Dr Jim said

CLOSED: Travelling Tea Box C Round 2

Here is the current membership list, in the order in which you will receive the box (there may be a few additions, since I haven’t heard from all of the round 1 members). Everything fits into a USPS medium flat-rate box, which costs about $12 for 2nd-day service. I’ve tried to lay out a schedule to minimize shipping distances.

Kat_Maria Pennsylvania
TranquiliTea81 Ohio
Cheri  Michigan
Shadowfall Illinois
Carol Who Illinois
Pyroxy Indiana _______Moved
AlexaK. Indiana ________Moved
moraiwe Wisconsin
EvaGrimm Washington
jump62359 California
Dustin  Texas
NayLynn  Texas
jeweledthumb DC
MelissaTea New York
Dr Jim Massachusetts

As a reminder, the rules are simple: take as much or as little tea as you want. Replace whatever you use with equal quantity and quality. Try not to keep the box for more than a week or at most two, since there are a lot of people waiting. Be careful to pack strong-smelling teas so they don’t contaminate the rest of the box.

I will include a mailing list inside the box with people’s addresses. There may be a few addresses missing, but we can use PM to fill in the gaps. Enjoy!

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Dr Jim said

I mailed the box out this morning to Short Sorceress, having missed her note about being on vacation. Hopefully it will all work out. It’s probably a good thing I went with the slower shipping option :)

The cost for parcel post was $10.60, which was a bit more than I expected, but then the box felt heavier than I expected as well. I wound up throwing in a few odds and ends beyond the previous list, but they are for the most part lesser teas. I just figured variety is fun.

The current mailing list is here, but isn’t carved in stone. Addresses have been included in the box, as well as some short notes on the teas.

Short Sorceress- Wisconsin
moraiwe- Wisconsin 
Darby- Minnesota
Shadowfall- Illinois
Fiddling- Kansas (Moved Aug 2013)
Shelley_Lorraine- Wyoming
TastyBrew- Oregon (missing address)
BrewTEAlly Sweet- California 
AureliaFish- California
Wheezybee- Texas
Emilie- Texas (missing address)
Chelle- Alabama  (missing address)
Chuckieroy- New York (missing address)
MelissaTea- New York
Fuzzy_Peachkin- New York
Martine- Maryland (Different order from other box)
Ellyn- Massachusetts (missing address)
Dr Jim- Massachusetts 

Woohoo!

It shouldn’t be a problem, looks like we’re heading back early from vacation because the weather isn’t any good for being out on the lake.

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So excited for this. Though maybe put up the list of the order on your first post so we can track it a bit, or at least know vaguely where it is? Lol.

And a bit late, I know, but did you check what it would be for a flat rate priority mail box?

Dr Jim said

The flat rate box was $16.85. Sending the box priority mail would have cost a bit over $14, though I think you can get a discount if you order the postage on-line. I went to the post office because I wasn’t sure about the weight.

That makes sense. I wasn’t sure if it would’ve been better for priority or not. I’m all for shipping it cheaper though. Lol.

darby select said

When I get it ill see if it’ll fit in a medium flat rate as that is about the same cost.

Dr Jim said

The parcel post worked out pretty good. I mailed it about noon on Friday in Massachusetts, and it arrived Tuesday in Wisconsin. I’m sure it isn’t always that fast, but it was only a day later than priority.

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The box is here, I found it sitting on the front porch when I got back from dinner. I must have just missed the postman.

I’ve been sitting here for the last hour trying to figure out where to start. There are just so many choices.

Ahhhhhhh! Yay! I can’t wait to see the unveiling!

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Time for an update, I’m about 1/3 of the way through the box. If I keep up this pace it will be on its way to moraiwe early next week.

So far I’ve taken out:
Enjoying Tea – Provence Rooibos
Harney & Sons – Vanilla Comoro

I’m adding:
Tealish – Carrot Cake
Della Terra – Chocolate Covered Strawberry, Swiss Mountain, Dubbele Chocolade, Double Berry Burst, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Georgia Tea Co. – Immortalitea, Cherry Sencha
DAVIDsTEA – Organic Blueberry Jam
Butiki – Maple Pecan Oolong
Rishi – Earl Grey Lavender
Teavana – Shanghai Orchid

Dubbele Chocolade :D i cant get an ounce or 2 from della terras because they are sold our :/

Have you tried swiss mountain? It’s like dubbele chocolade with mint added to it.

I haven’t tried either:/ I would love to though!

I included 1/2oz – 1 Tablespoon of each, I hope they make it to you. If not, try ordering the chocolate try me pack next time it’s on sale, both teas are in it. I don’t think the current coupon works on those this time.

Personally, I like s’mores better than Swiss Mountain or Dubbele Chocolade.

I will have to try that one too! thank you! :) I hope they make it to me as well:) I have the 52’s smore sitting on my counter waiting for me to try it right now:) I think I will:)

When I get home I’ll see what I have left of the chocolate try me pack and put some in an envelope with your name on it. I may even have a little bit of the s’mores left. That way when the box finally makes it to you it will still be there :)

There is an envelope with your name on it in the bottom of the box so this will make its way to you. I had a little bit of everything left from the try me pack, plus I packaged up some Autumn Leaves that Dr Jim included since I saw it on your shopping list.

You are sooooooo awesome!!!!!! Thank you soooooo much! I just saw this post. Im sorry for the late reply! yippeee I can’t wait!

moraiwe said

@BrewTEAlly Sweet — I actually slipped a baggie inside her envelope for you. It’s got the Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish, and a couple cups worth each of some Adagio stuff that was on your shopping list (Blood Orange & Thai Chai), and the California Tea House Tiramisu. I figured it’s the best bet it’ll make it that far :)

@moraiwe Oh My goodness!!! You all are so amazing!!!! thank you so much! i am soooooo excited now i cant handle it!! ha ha YAYAYAYA cream cheese danish is my absolute favorite!!!!

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Ellyn select said

I love traveling tea boxes!

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I plan on having the box out to moraiwe tomorrow or Friday. Hopefully tomorrow, it just depends on how long the air conditioner repair guys takes.

moraiwe said

Yay!

The box is on its way to you via Priority Mail. It cost $6.60 to ship since we’re so close to each other. It should be there on Saturday. Current Box weight is 2lb 15 oz, I added a lot to it.

Hopefully it’s not gonna cost much more than what Dr. Jim paid when it starts getting shipped further. Lol.

It just means we shouldn’t be scared to take what we want, right? ;-)

I was worried about making it too heavy since I didn’t take out very much and added quite a bit, but I wanted to give the box some more variety since it was heavy on the decaf/herbal teas. At least it was really cheap to ship since moraiwe is only 2 hours or so away from me, but the box is now heavy enough that Priority Mail was the only option.

I expect most of what I added to be gone fairly quickly since they were items on the shopping lists of the next few people.

darby select said

I’m excited!!!!!

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So here is what I learned from my time with the box.

I need to place an order with Mountain Tea Co. and try more of their oolongs and with Enjoying Tea to try some of their herbal blends. Out of everything the teas from these two companies were my favorites and I haven’t placed an order with either company. I’m glad to find two new places to order from. Before the box I wasn’t familiar with either company.

I’m not a fan of DAVIDsTEA, Teavana, or Adagio. They just haven’t impressed me with their quality and some of their blends are just down right odd. The box gave me a chance to try a few more from each of these companies and help me make up my mind not to order from them.

I still haven’t found a blend from 52teas that I really like, but I’m holding out hope that I find one because they always sound so delicious.

I’m still not a fan of rooibos, but I think I need to become a fan. Drinking so much rooibos this last week has done wonders for reducing the swelling in my joints caused by my seizure medication. I never realized that rooibos (and honeybush) had this effect, but there have apparently been studies done on its anti-inflammatory properties. Google is my friend :) but seriously, this was an amazing discovery because many days my hands are so swollen I can’t even hold a pencil.

I don’t like decaffeinated teas, I think they end up weak tasting, so I should stick to herbal blends when I want something decaffeinated.

I still haven’t found my perfect chocolate tea, but I did make some progress in sampling a few that I wouldn’t have normally ordered.

Finally, I learned that I need to do more of these, they’re just so much fun. Thanks for putting this together Dr. Jim.

Dr Jim said

I would enthusiastically endorse an order from Mountain Tea. To be honest, I was too selfish to put the best teas in the box. I absolutely love their 4 seasons of spring, Jade oolong, and medium roast Tie Guan Yin.

On the other hand, I’d be cautious with enjoying tea. I’ve had a number of teas I liked but also many that I didn’t.

The comment on Rooibos anti-inflammatory properties is interesting, since I have Rheumatoid arthritis. Thanks for the tip.

I look a look at the Mountain Tea website last night, it’s a shame that I’m on a hiatus right now, I could have very easily ordered a few things. I need to pay for my new refrigerator and air conditioner first sigh

When I place an order with enjoying tea it will likely be for herbal/rooibos teas. Did you try any other herbals that you liked? I’m a huge fan of the Provence Rooibos you included in the box.

I was surprised what a difference just a cup a day of rooibos made on my hands. The swelling has gone down enough that my wedding ring won’t stay on. What was really great is the fact that this week was the first time I’ve been able to comfortably hold an ink pen since I was thirteen. My plan is to keep drinking a cup a day to see if I keep seeing the same results.

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Dr Jim said

The hiatus might be a good thing. My mountain tea order was on black Friday when they ran a 5 for 5 sale (5 ounces for $5). I bought one of each of the 7 teas on sale and love them all. I’m hoping they do something like that again this year; I will certainly be looking.

I mostly drink straight black tea, so the Enjoying Tea rooibos was just something I tried as an alternative to decaf, but didn’t get into it. I thought their Oolong was OK (fair value), and liked their decaf Darjeeling. I bought their Indian sampler and thought the tea was just average but loved the little tins.

That’s good to know about the Black Friday sale, I’ll add that to the list of companies to watch come November.

I saw that Enjoying Tea had a rooibos sampler, I may end up purchasing that at some point. Even if I don’t like them I’ll be able to reuse the tins when I gift tea to someone.

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moraiwe said

The teabox showed up today! Lots of goodies in here and Short Sorceress definitely added a ton (I plan to do the same, but I’ll be reasonable to keep costs down).

So excited :D

wow, that was fast

moraiwe said

Our post office system is actually surprisingly good for the southern 2/3 of the state. I was banking on it being here today (but not quite enough to scope out my mailbox constantly). :)

Dr Jim said

I guess sorting people by proximity really makes sense.

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I was wondering, and if it’s alright with Fiddling, do you think I could be moved after Darby and then I would send it to Fiddling? If proxmity makes a difference in shipping, it makes more sense for Fiddling to send it to Shelly in Wyoming than me sending it all the way from Illinois.

Fiddling said

That’s fine by me. :)

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