Mei Leaf / Chinalife - 1600 Year old Pu-erh

565 Replies

Hello everyone. I’m the OP of the thread on Reddit, and to be perfectly honest, I read only a handful of responses before the topic got locked. Thank you, Oolong Owl for posting here and writing to Mei Leaf. Even I haven’t written to Don Mei because I cannot stand him or his business. I don’t want this to be a personal attack, but I don’t think I could stomach being in the same room with him, and that was BEFORE I found out about the ridiculous stickers. It saddens me, though doesn’t surprise me, that his mea culpa was nothing but an “I’m sorry YOU were offended” kind of apology. Purely a perfunctory action made to look like he gives a hoot.

I’d like to see Don Mei come to the reservation and pass those stickers out and see how many people think they’re funny.

Oh, and for those who need to know…Timbisha Shoshone.

Thank you to everyone who cared enough to get involved.

There is a new thread today. I got targeted harassed multiple times and someone dared to say blackface isn’t racist as a counter argument. Those things got deleted, but it still happened.

Very much saddens me how people are this terrible. In the end, we stood up and I hope others learned something.

I find it very telling that my comment on the new thread is being ignored. Apparently, I’m an idiot for having a problem with those stickers and I should just sit back, relax and be happy knowing that Don is sorry I was offended. I’m hardly losing sleep over this, but I also didn’t want to let Mei Leaf off the hook. His “apology” is even more ridiculous than his Youtube infomercials.

Sorry you got harassed. I feel bad that that happened to you, but I thank you immensely for having the gumption to speak up!

meowster said

I think your comment is being ignored more so because it’s at the bottom. Most people only read top comments.

I suppose so, but every new comment was at the bottom at one point haha

The apology was a total sham. And the new thread is a mess. Deflections and seemingly deliberate misunderstandings to downplay the valid criticisms. I thought that despite people buying into the marketing they would at least empathize with the people harmed by the stickers.

AllanK said

I still wonder where the Mei Leaf defenders are? Now that they have their own thread they feel they can ignore Don’s actions in peace and not be bothered by his false claims of 1600 year old trees or his new racism in these stickers. Maybe someone should post the link to these stickers in the pro Mei Leaf thread.

AllanK said

I posted those images of the stickers to the Mei Leaf Chat page and so far not one response. Normally when I say something bad about Mei Leaf their defenders jump all over me but here nothing but silence.

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I am posting because of Don’s video about his “Master Wu” Chaozhou teapots for which the current charge is £180.00. Approximately $252.00

In his previous offer for such pots I had a pot that looked similar to one he was selling which I had purchased from YS for $98. Bitterleaf teas sells Chaozhou teapots for $70.00.

tperez said

But the ones from YS and Bitterleaf weren’t made by Master Wu :D

DongBei said

In the case of craftsmen, “master” is just a translation of “shifu.” We call taxi drivers shifu! Haha

Error said

..and if you spend more time with internet u might find even cheaper than that , because there would be someone who lives there and shipping it directly.
problem with those “masters” in China is , that they are everywhere . Last time when we were in Jianshui , every second “ex.farmer” who grew vegetables year ago is a teapot master now.
I wrote an article about that in our blog which got us banned from pu-erh tea club on FB. I guess sometimes is not good to talk to much ;-)

AllanK said

When I met the man who runs Global Tea Hut I described him as a tea master, because compared to me he is that. He however said he was not a master. But then again he doesn’t sell any pottery.

Ken said

Is Master Shifu from kung fu panda a joke then? Master Master?

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It’s funny the way these two threads about Mei Leaf stay stuck on the first page of discussion. If I were a mod here I’d seriously consider a vendor specific ban and shut down all discussion of Mei Leaf. We get it; some people are sick of the lies and scams and others want to use Steepster discussion as Mei Leaf sales promotion.

Brian said

what tech support spam? LOL

AJ said

Eh, this isn’t the first time Steepster’s front page has been consumed by a love-hate flamefest over a company. Nobody’s even pulled out the fake accounts yet.

That said, I am a little irked that these Mei Leaf topics are in the General Discussion section and not the Tea Companies section. That would at least make it a little easier for people who want to skip past all of this drama to filter it out by avoiding the Companies section.

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YuNow said

interesting video

Brian said

stop bumping these threads!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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It really is bizarre how well the marketing has worked on Mei Leaf fans. They will inexplicably defend Don and his lies to the bitter end. I mentioned I don’t buy from Mei Leaf on another site and I got some very long and detailed responses justifying Don Mei’s dishonest and insensitive behavior. Brand loyalty is one thing but this is getting ridiculous.

Ken said

He helps alot of people get started. His videos are well made,funny and informative.

I like both Mei lead and Verdant, but I understand they have both made mistakes.

And this doesnt even compare to what apple people go through to defend apple’s incredibly anti consumer practices.

His videos being funny is subjective, and many of his videos have loads of misinformation. In one blog post he says there is no way to really tell what is gushu and what isn’t but that he’s going to sell with his “best guess” advertised (although quick to play the oft-used martyrdom card, saying “puerh fundamentalists” will attack such claims), then goes on in recent videos to slap ages on trees judging by size like he’s an authority on the area. Throughout all of this guesswork, he pumps up the “body-high” and expensive aspects of gushu and plasters his products with claims that it’s definitely gushu and implies it is therefore worth a higher price.

Not sure what Apple’s fan base really has to do with this, but saying Mei Leaf fans aren’t as bad as them doesn’t help their case. I also don’t think Apple fans have ever defended racist stickers but I may have missed that in the news.

I suppose people who feel personally invested via marketing videos and the inevitable Patreon are always going to fall for this type of branding. I will continue to happily avoid them and tell everyone I know that Mei Leaf is damaging the tea industry with their often unsubstantiated claims and distasteful business practices.

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