EU Travelling Box - (ROUND FOUR - SIGN UP NOW).

Would anyone be interested in a European travelling tea box? It wouldn’t be too huge so postage shouldn’t be too much of a problem but I’m thinking around the £10 mark (around 12 Euro).

It will include both natural teas and flavoured which will be randomly included into the box. Whatever you take out of it you must put it equally or as equal as you can. For example if you take 20g out and replace it with 15g that is fine. Also for large batches it is welcome to sample without actually taking that tea, so it can be left in for others to try. Though ideally you can take what you want!

Due to an unfortunate incident during round two this sign up is now only open for Steepster members that have a good standing. In others words I’m sorry but no new members (unless other people can vouch for you).

You must also promise to log the box once received and send it out as quickly as you can.

If you are interested please sign up here. :)

Round One -
adagio breeze
Angrboda
Anna
Dag Wedin
back to Kitty Loves Tea

Round Two
Kitty Loves Tea
cteresa – Towards the start
Anna
Angrboda
meldc
Nattie – The box is currently here
Back to Kitty Loves Tea

Round Three
nannuoshan
Scheherazade
Nattie – The box is currently on it’s way here
Back to Kitty Loves Tea

Round Four
Scheherazade
Nattie – asked to go last
Sami Kelsh
Back to Kitty Loves Tea

385 Replies
Sil select said

If there is any interest in adding a NA leg to this, let me know as I have no issues sending internationally.

Lala said

I’d be interested in this as well if it works out that way.

Dexter said

Me too if you would consider NA people….

Sil select said

Lol sorry wasn’t trying to derail this. But hey, at least it’s being bumped? :)

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I think I need this in my life.

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Angrboda said

I would be sort of tentatively interested, I think. It would depend a bit on the size of the participants list. I’d prefer a shorter list and then maybe have it go around two or three times rather than a big long list that would take a decade to go around (because let’s face it, everybody has the best intentions of sending it on within a couple of days, but most people don’t actually do that.)

I would say though (sorry, guys) that while I don’t really have a problem sending across the Atlantic, I would be more interested if it was kept Europe only. The Americans already currently have so many boxes that are North America only and there are so many North American Steepsterites that it wouldn’t be a problem to get participants for more. Let’s see if we can’t bring Europe out of the woodwork here and keep it over here. Show me what I’m missing out on from shops that are actually available to me.

Sil select said

Love it! :) if you guys have a small list you should make a mini box like the one some of us have going on…we buy enough tea for the 4 of us to share a half ounce each (2 teas from each person) and it goes round the 4 of us…we try different companies with it and we all get to experience the same teas together. It’s a lot of fun!

That sounds like something I’d be interested in – I won’t be in North America again for a while and I’d like to get some new teas every now & then without having to make a big purchase & pay the hefty overseas shipping. Plus I’m always envious of all the “thanks to Sil!” tasting notes I see in my feed :)

Angrboda said

Sil, I like that idea, although it does require that people know each other relatively well. It’s a different level of trust, I think. How do you handle the payments? Do you paypal each other the amount or do you just take turns paying?

Sil select said

Angrboda – We just take turns. IE. I go to a local store and buy 2oz each of two different teas. When the box comes to me, i put in .5 ounce of each for the 3 other people – we actually have ziplock bags to split it out. That leaves me with .5 ounce of the teas i bought to drink and share in the tasting notes with my partners.

When it gets to the next person, they do the same thing…put in .5 ounce of two teas they purchased. And round and round it goes. there are 4 of us, so each time the box hits one of us, we’re getting 3 ounces of tea (plus we have the ounce we purchased).

It’s been a great time so far with terri, boxermama and tastybrew. :)

Sil select said

Additionally, we have a shopping list of places we’d like to try and each of us suggests places and signs up for places we’re picking up. The nice thing about the small box is that we’ve decided to stick to straight blacks and puerhs since the 4 of us prefer those and it’s giving us a chance to really try those sorts of teas.

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darky said

How many different kinds would be in it? And how do you pack the samples? Because i got most off the time only 50gram bags around. So depending on a couple things i think i would be on, if shipping cost is not to high

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Anna said

I’m definitely in, with the same caveats as Angrboda – shorter list, nothing outside of Europe, a focus on European teas (and whatever the participants want to try from our collective international samples).

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I’ve been trying to think of what the best thing to do here is but at the end of the day it’s about those taking part. So perhaps we can all work something out with each other?

Perhaps we could keep this one EU for now but with the intention to send it INTL. So if I started the box and became the last in EU to receive it back I could then see who else in EU wanted another snoop in the box before sending it INTL so you could still receive it twice or thrice in EU. So it would be me sending and paying for it to go INTL once the EU people have finished. Think that could work?

darky – There will be a rough estimate of 30 teas in the box so there should be something for everyone. The samples can be sent in a sealed food bag but must have a label on each just so we know what tea it and which brand. If you also want to include a note in the box for people to know what your personal contribution into the box is then that is fine too.

Anna – I agree that as it’s an EU box it would be great to include some local brands and European style teas into the box.

Angrboda – I’m happy to keep this list short if we want to receive it more than once. How many would you recommend? At the moment if all of us EU people are in that makes 5 of us so far.

Keep your suggestions coming and I’m sure we can all work something out :)

Sil select said

Kitty – IMO leave international out :) you have interest enough from Europe

We can always put together a box in the future that goes both directions :) I suspect that based on those of us from NA that have made comments, none of us would be offended with you keeping it in Europe

Lala said

I agree with Sil. What I think would be a neat idea is, we currently have a Canadian travelling box, maybe when ours and yours are both done circulating we can switch them and start over.

Angrboda said

Kitty, once upon a time I organised the first travelling teabox on Steepster and the chain was 30 people long. It took about a year and a half to make it all the way around and that was with several drop-outs, a box disappearance, and a couple of people that I had to chase down because they didn’t respond to emails from their sender (but responded to mine almost right away, what’s wrong with some people?). On top of that there was a bunch of drama online and it really burnt me out on TTBs in general. This is the first one I’ve even considered since, and this is also why I’m a bit wary about it.

So absolutely less than 30! It was way way too many. If I were to do it again (which I’m not. Ever!) I would say a maximum of ten for a round. That doesn’t sound like very many, but a round is likely to take longer than you think. I estimated mine would take maybe 4-5 months… If it was just us five, I would probably send it on a circuit and then after that hear if there was interest in another circuit or if there were any new people wanting to join in the area. Perhaps even incoorporate Sil’s suggestion of joined shopping, but I wouldn’t do that until later if it was decided to keep it going. It requires a larger amount of trust because there would be money involved so I think it would be best if all involved got to know each other a little better first.

Dexter said

Kitty – It’s your box – as Sil stated not offended if you decide to keep it in EU. I just had such a good time with the Cdn one that would LOVE to participate in another. I was just sticking my nose in and hoping. :)) I also just thought it would be fun to be able to try more European Teas. No worries – do what ever works best for you and your group.

Anna said

(I recently read through the full original TTB thread – seriously, Angrboda, mad props – and that was epic for sure.)

yyz said

Maybe in the future we could start two boxes, one in North America (or just Canada, as it seems as everyone not EU in the discussion above is from Canada) and one in the Eu. In this case each box would travel from the initiator to all of the members in each region before being sent internationally to the other regions group. The box would then travel through the new region and end up with the other boxes originator. In this case than each person would be able to try teas from both within their region and from the international senders and each originator should end up with a box of almost completely different teas.

Well it usually works out that the first person to send out the box is the last to receive it. Assuming that ever after people swap it two or three times I should be the one left with the box at the end of it all. I would be happy to send it INTL after that to whomever wishes to receive it. :) So it would be like starting another box but I would be using what others have included from Europe. Just something to think about anyway.

Angrboda – I agree that it should be short and 30 is a lot of members to participate. Well done for seeing it through. If it stays in Europe then I don’t see us getting that many participants if I’m honest. Another one or two may message over the next few days who have good standing but I believe we will have less than 10 no matter what.

I could start us off and send it out next week. Will take sign ups over the weekend and maybe in the week but we could at least start it up. And if it’s just the five of us that decide to do it I’m fine by that :)

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I’m still waiting for a confirmation from you all. Is everyone that commented still in for sending this box around the EU? And if so shall we say that we each receive the box twice?

As soon as I know who is in I can send it on to the first person. :)

I’m in! I’ll PM you.

darky said

will look into replying somewhere tomorrow. Noticed this a bit late on the evening today.

Anna said

I also sent a PM!

Angrboda said

I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to. I was waiting for you to tell me what to do. O.o

Thank you everyone. I can at least write the list and get it started.

Participants (so far) are:
adagio breeze
Angrboda
darky
Anna (who will come in towards the end)

I can send the parcel on Friday if not before to adagio breeze who will then send it on to Angrboda and so on. Hopefully by the time it reaches there it should have a couple more participants.

dark – Let me know if you definitely want to join and you will be added :)

darky said

so the only thing i need to add is new tea in some ziplock bags. Think i can work that out. Replacing the amount i take out is logical. Do i receive a list with adresses for the one thats next on the list to? if so i think i could give this a try. Do u send out the box with a signed delivery?

Yep it’s as simple as that darky, just pop the tea into ziplock bags with the name of the tea and company name on or even in the bag on a piece of paper.

You will be added to the list and the person above you will contact you for your address directly. Or if preferred I don’t mind storing addresses for people and giving them out when required.

You don’t have to send this signed for but some people may wish to do so. I’m leaving it down to senders choice.

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ssajami said

Kitty, I’m in Israel, not in the EU, but in the vicinity, and much closer than North America. I’d love to participate as well if I can.

I’m very sorry but we decided to keep this one EU only for the time being. If that changes at any time I will let you know.

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The box is now on it’s way to adagio breeze. :)

Anna said

Super exciting. =) Are you going to post a list here of what you sent out, or did you include one in the package? Also do we do registered/tracked shipping for this one?

I didn’t include a list inside the package but I saved a copy on my computer of what the box starts with. Would you like me to post the list?

Also I would say it’s up to the sender to decide, I don’t think it will mind too much either way. In the worst case situation and it gets lost I will replace it. I trust the people we have in the group. :)

Anna said

If you want! It would be fun to see how the box changes – it’s so much easier to get an overview when the group is as small as it is now.

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The box contains spoiler alert

1. 0oo Nutty Delight Chai – Tealux
2. Jasmine Silver Needle – Adagio
3. Tutti Fruity – English Tea Store
4. Vanilla Mint Mate – 52 Teas
5.Lemon Thriller – President’s Choice
6. Instant herbal Chinese tea – Xian Cao Tang
7. White Chocolate Matcha – Red Leaf Tea
8. Raspberry Truffle – Butiki Teas
9. 2007 Yiwumahei Bamboo Skin Packed Pu-erh – Royal Tea Bay
10. Chili Chocolate – The Tea Store
11. Blueberry Pie Green – Whistling Kettle
12. Sencha Apple and Cinnamon – Tea moments
13. Shamrock Tea – 52 Teas
14. Graveyard Mist – 52 Teas
15. Unbridled Love Fruit Tea – Teavivre
16. Good Morning Chai – Yogi Tea
17. Ginger Fresh Ayurvedic Chai – Wan Ling Tea House
18. Rooibos French Vanilla – Simpson & Vail
19. Wild Puerh Varietal Tea Buds – Canton Tea Co
20. Prince Vladmir – Kusmi Tea
21. Cola Chai – Kally Tea
22. Rhubarb and Custard – Bluebird Tea Co
23. Christmas Blend – Canton Tea Co
24. Irish Breakfast Full Leaf – Pure Aroma Tea
25. Bi Luo Chun – Royal Tea Bay
26. Across A Crowded Room – Mystic Brew
27. Saint James – Le Palais Des Thes
28. Raspberry Lemon Black – Ovation Teas
29. 1001 Nights – Tea Moments
30. Green Darjeeling Jasmine Arya – Nothing But Tea

Anna said

Great selection! It’s so varied; good job, KittyLovesTea.

Thank you. I really tried to put a little bit of everything in there to start off with so hopefully everyone will find something they like. It will be interesting to see reviews for them down the line.

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