Tea Buying Hiatus Support Group

1303 Replies
Dinosara said

Argh, I am fighting the urge to buy some of my faves from the Dammann advent calendar on Cadeau Deco Vendome. I really don’t need 400g more tea, but you know that feeling when you try a tea that you love and immediately want more of it? Sigh.

Sil select said

me toooooooo! only mine is like 1300g of tea. lol

Sil, did you actually place that order yet? LOL

Sil select said

of course not terri…as if i wouldn’t tell you first…WARN you first.. :)

Heheheh

Dinosara said

My boyfriend is an enabler! I told him (as we were about to go out last evening) I kinda wanted to buy some of these teas and he just said that I could do it when we got home!

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Dexter said

The last tea order I placed was Cyber Monday 02Dec13 – so it’s officially been a month since I’ve ordered tea. That’s probably the longest I’ve gone since I joined Steepster.
My cupboard is currently showing 278 (I’m calling that ish – I haven’t done an inventory recently) with more on the way. 300 is definitely in sight.
I’m not stressing, I got an amazing package in the mail today and it makes me happy to have more teas to try (some of which have been on my shopping list for quite awhile). I still have packages to send out – teas promised – care packages to send, just because things to go. That will help a bit with this situation, but I need to be strict with the “NO MORE BUYING” – Love getting tea, will not say no to a swap opportunity, but need to be sending out as much (if not more) than I’m getting.
I also really need to be more flexible with the “not for me” teas. If I don’t like them, I need to pass them on. I have too many really good teas to be drinking stuff I don’t like.
That’s my thoughts for today, that’s how I’m feeling – will see how I’m doing a couple of weeks from now. :))

Sil select said

yes! i am on side with that one. I cleaned up a bunch of things from my cupboard because i realised i was never going to drink them with any kind of happiness. So they’re in my swap box for me to find better homes for them :) no moar drinking tea i really don’t like, unless it’s a single cup that someone shared with me so i can try all the teas!

Dexter said

For sure, I’ll try almost anything. If someone is generous enough to send me tea, I’ll try it. I just have stuff here that I bought/acquired that I’m not loving. Would rather someone else appreciate/try it than it just grow stale in my cupboard. :))

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Dexter said

It’s been another week and I haven’t BOUGHT any more tea. However, I’ve had a major tea explosion happen, and wanted document the situation, so that I can come back and see if it’s any better a couple of months down the road – also others have been asking for photos…
this is the box I got:
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2713_zps807418d2.jpg.html?sort=2&o=24
This is what was in the box:
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2717_zpscdbf6d1d.jpg.html?sort=2&o=25
MissB wanted photos of the custom blend set that I got:
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2719_zps67be9340.jpg.html?sort=2&o=26
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2721_zps61c8710e.jpg.html?sort=2&o=27
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2724_zpse8b5f58c.jpg.html?sort=2&o=28
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2726_zps3d864747.jpg.html?sort=2&o=29

So I’ve been packaging tea, and pretty much has tea EVERYWHERE so I moved it all to one place – the dining room table. This is my entire tea stash. This is why I need to be in this group.
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2732_zps064ab7cf.jpg.html?sort=2&o=30
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2733_zps38e83b7e.jpg.html?sort=2&o=31
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2735_zps89bda9fb.jpg.html?sort=2&o=32
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2736_zpsd1bd9183.jpg.html?sort=2&o=33
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2737_zpsa68cd497.jpg.html?sort=2&o=34
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2738_zpsabc6ad7d.jpg.html?sort=2&o=35

My cupboard is currently at 302 with swaps on their way. Will check back in a couple of weeks and see how it’s going.

Sil select said

i am so jealous of those adagio tins. I don’t even care about the tea sigh

Sil select said

also if that’s your entire tea stash…that’s totally not that bad. high in numbers of different but quantity looks reasonable heh

Dexter said

That’s my entire stash – I have tea packaged to go out in swaps that’s not included… but that’s everything that’s in my cupboard.
LOL don’t encourage me – I think that is OUT OF CONTROL

Sil select said

i have a much bigger table than you…and mine doens’t quite always fit lol

TeaLady441 said

Thanks for sharing all the pictures! I was dying to peek at your haul. I love those tins too! I’m leaning more towards grabbing the Night Vale ones, but it’s really hard to choose…

It looks totally out of control on that table. I want to go over there and start sorting it all out by company or type or… something. :P

Sil select said

cavo… i want to go over there and spend the day organising them…1 for dexter…1 for me… 1 for dexter…1 for me…

start by company…then type of tea… lol

potions, dr who, sherlock, scott pilgrim, firefly

Dexter said

Anyone who thinks they can organize this mess is more than welcome to come over and try. LOL yes you can get paid in tea…
Normally the unopened packages are in the hutch of my china cabinet – straight teas on the top, flavored on the bottom.
I have a bookcase the microwave is sitting on – opened packages are in two boxes there – one flavored, one straight. The tins/jars are normally in a kitchen cupboard. The swap baggies are in a basket on the counter – reminder to drink first…

ifjuly said

daaaaaaaaang!

MissB said

Amazing! Thank you so much for the pictures. :)

Nxtdoor said

Dexter, that’s a mess. I don’t have any tea in boxes. No box. I have one shelf on the kitchen wall and tea goes there. It is not two rows deep, it is one row. Then I have a lazy susan on a shelf, and that’s where all my tins are. On the outer edge, not inside. Yes, there is empty space behind but that’s how teas get forgotten. I also have a full shelving unit for tea. Again, this way I line everything up and I can see it. I don’t have to rummage. I’d take photos but it’s like 4 in the morning and don’t have the patience for that, I have to go to work. Maybe one day.

what ifjuly said.
And Nxtdoor maybe at some reasonable hour you can photograph it for us! I’d love to see :)

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Pandeme said

In the last 24 hours I’ve gone a little tea crazy and spent over $400 on tea from various companies based on some suggestions I got in another thread. So I think now that I’ve spent so much money its time to take a little tea buying hiatus. It might not be that easy though, because two of my favorite tea shops are literally next door to my work. I’m aiming to not buy any more for at least one month… gulp. Wish me luck!

oh my GOSH!

Sil select said

eek! I hope that was mostly sample sizes. There will be plenty of sales and other assorted things you’ll find on the site, so try to take it slow :)

Dustin said

One month?! $400 in tea will last you a lot longer than that! Although I think $400 in 24 hours may be a tea buying record on Steepster.

TeaLady441 said

Dustin – I think you’re right! (And looking at how bad the average Steepsterite is at restraint, that’s really saying something!) Haha.

I hope you enjoy your new tea! I’m sure the excitement of receiving all your new orders will help you refrain from ordering more, especially if you tuck a few unopened boxes away for later!

Dustin said

We are pretty weak in the self restraint department!

Oh my gosh…. Where did you order from??

!!!!!!!! Well at least you have quite a bit to enjoy, and I’m sure all of it will last well more than a month. Isn’t it addictive to buy tea?!

Dr Jim said

Wow. That makes the rest of us addicts look almost sensible

boychik said

I know why it happened. If you shop online, you want to save on shipping, get large quantities. not all places offer samples. most of the time we shop during Black Friday sales or some other sales. as far as i know the tea merchant is offering 40% off. but no major sales on other companies. Don’t feel bad
Would you mind to share places?

ifjuly said

boychik’s totally right, it’s the shipping thresholds that got me when i started learning about online shops from steepster. you want to try from a bunch of different places and if you get hung up on meeting the minimum free shipping requirements it becomes crazy easy to spend a lot all at once at first. i get that.

i hope you discover a bunch of stuff you love, Pandeme!

So, it sounds like the party is at Pandeme’s house, amirite?

Dexter said

No – she doesn’t have her tea yet. Please come and party at my house. I’ll have gift bags for everyone. Pandeme’s can host next time once she gets her orders. :))

Alexa, let’s swing over to Dexter’s and hit up Pandeme next. lol

Sweet! Sounds like a plan. There are gift bags, after all. Can’t disappoint them, you know.

ifjuly said

ooh, tea crawl instead of pub crawl. sounds so much nicer!

A tea crawl!!? That sounds amazing. Gosh, if possible, I would love to organize something like that in my city! 1) Every person has a set amount of teas that they put into gift bags prior to the crawl. 2) Every participant of the crawl gathers at one of the participant’s homes to sample a tea in the gift bag the participant put together. 3) The group heads out after the sampling and eventually does the same thing at every other participant’s home. Alternative 3) If one person is not comfortable with having to host a bunch of people, that person can take the group to a tea house instead and select a tea for everyone to have!

Pandeme said

Don’t worry guys, I mostly got sample sizes. I ordered from Adagio, Joy’s Teaspoon, 52Teas, Mariage Freres, a ton of Teavanna, Upton Teas, TheTeaCupany, Harney & Sons, Herbal Infusions, Butiki, Teapigs, Teavivre, Mandala, Verdant, Loashan Black, Calico Cat Tea House, Silk Road Tea, and I tried to order from Della Terra but their site kept crashing on me. I also got yet more DAVIDsTEA.

…Okay now that I look at the list I may have gone a teeny bit overboard. I did stick to sample sizes for the most part though, and the shipping was crazy expensive for a few of them. And at least I’m set for quite a long while now haha.

A Tea Crawl? Now that’s my idea of a good time!

Man. And now I’m really sad that you live too far to be in our tea box :( lol

Uniquity said

Wow. I hope you are really organized so you can keep track of what is from where and whether you like it or not! Tea heaven. :)

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Dustin said

So far so good… 9 days into 2014 and no purchases. 356 more to go! I walked into a store with the intent of buying some tea if they had it, but they did not so my lapse in willpower didn’t result in more tea. Whew!

Pandeme said

You’re trying to make it a whole year? You are far far braver then me…. I’d go crazy! :P

Dustin said

Yup, trying at least. I feel a little in over my head, like I have doomed myself. I went pretty crazy this past year and have a ton of tea that I haven’t tried or written tasting notes for. I’m spending the year trying everything I have and sorting out what I like from what I don’t. Streamlining my tastes is what I’m calling it. It is going to be hard if I go on vacation tho. All those teas that want to come home with me that I can’t normally get. Resisting will be difficult.

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Living in Hawaii, we have a large influence of Japanese traditions and culture, one of these being ‘Fukubukuro’. It’s essentially a ‘lucky bag’ event that is celebrated on New Year’s Day by many businesses in malls and shopping centers. Various sized bags are labeled at fixed prices that you’d pay for (retail value being double or triple if you’re lucky).

This past New Year’s Day, I shopped at my local Lupicia and Teavana. I spent a a little over $200 dollars that day. Retail value came pretty close to $450. Now I’m left with a massive collection of loose leaf teas from Lupicia (The Lupicia bag had a good number of high quality teas) and Teavana that will probably last me the entire year, up until the next New Year’s Day.

Part of me shakes my head at how much I’ve spent on tea all in one go, but at the same time…I’m certain I saved money. Thoughts?

Anna said

That’s about what I spent at last year’s New Year’s sale at the Ala Moana Lupicia – I found some of my absolute favourite teas and learned a lot about what I’m looking for when it comes to tea.

For me, it was definitely a sound investment, and one that saved me both time and money down the road.

Lupicia are the best!

Sil select said

Someday i’ll get another chance to shop at Lupicia heh. My only issue with getting all that tea in one go, would be drinking it all while it’s fresh. I’m sure you’ve saved money though! :)

Uniquity said

It might help somewhat if you don’t open everything all at once either, especially if you got duplicates of anything. Opening a few at a time to drink allows the rest to stay sealed and hopefully ‘fresh’ a bit longer. I am not sure what your tastes are, but blacks, herbals and puerh will keep longer than greens, whites and oolongs so try to drink the latter more quickly. Enjoy!

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I managed to kick my buying habit. I attribute this solely to my inability to really be gung ho about anything for more than a couple of years at a time without getting bored. So if you are having trouble, it is probably a good thing as it means your commitment is stronger and by extension your commitment to things other than tea is probably also more well developed than mine.

Now I just have to consume what I still have before it becomes horribly stale. I suppose the good news is my pu-erhs will be even better by the time I get around to them.

When I inventory how much space in my kitchen and elsewhere is taken up with tea, I am incentivized to consume. The drawer space would enable me to declutter the kitchen by about 80%, I think.

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Okay, it’s time I sign myself up for the greatest challenge of not buying tea for, let’s say, a month? ;) We’ll see if I can manage it.

As I am exploring the loose leaf tea world and all the online stores, I buy a lot of samples, each time, usually, from a different company. There seems to be so many awesome companies offering unique and great-quality teas that there never seems to be the end of it.

I simply must stop buying and instead just consume what I have for a while. It helps that my husband also likes tea (although he is not “into” it, meaning he will drink whatever I make and he will like it regardless of what type it is or how flavored it is). I gotta sip down the piles of samples I have, become more confident about what I look for in tea and what my absolute favorites are.

Besides, I need to start saving money for plane tickets! :O

Uniquity said

I find that difficult myself. I get in a mood to buy “all the tea!” but not in a mood to actually drink all the tea. Sometimes we’re all consumers. :)

You’re lucky in that your husband likes whatever you happen to make. Mine enjoys tea, and actually had a bit of a thing for it before me, but our tastes are entirely different! I’m trying to find things that suit me, and that he likes, w/very little cross over I’m afraid. Consider yourself blessed!

I also find myself always searching for that next tea or brand that I just must try. I’m hopeful that at some point I will reach a place where I’ve found my favorites and have less desire to search for so many more

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keychange said

Yeah, I do find that curious, and it holds true for me also. I’m in one of those moods where I want to own pretty much all the tea ever, although I couldn’t for the life of me drink it fast enough. I have so many unopened packages lying around my house because of this problem.

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TeaLady441 said

Ohai, Hiatus!

I ordered from Herbal Infusions today (Snowflake EG and Lapcho and some samples…) as well as from RiversTea, and I have a huge swap from VariaTEA and from Shadowfall (including teas from Adagio too) that are on their way and so it’s out of control.

And I don’t feel at all guilty about this.

But my cupboard will be at 239 once everything arrives so….. I am on hiatus until I get to 175!!!

(the only possible exception to this is that I’m allowed to order some Damn Fine Tea if they knock the shipping down)

I, too, made an exception for Damn Fine Tea, so I support that decision!

TeaLady441 said

Woohoo #fistbump

Sil select said

is it mean that i love that my cupboard is smaller now that all the people that teased me for having a bigger cupboard lol :)

TeaLady441 said

Well Sil, before you get too crazy with your neener-neerer teasing, I’ve really only got 140 teas physically in my cupboard!

The rest are… incoming. And the one I’m expecting the soonest is 24 samples/swaps from VariaTEA which I’ll be able to work on before the rest come in. (And those, well, those are at least 1 oz each. OMG)

Oh! I had an extra 16 in my spread sheet so, I’m at 140 physically and ~213 with everything incoming. But I’m still on hiatus. And I can probably keep my cupboard smaller than you! :P

Sil select said

Cavo….we shall see….we shall see….:)

TeaLady441 said

LOL. I’ll be watching your cupboard!
(and you may be right. Now that I have an income I may be totally out of control to make up for last time…)

Sil select said

you just have to remember to place joint orders with me haha so then we’re both increasing our cupboard haha

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