Shae said

TTBs for Beginners

Hello everyone! I joined Steepster a little over a year ago and am loving the community here. I want to be more involved and have been following several discussion posts for traveling tea boxes. I’ve been thinking a lot about about joining my first TTB (so exciting!), but I’m worried that I’ll unknowingly break one of the established rules and then won’t be considered trustworthy enough for a second box.

For someone who is new to Steepster, would those of you who have participated mind sharing some of the basics of the traveling tea box? For example, how long should a person keep the box? How best to wrap the teas for shipping? Do you take samples of each tea or just pick a full bag out of the box? What is the recommended minimum/maximum amount for each type of tea added back into the box?

From the discussions I’ve read, I’m guessing that each box has its own set of rules, but I would love to know the general rules that everyone follows.

Thanks so much to everyone for any and all advice!

Shae

14 Replies

I love ttbs! They can be a lot of fun and a great way to try new teas.

The most basic rule for most ttbs is to put in as much tea as you take out. You sample teas that interest you. I’ll often try teas that I would normally never buy myself, but if I’m pretty sure I won’t like the tea, or if I’ve had something similar in the past and wasn’t excited about it, then I just won’t try that one. If you try a tea and love it then you can take some or all of that tea out of the box. (Just make sure you know how much tea you’re removing so you can replace it with an equal amount of one or more of your teas.)

Most boxes will say how long the box should stay with each person. It normally ranges from a few days to a couple of weeks. Make sure you know the rules and try to send the box to the next person within the appropriate amount of time. If something comes up and you can’t send the box on time be honest! Send a pm to the person who is coordinating the box and explain the situation, and then post on the discussion board for that ttb to let the other participants know that that you’ll have to send the box late. Then, try to send it as soon as possible. Most people are understanding as long as there is communication. It’s when someone disappears from the board for weeks and weeks while holding on to the box that people get frustrated.

Most people will put teas in a zip-loc bag and write the name of the tea, the tea company, and steeping parameters on the outside of the bag. The problem with this that all of the teas start smelling and tasting the same the longer they are in the box together. Some people buy special bags off of ebay that will help keep the teas fresh (Tea Sipper has a link for a good site, but I couldn’t find it. Hopefully she can post it here.) I personally use the small round zip-loc disposable tupperware, and it seems to work well. I think it’s also important to keep highly scented teas very well wrapped or to leave them out of the box all together. A lapsang souchong or highly scented chai can contaminate a box very quickly.

The min/max for each type of tea to add back to the box is up to you unless there are very specific rules for a particular ttb. I’ve added a couple of teaspoons of one tea and a couple of ounces of another. I will add teas to ttbs that I don’t like because the flavor or the tea type isn’t my favorite, but I won’t add a tea if I don’t like it because it’s low quality. Bad tea is just bad tea.

One last thing, I also love it when people write notes about the teas that they’ve tried. Reading other peoples thoughts about the teas in the ttbs I’m participating in is my favorite thing next to trying the teas myself. Even if you don’t write a note on every tea you taste try to write a few.

Shae said

Thank you so much for the great advice, Veronica! I feel more confident already. :)

I’ve been looking around for the right bags and came across this website which has a great variety:
http://www.clearbags.com/bags/food/gusset/zipper-pouch.

When I do join a TTB, I think I may buy some of these to try out. Maybe others (like Tea Sipper) will post some suggestions here as well.

I love reading all of the tasting notes for the teas in my cupboard so I think reading the notes for the teas in the box would probably be a highlight for me too. There seem to be so many variables in making a good cup of tea so it’s great to see everyone else’s experiences beforehand.

Thank you again for sharing! I can’t tell you how much this helps me to understand the process.

You’re welcome! And those bags look great. I might pick up some of the silver ones. It seems like a decent price for 100 bags.

Oh, that’s me :D Here’s the link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-3-5×5-Ziplock-Stand-Up-Pouches-Bags-SUP-AA-Clear-Silver-/310658911232?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4854b6cc00

They have different sizes too. Shae, it looks like the pouches on the site you posted are very similar to those and should work pretty well. The strongest scented teas do not have any scent coming through these bags, so I KNOW they are keeping all air out!

Another suggestion I’d have is always to use delivery confirmation with USPS (in the US anyway) so you can track the progress of the box. Like Veronica, I also love reading other tasting notes. But I also love seeing what everyone has added and removed to the box. I prefer that everyone notes what they’ve removed and added to the TTB. There are different ways of doing that like a notebook travelling with the box or just through forum threads.

Really, the rules depend on the TTB you join, but if you have the best of intentions so much so that you are starting a thread about following TTB rules, I’m sure you’ll do fine. :D

This is the best deal I have found and also the size I use most for swaps. The bags above in this post are nice but bigger than what I use for an actual sample – they are more the size an actual tea order might come in. These hold several cups worth, don’t leak smells and you get 1000 of them.

http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Lock-Bags-Case-1000/dp/B003ZZUKQ6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418647261&sr=8-2&keywords=4+mil+ziplock+bags

Shae said

Thank you both for sharing the links to the bags you use. I’m saving all of these to try out later on. I appreciate the suggestion about using USPS too. I wouldn’t have thought to do that, but it makes perfect sense. I’ll definitely keep that in mind when I do sign up.

I’ll start reading through some of the forum threads to see how people typically keep track of what they take/add to the boxes. I think that’s going to be really helpful. Thanks for the tips and the encouragement. :)

Most of the time there is a list in the box and you can just makes notes there.

Login or sign up to post a message.

Anlina said

I bought these two types of bags for my own storage and for sharing teas. They were the best deal that I was able to find (cost + shipping), though of you’re in the US there may be more sellers offering free shipping. They’re air tight and smell proof, and loads better than regular plastic ziplock sandwich or freezer bags.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50pcs-Well-Sealed-Fruit-Nuts-Food-Keeping-Stand-Up-Kraft-Paper-Zip-Lock-Bags-/141296324973?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item20e5ead16d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wholesale-Lot-of-95-Silver-tone-Ziplock-Packaging-Wrapping-Gift-Bags-Pouches-/350682101059?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

I get the small silver ones in 7×13cm, which is a great size for samples (7-10g, 4-6 tsp) and 13×18cm in the kraft paper ones, which can hold 50-100g (depending on density).

Shae said

These are great! I especially love the designs on the kraft paper bags. So pretty. I saved these to my Amazon wishlist to try later. (I’m not sure if you use Amazon at all, but I noticed when I saved these that they had the same silver bags for a bit cheaper.)

Also, what do you think about the bags I posted above?

Thanks, Anlina!

Login or sign up to post a message.

Sil select said

I’d also say that one of the other basic rules is not to use the TTB as a way to get rid of garbage tea that’s old or really gross….while it’s true others might like things you don’t like, I think most try to balance it with “here are also some teas I really like, to share.”

Yes! I agree 100%.

Yeah, that’s a good one.

I wish more people would do this.

Shae said

That’s such great advice! I can see how it would be easy to send off the teas you don’t like, hoping that others will be able to appreciate them in a different way, but I think what I love most about the idea of participating in a TTB is the opportunity to share my absolute favorites with people who may not otherwise have a chance to try them. Local teas, for example. I love being able to share when I find one I really enjoy.

Login or sign up to post a message.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.