Official *What did you get in the mail today?* Thread!!!

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boychik said

Love the cat, love the catch of the day. i got myself those bubble cups *3 and matching teapot. And Octopus, and Whales ….

Those bubble cups are so pretty and I love that DT’s infuser fits in them.

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My order from Hapatite came in the mail with extra goodies to sample! :D

I also exchanged some teas with TeaTiff and received the ones she sent in the mail PLUS she added a few Harney & Sons samples to try out -Thank you! I’ve been wanting to try more H&S (mind melding).

Tea always makes studying more bearable…I feel like I’ve been studying for so long that when I’m finished, I’ll steap my tea in tears of joy…
Opening the mailbox to tea is always a good thing. -Thank you!!

Ost said

Sounds like an awesome day for mail!

Yay! I am glad it arrived safely.

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I received a really cute package from Charissa. She sent a bunch of her new Gong Fu Tea Shop teas to sample! Thank you!

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I got my Butiki prize, Red Queen Cupcake (which smells awesome), along with four samples that feel like they were hand picked for me!

Ooh can’t wait to read your review on it. This one sounds pretty yummy!

Ost said

Oo nice!

apt said

I was really impressed with the way she chose the samples. She included 3 other TW teas (2 blacks and and aged oolong) with my prize. I’m definitely going to place an order with her sometime.

:D Can’t wait to read your note on the tea.

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Got a big box of samples from the Persimmon Tree Tea that they provided for my next TTB. Thanks so much! I can’t wait to try these when it’s time to start up the box! :)

Awesome! I think I might actually have enough tea to participate in one of those soon. :P

yay :)

Their Earl Grey Creme is great.

Mandy said

What’d they send?

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Mandy said

Today was a very exciting tea day.
First, I woke up to the Fedex guy dropping off my EnjoyingTea order. I got the Plum Blossom Yixing Clay Teapot, Green Tea Sampler, 4oz of Anxi Wulong Tea, and 4oz of Imperial Ti Kwan Yin. Plus they gave me a little loose leaf sample tin of Black Currant Black Tea, and a box of 20 oolong teabags.
Then, I also got my 52teas order. I got Coconut Cream Pie Honeybush.
I got my swap from Ost with extra samples (:
And not today, but yesterday I got my Amazon order. I got 100 grams of 100% pure stevia, and not tea related but the professionals kit of my favorite nail polish top coat, Seche Vite (4oz bottle, plus regular .5oz bottle and funnel for $15, versus the regular .5oz sells for $9, its a steal).

Ost said

Yah! Glad you got my swap! I’m always skeptical that it won’t get there. :P Enjoy your teas! :D

Whoa! That’s an awesome tea day, enjoy!!!

apt said

why’d you get 4oz of two very similar oolongs?

It’s Christmas in June! lol :)

Mandy said

Apt, well I guess the first reason would be I didn’t know how similar the two are. Second, because you can only get 4oz or more, and third because I was already getting the Ti Kwan Yin, and the Anxi Wulong is only $7 for 4oz which I thought was a great price. Hey, at least this way I should be able to steep both in my yixing right?
Ost I was so surprised I got it so soon. Sometimes USPS likes to loose my packages, and then other times it basically teleports straight here from the other side of the country.

apt said

be careful with cheap yixing, some people put some nasty stuff in there. read something about how some cheap yixing can have nice stuff like plastic and toxic chemicals in it.

Enjoy your first yixing pot! Just be sure to clean out any dust and follow the instructions for seasoning it. It can get addictive :)

Mandy said

Happen to have a good link for seasoning handy? If not I’ll just google it (;

Mandy, here’s the video I always refer people to, David Duckler from Verdant. The best video I know and the easiest way IMHO.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0wzsBNHO6C4

Honestly I think most of the instructions I’ve seen online are overkill. Technically you don’t have to season the pot because it will be naturally seasoned with use. The initial seasoning is just supposed to help the pot not “steal” too much flavor from your tea during the first few weeks of use. What I do is pretty much:

1. Rinse out the teapot with cold water, wipe the inside with a paper towel.
2. Fill the teapot with boiling water, dump it out
3. Put the teapot in a small cooking pot with boiling/hot water, put the tea I’m using in a t-sac infuser and basically brew a huge pot of tea.
4. Take the tea out of the pot after a few minutes so it doesn’t get bitter
5. Let the teapot soak in the tea either with no heat or on very low heat for a few hours
6. Remove the teapot from the tea and let it drain/airdry upside down.

But if you want an expert method, here’s a good video. Sometimes I do it this way. (except the boiling part): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wzsBNHO6C4

Whatever you do, DON’T BOIL the teapot in water, lots of people crack their pots this way. If you really want to, you can wrap it in a towel to protect it. I’ve done it that way with success but decided not to risk it anymore.

Good luck!

Looking at it, my way seems a little overkill too, lol. But I find it much easier than other methods I’ve read about.

boychik said

Verdant video is the best, simplest. Every step David does he explained why. Totally makes sense. I recently season the pot with success. More than a month it still tastes like clay a little.

Yup, that’s why I love his video. He also tells you what to realistically expect. I’ve had my pots for about a month and while I don’t actually taste clay, when I pour hot water in the pots, I smell mostly hot rock/clay. One of my better quality ones smells like the tea I season it with, though.

Mandy said

Thanks guys! She’s seasoning in some Anxi Wulong right now. Between trying my new teas, cooking dinner (home made mashed potatoes, NY strip steak, and carmelized broccoli) and seasoning my Yixing I feel like I’ve been in the kitchen all day.

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I got my swap from Ost (thank you!). It included samples of Della Terra’s S’mores and Lemon Chiffon teas.

I also got my Amazon order! It included a dozen tins of each of two different sizes, a Finium brew basket, and some markers for writing on the tins. The tins are technically from a candle supply place, and one of the boxes was dark and looked (and smelled) like it had some kind of candle fragrance dumped on it. Needless to say, all of the tins smelled like this as well and so I get to wash all of them with soap now! And it’s not even a good fragrance, it’s an old lady perfumey fragrance! Hooray…

Mandy said

How much were the tins? And ew, sorry to hear about the carelessness of the packaging. Even if you were using your tins for candles, now the would contaminate the scent you use with eau de old lady. I’d probably message the seller and say something.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0092RKFZW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0092RKF52/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They’re probably smaller than most people would want around here, but I don’t have a large amount of any teas and I probably won’t have for a while. And the small ones are perfect for sample sizes. :D

The listings say that the inside of the tins have been varnished. I guess since the tins were covered in eau de old lady perfume you can’t possibly smell the varnish, but I wonder if you could normally? Or if if will affect the tea?

Well my box of the smaller-sized ones wasn’t perfume-soaked and those tins have no scent whatsoever, inside or out. But I’m not one to worry about that type of thing. :)

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My Oolongs from JKTeashop came today. (And my cake decorating went better this time… it was my best one for the class so far.)

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I got an ounce of Laoshan Black in the mail from inranger today in exchange for a bunch of samples from my cupboard, and he also threw in a bunch of other tasty Laoshan tea samples as well! Yay!!! LB back in the house woo!

Oh, laoshan black in the house is good news :-) especially when it’s out of stock!!! ENJOY!

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Such a great tea day!!!

Got both Mandala & Whispering Pine orders!!! Some favourites, but tons of new teas to try also!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/14485580256/in/photostream/lightbox/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/14505288531/

I so love my cute little traditional Gaiwan from Mandala :-)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/14322089098/in/photostream/

As always, super awesome service and communication from both parts, love those two vendors and their very personal and friendly approach…they make you feel like more than just another customer, I love that :-) Thank you!!

I love that gaiwan.

Beautiful gaiwan but I am most jealous of your tea tray!

Ubacat said

Wow! Look forward to reading some of your reviews! Enjoy!

Thanks :-)

Stephanie, the tea tray was purchased a little over two years ago on ebay for less than $60. I love it, still looks like brand new. Goes to show you don’t have to break the bank for a good table :-)

MzPriss said

I almost got the pink version of that same gaiwan from Garret and when I decided to get it and went to order it – they were all gone :(

That’s a nice load of tea and have to agree – Garret and Brenden are awesome teamen!

yyz said

Nice!

Wow what a day you have had! Love the pictures.

boychik said

Wow that’s great day to receive such awesome teas. Enjoy !!!

Yes, I was super happy! So funny, it often happens that several orders, though not placed at the same time, will show up on the same day!

MzPriss, so sorry it was sold out :-( I had such a difficult time choosing between the two, I almost got both!!! It was a great sales price, and it’s the perfect size.

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