The Cupboard: How are you using it?
I’ve decided to change the way I do my cupboard! I’m going to add everything now, unless the amount I have is only enough for one cup. I think I’m in denial about how much tea I have (!!!) by not listing my samples, many of which are enough for several cups!
Cool! I list anything I have two or more servings of, partly so I remember I have them and need to drink them. :-) I really wish we could add notes/ or an acquisition date, and then sort by date so I can easily see what is oldest and needs to be drank!
Yeah I don’t had single cup/bags unless I have butt load of them and I know I won’t be getting to some for a while. I did that w/ my TTB bags cuz I took something like 18.
I think that’s a great plan. I haven’t been listing samples, unless their big sample tins like in the Upton samplers. I haven’t been listing tea bags from my starter group. I have been lazy and not listed some teas I have that would require me to create a new entry in the database. There are some I just forgot to add when I got them, but I’ve been adding them as I drink them to write notes. I’ve also been taking out those I no longer have, though I’d considered using the cupboard as a master list, because it’s too confusing since I think of a cupboard as a cupboard and not a list.
My cupboard contains all of my loose tea’s (no tea bags though). If I run out of a loose tea and plan to replace it, I leave it there. If I do not plan to re-order a tea, I remove it. Simple eh?
I’m on another community group called Ravelry and we have a page like the cupboard called “stash” where you can list all the yarn you have. Well, I use the cupboard like I do my stash. I list all the teas I have and remove them when I don’t have them.
Edit: of course, I don’t have a lot of tea right now so this might change. I could see having a note section for each tea that you have would be useful to add things like purchase date and about how much you have left and what form it is in.
I love Ravelry! I don’t do the whole stash thing but you can’t beat it for patterns, especially for purchasing patterns from independent designers. I just got something from Keiran Foley today:
I “stashed” some of my yarns on Ravelry, but I’m not too serious about it since thus far most of the yarns I’ve bought have been acrylics from Smiley’s and “kitchen cotton” from Michaels — i.e., nothing I could imagine anyone wanting to swap for. I’ve been crocheting for about a year and just finished my first fitted garment, so major investments in baby alpaca still lie in the future.
BTW, Doulton started a Steepsterites group on Ravelry a few months back. It seems to be dormant, but it’s there if you’d just like to represent.:)
I didn’t know that there was a Steepsterite group on Rav! Thanks!!
bump
Kasumi how are you using your cupboard? I have just switched to trying to add mostly everything I have on hand….
I started with just adding everything I had on hand, including samples, but lately after experience with swapping, I feel I should only list what I am willing to share.
another Idea I had is to use it for teas I still need to log a tasting note for.
I’ve been using my cupboard like a cupboard, though I’m not putting in those I only have a few servings of. Less than 3 cups worth and I don’t put it in, which includes most of my ‘swap’ samples but not my paid for samples, if that makes sense. I’ve been going through once a week or so to add and delete teas to keep it up to date. Right now I have a backlog of teas to add (and drink!) but if I taste one and I have more than 3 cups worth of it, I add it then definitely.
I have everything in my cupboard even if there’s only a one cup sample. I don’t swap all the time, so it’s a way for me to track exactly what i have in my house. It’s unfortunate that there isn’t an easy way to list how much is there so I run the risk of when I swap, there will be something in my cupboard someone wants that I can’t give them because i only have a cup. However i figure most people will be understanding, and i can always let them know up front that I only have a small amount.
It’s also incentive for me to drink my samples down faster so that I can get my cupboard quantity down :)
That’s the way I do it too! It does complicate swaps a little but I just try to drink all my samples/almost-gone tea sooner.
Wow I was JUST thinking about how to use mine and here this thread is bumped from years ago! Its a sign! LOL
I can’t decide if I should only put my all time favorites in there – the ones I WILL ALWAYS reorder and ALWAYS have in my cupboard. Or all of them I have on hand now that are more than a few servings. Or use it for what I have to trade but then I am not really into trading as much as just sending out random gift boxes and boxes I offer up for gifts.
Uggg I took EVERYTHING out a while back as I just didn’t know what to do with it.
I have a lot of teas I am gifting right now and a lot that I need to sample and review before I can share them or pass them on. Then I have my staples. Which I need to organize.
I think I am going to use my cupboard for my staples. The teas I would not do without – those that I highly recommend to others. But that will have to wait until I have sent out all the gift boxes I already have people signed up for, and have time to really consider my remaining teas.
:)
Glad I talked that out to myself and thank you for bumping this thread.
I don’t add samples. I should, because then I would actually know what I have. But, I have too many samples.
So far I have just added things I have paid/gotten in large quantity as a gift. I don’t add samples. One of my favourite things is to sit down after a tea shopping trip with my computer and receipt and add all my new babies! er teas.
My basic rule is that any tea I have in an ounce or more (or 1/2 ounce for whites) I add, whether I bought it or it’s from a swap. Anything under is “sample sized” and I try not to add since I use my cupboard for swapping a lot and I rarely have enough of that stuff to send out.
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