What makes a good tea blog?

I’m looking at starting a tea blog but I was wondering what you guys look for in a good tea blog and what you consider to be of good value or what you would like to see more on tea blogs but haven’t seen.

14 Replies
Azzrian said

Interviews from the tea suppliers and vendors.

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Comparison’s of the same tea from different vendors. some background on the tea as well.

Azzrian said

Good one!

thanks! :)

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Ooh! Great ideas! Thanks…making notes of these… What about teawares or like tea marketing?

What exactly do you mean by tea marketing in this context?

If you are planning on doing reviews at all, teaware reviews (of specific teawares that can be purchased at specific places) would be very nice. That way people can make a more educated decision on whether or not to order such-and-such item.

I write a blog about tea myself and, while I’m running a bit slow right now due to being ill the past week or so, I’m planning on beginning to review teawares in the way I just described, as they come available to me.

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Aiko said

This is a bit of a personal thing, but I really tea blogs (and food/crafting/etc blogs in general) that have a very human element to them. I guess by that I mean that I enjoy hearing a little bit about the writer’s day and current frame of mind that led them to try whatever tea (or tea appliance, or whatever) that they talk about in the bulk of the post. A blog with nothing but sterile, strictly objective reviews of tea doesn’t really appeal to me.

On tea reviews though, I like them to be relatively critical. It’s all obviously going to depend on the taster’s actual perceptions, but when I read a tea blog that post after post seemingly never has anything bad to say about any tea, I feel more like I’m being advertised to than reading someone’s honest and personal opinions.

Photos, too. I love photos of tea, the setup, the leaves before, during, and after steeping, the cups or pots that hold them, again, anything to add to the personal human element.

But again these are just my personal preferences; I’m sure everyone looks for something different in their reading material; you’ll have to find what works best for you and your audience.

Azzrian said

I agree to a point. At first that was my own opinion however I have come to realize that ratings of teas, wines, food, etc are so HIGHLY subjective to one’s personal taste that leaving a numerical rating, saying something is NOT good is so harmful to a tea and tea company when really many factors can come into play. Again personal taste is the obvious one, mood at time of reviewing, which you have mentioned by liking to know a person’s mood, point of view at time of reviewing. I just feel for me, to do a bad rating any more may not be really fair unless something is SO repugnant that it should be avoided at ALL cost. I have recently decided to simply log my teas if I do not like them but have no reason other than personal taste, or state if a tea is SO horribly repugnant and why, or do positive reviews pointing out areas when applicable that could be improved in my opinion. I think for those who truly want to explore teas, learn all they can about them, and this is not everyone but for those who do, it is best to try even the bad teas when they can without digging into the own pocket books too deeply, because there is something to learn even from the bad ones. I am rambling and caffeine deprived but my point is, I too thought that some blogs seem to only review the “good” but really if I read a review on a tea that is negative and miss out on something I personally would have loved I would feel cheated although I would never know I was cheated.

Aiko said

Haha, true. I’m not saying I want to read a lot of vehement tea-bashing, but I would like to know if someone finds a tea to be to unpleasant, and why. The key, in my view, is honesty. I guess it just goes back to that human element for me— if all I’m hearing is good, positive, promotional things, it can sometimes feel like I’m reading a sales pitch, but if someone is discussing both the positives and the negatives, I get more of a feeling that I’m relating to an actual person.

I figure if a reader decides to purchase or not purchase a tea based on a review, that is their own choice. I think most people are aware that reviews on anything edible are very subjective and take that into account when deciding what to purchase. But that’s one of the great things about sites like this too; you can often read lots of reviews on a certain tea from many different people!

Azzrian said

Also very true. I think I agree mostly with LiberTeas who says in their profile that they don’t waste time on reviews of teas they don’t enjoy drinking. I used to write reviews either way and then began to wonder why I was wasting my time on bad teas at all. Now I just dump them in the sink and don’t sit there in self punishment tasting them long enough TO review them. I totally see your point on the other hand though of it its all pretty happy and shinny something must be wrong with it lol. I mean that earnestly as well because we all know or should know not ALL tea is going to be good. So I guess I would be suspect of a site that ONLY said the good. Then again I also understand that many sites depend on advertising, and promotions, and even free teas FOR tasting so if a tea company would be bashed by a review they may lose support. So this is a catch 22 I surely would not want to have to figure out!

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I focus on photographing them, and adding a few flavor notes. If I don’t personally like a tea, I try to at least recommend it to people who would – ex, I tried DAVIDs Forever Nuts. I’m allergic to walnuts, but I said that it smelled delicious and that if people like nuts, they ought to check it out.
My tea blog is mostly for me, though, just journalling my way through tea and photography. Love my followers, though ♥

if you’re interested: http://alwaysdrinktea.tumblr.com

I just checked out your blog. Very nice! good luck with your job app :)

Thanks~

Missy said

Really nice photos! Eye candy always makes things more interesting for me. :D

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