Tea Buying Hiatus Support Group

1303 Replies
Kaylee said

Gaaah. I came back from a trip abroad with so much new tea that it spilled over into a whole other kitchen bin. I’ve avoided the urge to make new purchases by just thoroughly ignoring the websites, but… I have this unreasonably strong urge to swap, and I just can’t right now… aaaargh.

But swapping isn’t buying, so it’s totally allowed. Lol. Since it’s just exchanging what you have for something different. XD I know, not helpful. But it might make the urge to buy go away because you’re getting something new, just paying with tea?

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Sil select said

I’m pretending this thread doesn’t exist until I place my butiki order in August…and then I’m going to try and aim for no purchases until November. I mean…I can try right? Lol

TeaLady441 said

You can always try! I’m going to REALLY REALLY try (this time for sure!) not to buy anything else until November except for one freebie guilt-free order of my choice if I see an irresistible sale. (No sale, no freebie).

If I don’t, I won’t have room for any new teas in November.

Sil select said

Yeah I’ll try….and I will break it for a fantastic sale but the idea is trying to get to 150 by November and at this rate, that’s like 150 teas to drink down…..

TeaLady441 said

Wow. I hope you have a lot of tiny samples in there! I’ve got about 120 teas, but roughly 105 oz of it, so that’s going to be a lot of drinking… I am happy that I’m guessing the weight and tracking what my totals were every so often so I can see if that changes much at all. (please go down!)

I’m totally out of control, so I probably better keep my mouth shut…. :x

lol! You guys needs someone on here to be the policeman.

Sil select said

Fuzzy – does having handcuffs count? kidding! :)

Terri – yeah you hush you enabler you!

Well handcuffing people with their hands behind their backs would make it harder to order tea on-line at least! ;-)

Sil select said

with us? i think we’d just be using our noses at that point… or holding pens in our mouths to type. might take longer but there’s no stopping the crazies! :)

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That’s why I said “slow down”! :-) Wouldn’t even think of trying to stop you. You’d probably all start plotting my death by tea!

Sil select said

haha

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Rosehips said

I need to join this group pronto!
Since joining Steepster, my tea collection has bloomed into wonderful and terrifying proportions, and I’m spying new teas that I want all the time! If what I’m told about Black Friday sales is true, then I need to get whittling down my collection, particularly the “meh” teas that are taking up valuable cupboard space.

I think I’m in denial about how much tea I have. I keep saying I don’t have that much because they’re all “sample sizes”. If they’re samples, I can’t have that much, right?

Rosehips said

I know that feeling all too well. Some of mine is samples as well, and I go "well, if its just a little bit, than it doesn’t count! Ha. Right. Gotta get sipping down on those!

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Dinosara said

It’s like this thread just popped to the surface to remind me not to acquire new teas. I really want to order some samples from a new company but I have to remind myself that I want to stay below 150 (and continue to drop). Not to mention I will have a Butiki order to be made soon!

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Can someone explain what Black Friday means in the context of tea?

Dinosara said

In the US, the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday because it is when a lot of people go out to do their Christmas shopping and retailers make a lot of money (they go “in the black”, meaning they have an overall profit for the year). In recent years retailers offer huge sales on Black Friday to encourage people to spend more money, and this has included tea retailers. Many tea companies will offer the biggest discount of the year, so people are trying to wait and save up until Black Friday sales to make big tea orders.

Ok good to know. I love the name of this thread, btw :)

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Dexter said

HELP!!! I need someone to talk some sense into me. Garrett just posted pu’erh cakes on sale at Mandala – it’s only been 2 weeks since I got my last Mandala order – I don’t need more pu’erh. Verdant Laoshan teas go on sale tomorrow – I have lots of Verdant tea in my house. OK maybe not lots of Laoshan Black…… uggg. I don’t need more tea. Need to get a grip.

Dr Jim said

You just can’t be placing orders every two weeks. You’ll need to rent a storage unit! Pour yourself a nice cup of tea from something you already have in large quantity. Look at all that lovely tea that needs drinking. Have another cup.

Sil select said

I’m tempted by that as well, but I need to try and keep focus on my goals….get down to a reasonable amount and THEN splurge :)

Uniquity said

I don’t even have a passion for puerh and I want that deal. I am slowly collecting small amounts of reputable pu so I can get a taste for it, but I never seem to have the time to sit down and gongfu with them. If only we all lived near each other and could pool our teas, tips, tricks and have giant tea parties!

Dexter said

Thanks Dr Jim for the support. Ummmmm maybe I didn’t explain that very well. I RECEIVED my MANDALA order 2 weeks ago – I’ve gotten two others since them. Only ordering once every two weeks would be a huge hiatus for me. I agree though need to be focusing on what I have rather than what I want.

Dexter said

I know Sil – goals – I need to stick to the goals. What were my goals again? Right stop buying tea. My problem isn’t so much that I have too much total tea, it’s more I have too much of certain teas, and not enough of others. My cupboard isn’t balanced the way I want it. I go through phases, where I think I’m short oolong so I buy every oolong I can find, then move on to something else.
Right now I have lots of oolong and lots of pu’erh but not much straight black and not much variety of straight fruit tisane. Need tips on keeping reasonable amounts of each type while keeping total number/amounts under control. That’s what I need help with.

Dexter said

Uniquity That would be awesome if we were all close enough to be able to pool our tea. Have tea parties etc. I find it interesting that you are trying “to get a taste for” pu’erh. I thought it was a love it or hate it kind of thing. As someone who is relatively new to it, my personal fav’s so far have been Mandala’s own brand/label (not sure of the correct terminology). Their Noble Mark and Phatty Cake are amazing Shu, Wild Monk sheng is really good, Silver Buds just blew me away – totally different than the others. I’m not trying to enable, just maybe help steer you. LOL if we were close we could have a pu’erh party and try a bunch.

Nxtdoor said

Dex… it takes 23 hours to drive where you are. Don’t make me.

Dexter said

Yay!!! Tea party at my house – I need more tea!!!!

Oh…. you meant don’t make me come and beat you with a stick……

Uniquity said

I initially hated it but after a few years realized I tried some bad stuff. I have since tried a couple that I didn’t mind and even one or two I really liked. Loving puerh seems like a natural extension of my love for black teas (particularly Chinese blacks) so I continue trying. I am confident I will get there!

Dexter said

Well I hope that you enjoy the exploration process and find some that you like. I loved pu’erh right from the start, and am now working back toward blacks. I’m having a hard time deciding which blacks I like. I don’t “speak the language” – the best one I’ve tried so far was called “Jin Ping Gong Fu” that tells me nothing about what kind it is. Should I be looking at Assam or Keemun to find something similar. LOL all I know is that everyday I learn about 12 other things that I don’t know. Was hoping to get a handle on it before I end up with 40 black teas in my house like I did with oolong.

Sil select said

Sounds like dexter needs to come to toronto area for a visit heh. nxtdoor and i will have a poo party for you! :)

Nxtdoor said

Absolutely crazy. I love it.

Dexter said

New motivation for not buying tea. Saving up for trip to Toronto?

Sil select said

YES! see… we found you a reason!

Dexter said

Flight 464.00, hotel 41.00/night – weekend in Toronto with tea buddies….. priceless.
Now how much money do I need to buy tea in Toronto? You have way more fun shops than we do…….
LOL I wish…. would need to stop buying tea for quite awhile.

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Ag select said

Well, I’m nearly out of Cara M’s Sherlock blend and finally caved after 3 months. Got a 6 oz tin of Sherlock and 3 oz bags of Watson, Liara, and Stark Winterbrew from Adagio (I spend far too much on fandom blends, it seems). Time to reset the counter!

3 months is a really good stretch of time though! Great job on that!

Dr Jim said

Yes. You’re setting a good example for the rest of us.

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Dexter said

I’ve come crawling back, with my head hanging in shame. You guys were so good to me a few days ago, and well now look what I’ve gone and done…..

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Rosehips said

Uh oh. I finally screwed my courage to the sticking place and added all the samples I had to my cupboard. Oh dear. Its worse than I thought, though not as bad as I feared. And the good news is that most of it is of single serving size, or only a couple of servings, not a full bag. Time to sip down!
Oh dear. How dreadful. How marvelous. To think, before this summer, I only had around twenty teas……

Dexter said

Welcome to the wonderful world of tea addiction. LOL I don’t have any advice for you. I’m pathetic at this hiatus thing.
My comfort zone is about 100 teas in my cupboard. About a month ago I was at 150. I’ve given some away, I’ve swapped some out, and I’ve been drinking lots. I’m currently down to 113 – with more on the way.
All I can say is, find your comfort zone and try to stay around that number (or amount of – some people prefer to think about their teas in oz/lbs), when it starts to explode out of control, reign in for awhile until you get back closer to where you want to be.
“How dreadful. How marvelous.” That’s exactly the double edged sword that it is.

I’m at that same point myself, Rosehips. I promised myself no more mail orders until Black Friday. I like trying different teas, but I’m actually aghast at how overboard I’ve gone lately. I feel like it’s wasteful to have so many teas that I may not end up drinking all of.

Dexter- I like the idea you have of staying in your tea comfort zone. I think mine would be about 75. lol! I don’t think I could handle more!

Sil select said

apparently my comfort zone is anything less than 300. that’s teh only time i’ve panicked about my cupboard size lol but i’d prefer to be closer to 150 (including samples and swaps etc….) so that there’s room to go up without hitting 300+

Rosehips said

The comofort zone idea is a good one. Considering I have got myself in a tizzy over about 75 teas, thats probably my breaking point. I’d love to sip it down to closer to 50, however.

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