Steepster Select #008 Giveaway

Everyone around me knows I drink a lot of tea, but I don’t push it on them. If they show an interest I am more than willing to hand them a cup and talk them silly.

What I generally do is talk to them about how delicious it is and compare the caffeine effects to that of coffee. I also like describing various flavored teas that they might enjoy.

I don’t try to push it and have been regularly known to say, “Tea isn’t for everybody.”

Most people I know are willing to try whatever I have in my cup, but for people I know that don’t like tea because they’ve had bad experiences, I generally start with having them try tisanes, and I tell them that there isn’t any physical tea in it. I generally then move to flavored teas and then I go on to unflavored traditional varieties.

I just make a pot when people come over & share a favorite flavor. Or else I let them pick & it’s enough to get them hooked.

Similar to some other people posting here, I always offer my guests a tea and bring out my collection for them to choose from.

I have recently managed to get a friend of mine to start drinking tea. He was always very curious about my tea-making routine and my collection of different teas. I always had him try some of whatever tea I was drinking that day. He would sometimes come with me to choose my new tea and smell all the different kinds. !t’s so much fun choosing teas with a friend!
I got him the David’s Tea Aficionado kit as a gift and now he is on his way to being as crazy about tea as I am. Just last week was the first time he tried his own full mug of an unflavoured green tea- and he loved it!! I can’t wait for all of our fun crazy tea adventures together in the future.

…and that is the story of my success in creating one more lover of tea!!

At one point I tried to convert my family to tea, but, found it was a losing battle so I gave up on it. Now, my oldest daughter drinks it pretty regularly, but she came round on her own. My youngest daughter has always liked tea, but she’s now going through a rebellious stage where she says she doesn’t, but, there are times when she will still ask for tea.

If we have guests, I offer it, but, they usually don’t take me up on it. :)

I usually make pots of tea for myself, and then let them know that they’re welcome to try it. If they happen to like it, then I tend to make more of the kinds that they like. I try not to be too forceful.

Generally I try to find out if they like any tea at all, if so I introduce a really good version of it. If they don’t drink any tea, I normally take them to a tea shop that can brew a good cup.

When I’m at classes or work I bring a travel tumbler and sometimes an extra bag for a refill and that makes people interested. I let them smell it and, if they want, a sip. If they like it I’ll offer to bring a little sample for them. Usually the only ones to go for it are those that are already into tea.
At home, when offering beverages, I always offer tea. A decent portion of my family drinks tea, so they usually take me up on it. As for what tea I serve them is up to them. I let them go through my stash, looking and sniffing and I’ll tell them what are my favorites if they are having a hard time deciding.
Those that I have convinced to start drinking tea had already drank it at one point in their life.

I always serve tea when someone comes by and I let them pick their favorite teacup from my collection to use.