Do you like what we're doing in the tea industry?

Awesome, thank you! More selection for sure. That just means I get to sample more tea :) In terms of more companies, would you like to see more ones you know and love or ones that are new to you?

:) I’d like to see both. It is a bonus to save on shipping already, and always nice to discover something new!

Exactly! Thanks. We’ll put that question out to others as well, but my gut says that most tea drinkers would feel the same way. I personally love to discover new teas/companies I haven’t heard of, but some people shy away from companies they don’t already know and trust.

Thanks Anlina! The grams change from tea to tea since we want to make sure you always have atleast 3 cups of tea. Would a gram/oz range still help or is the number of potential cups enough?

It’s nice to know both. You probably at least want to list the fact that each sample is for three cups on every sample box page and the page for the subscription. I had to search a bit to find the information

Great feedback Rosebudmelissa. Thank you for taking the time to look at our website. That could definitely keep people from subscribing. We’ll look at that.

I really like to know weight. Bonus, if there’s info on how much tea per amount of water is required. I almost always make 8oz cups of tea, but I know 12 and 16 oz cups are very popular, so 3 cups for me is not the same as 3 cups for someone else.

Thanks! We’ve definitely been lucky to have you as a subscriber sharing your reviews. I think people have built up a trust in your reviews because you do say if you aren’t super keen on something. And yes, we added the online shop to make the transition to buying full size more seemless.

I have another question if you don’t mind. I’m still trying to figure out how to use steepster tea reviews for Amoda since the teas aren’t created by us. Some of the teas we choose and companies we curate from do not have a presence on Steepster, but if we add their tea, it would be great to show that it’s available through us. However, I don’t want to seem like we’re taking credit for their blends! Any thoughts on that?

I’ve given some thought to this question of yours because I didn’t want to answer with a simple “I don’t know” and leave it at that.

I’m not exactly sure how you would do this, although if the companies that you curate for do not have a presence here on Steepster, I think you could maybe mention it in the description? I can’t speak for the powers that be here at Steepster though, and they might have some input on that, so I’d check with them before you did.

But, that’s how I would probably go about doing it.

Or, you could – in the title of the tea – mention “available through Amoda Tea” – especially if the review/tasting note is because that tea was in your box. That way people can maybe see that. Again, I’d probably check with Steepster to make sure they don’t mind that you did that.

Hi, thanks for taking the time to think about that one. I know I kind of put you on the spot with it – sorry about that. I like those ideas, so I’ll definitely talk to the powers that be. I mostly don’t want to step on anyones toes or break any rules. There needs to be integrity in the tasting reviews section for sure.

Lindsay, thank you so much for taking the time and sharing. All really great feedback. We definitely hear you on the size of the retail sizes. It’s been a bit of a surprise to us that most of the companies only offer their teas in 100g sizes. We will take this into further consideration and see what we can do. Is 50g a better size or are you thinking even smaller, like 25g?

We’ve been talking about the create your own sampler box. We need to figure out the logistics of it, but we may give it a try and see if people are into the idea. Perhaps once we have a larger selection as well.

The pricing is a tough one for sample sizes. We’re continually working on different options and ways to optimize that. Since we get our tea from small blenders who we are trying to support, we don’t want to undercut them. But knowing what those other companies are pricing their samples at is great to know. What’s the optimal sample size for you? 9-12g (3-4 cups)?

Again, thanks so much for your feedback and for supporting us!

I think 25g is my current preference in terms of size. It’s enough tea that I can try a few different ways of steeping it, share it with friends, come back to it after some time to see if my opinion has changed, etc. But it’s still a small enough initial investment that I don’t mind buying 25g of something I’ve never tried before, if it sounds like something I’d like or if there are good reviews on Steepster. If I really love something and go back to buy more, I might buy 50 or even 100g, but there are a lot fewer teas that fall into that category.

For sample sizes, I’ve tried anywhere from 5-15g samples, and they all have their pros and cons. Really small samples (5g) are nice if you want to get LOTS of samples to just try some teas once or twice and maybe pick out a few to buy more of. That’s also a good size for trying something really different from my usual preferences, or just tasting a high-end expensive tea without having to pay a small fortune. But they usually come in non-resealable bags, so you have to use them up relatively soon after opening, and if you accidentally oversteep or otherwise mess up your tea, there might not be enough left to try again. On the other end of the spectrum, Tippy’s Tea sent out 15g samples as part of their initial promotion, and I thought that was really smart. It was a limited time offer where you could choose 5 teas for $12 including shipping, which was such a ridiculously good deal I took myself off tea-buying hiatus to go for it. :) The larger size samples came in resealable pouches, and there was enough there to try each one multiple times. I took them with me when I was travelling for work, and shared them with my roommate. And the next time they had a sale I went back and ordered more of the ones I liked best, so it totally worked. On the other hand, 15g is a lot of tea for something that you might try once or twice and decide you just don’t like. So yeah, I’d say the 10-ish gram sample size is probably “optimal” in terms of finding a middle ground between the two extremes.

Thanks again Lindsay. Appreciate the detail. 5 teas for $12 is a steal! I’d take myself of a tea-buying hiatus for that also. I ask this question below, but I’d be curious your opinion on this: With 25g sizes, typically companies would charge more relative to the amount of tea (say if you bought 100g it would likely break down to cheaper per cup). Is that an issue at all do you think?

For me, I’d be far more likely to buy 4 25g bags of tea than a single 100g tin, even if I ended up paying more for the 100g of tea. I would tend to think of the 25g size as standard, and then if you’re going crazy and buying a large amount of of tea you particularly love, you’re getting a “discount” in terms of lower cost per cup.

Thank you! This is great to know. When you buy full size teas from other companies are you typically looking for 25g and 50g sizes?

It depends how often I think I’ll drink the tea. If its something I’m trying for the first time, or only drink occasionally, I tend not to want more than 25g. If I drink it often, then I might buy 100g. Since I drink mostly herbal teas, I try to keep only small amounts of true tea on hand.

Thanks! 100g of tea is definitely a lot when you’ve got a cupboard full of teas. We’re thinking about how to do the smaller sizes since it seems like that’s what everyone would benefit from. With 25g sizes, typically companies would charge more relative to the amount of tea (say if you bought 100g it would likely break down to cheaper per cup). Is that an issue at all do you think?

25 grams seems to strike a good balance between not overcommitting to a new tea and not paying too much per cup for me.

Thank you for the feedback! It’s always nice to receive tea as a gift. Sorry the one teas was a miss for you. Do you think it was the tea itself and the quality of it or more personal preference?

And thank you for commenting on the tea info! This is an area I’ve really been wondering about. We like to provide a little more info right in the box so people can learn right as their tasting and compare what they’re tasting with what we taste. If there’s anything about tea you’re more interested in learning about, please let us know!

Quick additional question if you don’t mind.. of the teas you liked, would you every consider buying those in full size? Right now, we’re seeing how many subscribers have found teas they’d like to add to their cupboard. Thanks again!

I’d like to comment on what Roswell was saying…
I was a subscriber for a few months last year and I LOVED the presentation of your boxes. Clear and informative labels on the teas – resealable packages, beautifully presented – it was like opening a gift and going on a journey every month. I’ve belonged to a few monthly subscription boxes and honestly I felt that yours were the best in presentation.
I’ve dropped all my subscriptions because I’ve reached a point in my tea journey where I want to choose my own teas – I have a pretty clear understanding of what I like and don’t like. Sorry.
HOWEVER, because of that – I would be really interested in the make your own sample packages as mentioned above (if buying true samples your suggestion of 9-12g would fine by me). I would like to add a +1 to the idea that 100g is too much. For me personally 25g is a really nice size but I do buy teas in 50g pouches.
Edit for clarity

The one that was a miss was definitely due to a personal preference, and not the quality of the tea itself.

There’s one blend in particular I was very seriously considering buying from the site – but the amount I’d have to buy of it was a turn off;like Dex said, 100g is just too much – I could be persuaded to do 50g for a tea I’ve sampled and enoyed – but 25G would be perfect!s

It’ll depend, also, on how I feel about teas in the next two boxes; I’d need to want several different ones before I make an order; I wont do it for just one or two teas.

I was also a subscriber and I enjoyed the teas, and the presentation, but had to quit due to tea budget restraints, and moving away from subscription boxes overall anyway. (Much like Dexter, I was getting a better idea of what I liked and preferred to seek those out directly).

I like the idea of a choose your own sampler pack. And I do like that the suggestion to sell tea in smaller quantities. If I could snap up a bunch of different 25g teas I’d probably buy more than the cost of buying just one tea at 100g+shipping.

Dexter – great feedback. Really interesting to see how you’ve progressed through your tea journey. I wonder if that will be common with our subscribers – mainly newbies who use the subscription as a way to learn their tastes and once comfortable, start ordering on their own. I’ll have to watch for that progression. Noting the interest in a create your own sample box! Have you seen any other companies that are doing this with their own teas?

Roswell Strange – makes sense! How do you keep track of teas you like so you can order later? I’m assuming this happens when you’re thinking about buying from other tea companies as well – you want to get a good list going before placing an order so you can save on shipping. Do you just remember? Or add to a digital wishlist? I personally would forget pretty quick!

Thank you Dexter and Cavocorax for your compliments on the packaging/presentation.

I’m wondering, say we had every tea stocked in 25g sizes, would you all grab a bunch of those the same way you would a “sampler” size of 15g or less?

A> There are a few sites out there that don’t sell all their teas in “sample” sizes but they do offer a pick 5 (out of a possible 10 to 15) sampler. This is a nice was to try a company and get an idea of their quality and blending. Because you are selling from various blenders, I would like this but….
B> Would prefer that ALL teas were offered in 25g sizes. If you are selling everything inn 25g – then this is your pick your own sampler. At least for me it would be.
C> Yes – I would understand that smaller packaging would be more expensive per cup – packaging is expensive and requires more labor. It needs to be reasonable but I would expect it to be more expensive per cup. :))

If you had 25g packs, I would grab those and consider them sample sizes. Some people think ‘smaller’ for sample, but 25g is a good size for me to experiment with! I’ll second what Dexter said about costs – I’d understand if it was slightly more per g to buy the smaller pack than the large one due to the extra labour/packaging for that quantity, but it’d be worth it to make sure I really like something before I go back for more!

And to answer your question to Roswell,
I use an excel spreadsheet to track all the teas I’ve tried and which ones I’d like to restock. Steepster is pretty good for that too because you can just add it to your wish list and then when you’re ready to order you can poke through their. Because your teas are mostly sourced from other companies, it’s trickier to remember that you are the vendor, but I just make a note in Excel – I’d rather place one order to you and try many companies than pay shipping more than once and split those up!

I would much prefer to pay slightly more per gram and be able to buy 25gs of tea. I can think of maybe half a dozen teas I would consider buying 100g of in one shot, but I will try almost anything if I can buy 25g or less.

I use the Steepster wishlist to keep track of what I need to restock. I also just look at my ratings and tasting notes here, to remind myself of what I loved. Unless shipping is free, I always wait I can order enough to make the shipping costs worthwhile (I’m not going to pay $10 shipping on $10 worth of tea.

+1 for spreadsheet

Hi, thanks for checking out the site. I’ll talk to my cofounder about your question. We typically try to keep teas in stock, but this week since we’re determining how to expand our selection (based on this feedback) we let our stock run pretty thin. Sorry about that. Let me check if notifications are possible. That would be a great feature for us and the customer.

I do like that you provide teas from smaller companies. I doubt I would have otherwise seen them or considered buying from them. I was wondering how you pick the teas that you sell. For instance, I noticed that Sloane Tea’s Persian Palace and Tay Tea’s Persian Rose are quite similar, excluding the edition of borage. Do you pick each blend as they come out? How involved are you with each brand that you sell?

I really liked your question, so I put it in a blog post! http://bit.ly/15V1rHH

Here’s a bit more detail though. We do add teas as they come out, but typically we go through their entire line up and choose the ones we think feature the brand best and that we think will have pretty wide appeal.

How closely we work with each brand totally depends. With everyone, we stay in touch via email, talk about how the teas are selling, compare what customers are saying and see see how tea drinking habits and purchasing differ between our areas of North America. Some brands we talk to weekly, some we only talk to when we want to restock or introduce new teas. I’ve met quite a few of the blenders in person. I personally enjoy the tea chats, so it’s nice to build relationships with tea companies from all over. So many different perspectives and tidbits on tea.

Surprise!! We decided to take the feedback from Steepster and try out offering those smaller sizes and see if people like it. We’re expanding our selection over the next few months – adding new tea companies and including more teas from our favourite blenders we already curate from. You’ll see us adapting as we go, so keep the feedback coming!