though they are not the choices to connoisseurs, they are quite respectable brands to characters of discerning tastes and and average tea drinker. I’d say Numi, Two Leaves and a Bud, Mighty Leaf, and Rishi really tops the generic brands off, plus Guayaki is quite good for a loose leaf yerba mate. Awesome prices and really generous at 300 grams or so.

SunnyinNY said

Joel, I don’t care for Whole Foods. I love Fairway now that I have one near me. I love their coffee & their tea selection for loose or bagged tea is really good. I have priced a few of their teas to on-line places & the pricing is about the same. So I will stock up on some teas when I am there. Last night I ended up buying a tin of the Red Velvelt Chocolate from The Republic of Tea, a box of lychee coconut & a box of cherry marzipan both from Tea Forte & I did pick up two boxes of Yogi tea…but I can’t remember the flavors right now.

Fairway has good sales from time to time on the bagged teas, so when I hit a good sale, I stock up.

As for their loose leaf tea, they have some great quality teas. Not sure where they get it from….but I don’t really care…I probably should though, right? But if I don’t like the smell or the look of it, I don’t have to buy it. My friend tried one of their loose leaf teas & he enjoyed it. I’ve just got too much still to blog about so I’m trying not to go overboard & buy more than I’ll have time to try…..

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Last week I was in Whole Foods, making a note of the brands they carry into my phone! Then I came home and checked on steepster – I don’t have the patience to check websites on my phone in a store.

Erin said

I did this exact same thing lol

SunnyinNY said

I not only do that in stores, but I do it on here as well!!

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Rishi is good tea, and (I think) is a supplier to some other tea shops, like Samovar — so if you can find Rishi tins at a supermarket, it is often a good deal. I recently bought some on Amazon. Mighty Leaf is a tea I discovered at Whole Foods, and it was the first “loose leaf bagged tea” I’ve ever had. I still like a few Mighty Leaf teas, and those bags are sure handy for work or traveling.

Does Steepster have a mobile app?

They don’t have a mobile app but that would be pretty awesome to have a barcode scanner like the amazon app and it pulls up reviews.

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Ha ha ha I have totally done that. Especially if it’s odd ball and I’m trying figure out if it is worth spending the money on or not.

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Dinosara said

Oh yes, definitely. I remember I was in Whole Foods a while ago looking for sachet teas to take with me while I travel… I basically pulled up the Steepster pages on my iPhone for every sacheted Earl Grey they had to try to pick the best one.

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Uniquity said

I don’t have a smartphone, but I frequently check reviews on Steepster before deciding whether to purchase a tea. It’s part of my selection criteria!

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SunnyinNY said

I don’t have the Smartphone either, but I’m normally in Fairway with one friend who does have one. I make him check Steepster. It just made me laugh last night as we were checking out the teas. As for the teas, I was looking at The Republic of Tea & Tea Forte. I was just debating on certain flavors to buy, which I ended up buying anyway!

Good to know we’re not the only ones doing this!

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Teaotic said

Yes SunnyinNY we New Yorkers seem to be passionate about our favorite food markets, that was why I mentioned the article ;) Fairway is great, i have fond memories of field trips there as a child where we got to sample all sorts of delicacies courtesy of the owner, who lived in our town in the suburbs.

I myself am just partial to the online specialty shops when it comes to tea, but for all I know fairway carries decent loose leaf, I just haven’t had much luck buying bulk tea or coffee in grocery stores compared to tea-only specialty importers, hence the tongue-in-cheek snarky tea-snob comment ;)

And yes Anthony, Two Leaves & a Bud, Mighty Leaf, Rishi, Adagio are certainly quality sources, I think they fulfill a vital niche in between Lipton and the more rarefied specialty importers, in that they serve as ambassadors to people looking for something a step up. Although one may be paying a bit of a premium for packaging and marketing…

SunnyinNY said

No worries. I actually didn’t consider your comment snarky at all. If anything, I know what you mean.

I’m thankful we have Fairway near us. They are really good. Great selection on all foods. Plus they have great coffee & tea!

Curious, what part of NY are you in? The city?

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Teaotic said

yes currently in the city, i messaged you the details, I have lived in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens! NYC is my favorite place in the US by far, but I am also fond of South Florida and Oregon…

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