2017 new years tea resolutions
I’ve gone the other way sample wise. I want more samples, not less. That way I may end up buying less tea. I usually skip the samples and just buy a cake (if it’s puehr), and that’s getting way too expensive. If I only get samples (at first), at least when I do buy a full cake I’ll know it’s something I like.
I’m trying to switch my focus from “must try it all” (I say after ordering a bunch of samples from a company I’m not familiar with) to figuring out what my favorites are and enjoying them. I had a grocery bag packed full of all the teas I didn’t love and gave it to a friend recently. It felt good to both share and get rid of unloved tea instead of forcing myself to drink them down. I need to keep that elimination pile going and work on getting my stash under control.
The only resolution I have is to start writing tasting notes again. 2016 sucked, that’s all I’m gonna say…
Heh. Today I went over the “200 different kinds of tea” mark so… resolutions:
*Get 500 followers on my tea blog
*For the love of GOD finish some tea. Sipdown sipdown sipdown.
*But, on the flip, expand my relationship with companies for review purposes. I already have a good relationship with Basilur and have been sent teas for review a few times, but working on other companies. If I’m gonna get more tea it might as well be free.
*Stop. Buying. Tea. Caddies. And. Teacups.
*Stick to my goddamn budget
*Quit it with the fruit tisanes. I don’t like 95% of them and yet I keep buying them because they ‘sound’ nice and I never learn.
My kitchen is 6′ × 14′. Which, to put in terms which make sense, is as wide as the door and the counter, and a little over twice as long. It is T I N Y. I’d have more than 200 kinds were it not for the fact that you already cannot move in that room for overflowing tea trolleys.
Cupboard storage is not the answer. In a room that tiny I have 4 cupboards – 1 for food, 1 for crockery, 1 for both cleaning supplies and pots/pans and the last (little) one for mugs, coffee, plain tea etc.
Edit: by which I mean to say there are counters down one side, and one at the back which leaves a 3′ × 11′ (ish) floorspace in which to keep the bin, recycling bins, and tea trolleys. And still be able to move.
I’d like to purchase more carefully this year! It’s time to accept that I just can’t hack a lot of the brands I used to love. Time to just save up and order from overseas periodically rather than giving in to sales from companies I’m just not as excited about. We’ll see how it goes though…
Get my teas down to 80 or less before placing new orders for green tea. I still have plenty of small amounts in my tea cabinet so that shouldn’t be a problem as long as I can keep temptation away and not place any orders until spring. Also ,I need to stay away from monthly memberships for teas. That’s how I ended up with huge amounts of tea I didn’t like. In 2016 I didn’t do that and went down from over 170 to 98 teas so far.
I’m happy with how 2016 went. I am new to tea and spent the year trying lots of different kinds of teas. I learned a great deal, and found tea sellers that I love to support. In 2017, I plan to be less swayed by FOMO and more intentional in my purchases. I’d like to support a new venture or two as well via kickstarter or similar. I keep telling myself that I need to type up more reviews, but I think I’ll cut myself some slack and not turn tea into a chore.
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