TeaChat

My collection of samples is starting to get a little out of control. I think this has something to do with becoming pickier about which teas I choose to buy cakes of. So I am end up with many more samples.
I am curious as to how others deal with/ organize there sample hordes. M I used to have a sample drawer but that has long since become to small.

I manage samples by drinking them.

Throw the bad ones out, or send them to people who will appreciate them (while telling them you think they're not that great). You learned a lesson from them, you paid for it - but you don't want more of the same lessons, so you can pass them on.

The worst are the sort of ok ones...

That is what I have done. Most of what I have left is decent stuff but not to me worth buying acake of or allot oof stuff that is nice tea but not wortg the price and other. Things that are awesome but out of my price range so I bought a sample to just to try.

I wanted to know if anyone has thought of any prctical ideas for storing all the sample packs?

I have an old card catalog discarded from a library that I use for a bedside table, not for tea samples, but you might try something similar, like one of those apothecary cabinets. But really, the most important thing to do is cultivate more drinking buddies. That, and "beginner's mind" Of course, I guess that's difficult if you're actually in Utah...?

MarshalN wrote:Throw the bad ones out, or send them to people who will appreciate them (while telling them you think they're not that great). You learned a lesson from them, you paid for it - but you don't want more of the same lessons, so you can pass them on.

The worst are the sort of ok ones...

Why didn't I think of that. I have a big box of samples, some untried, and some which I hope that I'll like better the second or third time I need to separate them out and when I have a box worth shipping I can offer them up on freecycle or here on Teachat.

I wanted to know if anyone has thought of any practical ideas for storing all the sample packs?

I've wanted to do blind sampling but it's slightly more complicated than i thought. So i've repacked lots of my samples in a same generic plastic bag with the name of the tea written on a tiny folded piece of paper that i put inside the bag with the tea... then i've put all the repacked samples in a cardbox. So when i don't know what to drink i pick one of these bags and after a few brews i unfold the paper to see what it was. It's not the perfect method because you can't blind test everything, but it can be a good idea for some of your samples.

Samples that I don't like go to the worm bin to compost.

Samples that I do like are often the handiest things to toss into the suitcase or backpack for trips--lots of variety in a small space.

i'm of the opinion that more sheng you store together, the better, though there is possibly a point of diminishing returns.
For the good samples I come across, I wrap them in tissue paper and seal them with twist ties, applying a small handwritten label to the twist tie.
Depending on how they are when I tasted them (strong or mild mainly)
they go into either the more humid storage cabinet or the dry storage cabinet.
I'll move them around so the bottom ones don't 'suffocate'.

As for the bad/bad produced stuff, I have a medium sized jar that i put it in. I'm curious just how bad a big jar of mixed bad sheng puerh will be in 25 years or so. just for fun

One thing you could do is buy those plastic sorting boxes that are found at hardware stores, fishing stores, and sewing stores. They probably sell them at hobby/modelling stores too.

Kinda like this:
https://www.tedpella.com/storage-boxes- ... 39-706.jpg

And keep all your samples in those. They're usually pretty cheap. I think they also sell plastic cabinets with drawers designed like those sorting boxes. Screw cabinets too for sorting screws, bolts, and nuts. Fishing tackle boxes would be great too.

Or just buy a bunch of that cheap small Ziplock tupperware stuff. It's easily stackable.

Oh, and if you don't like using plastic, they also have cardboard sorting boxes for like.. baseball cards and such.

Like this:
http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/ ... -SXI8Q.jpg

Those are probably the cheapest thing you can get.

bryan_drinks_tea wrote:i'm of the opinion that more sheng you store together, the better, though there is possibly a point of diminishing returns.
For the good samples I come across, I wrap them in tissue paper and seal them with twist ties, applying a small handwritten label to the twist tie.
Depending on how they are when I tasted them (strong or mild mainly)
they go into either the more humid storage cabinet or the dry storage cabinet.
I'll move them around so the bottom ones don't 'suffocate'.

As for the bad/bad produced stuff, I have a medium sized jar that i put it in. I'm curious just how bad a big jar of mixed bad sheng puerh will be in 25 years or so. just for fun

I dump all my samples in a jar also. I just shake it up and presto mrmopu's secret blend.

There was a box pass some time ago, but it died because some people are just irresponsible.

MarshalN wrote:Throw the bad ones out, or send them to people who will appreciate them (while telling them you think they're not that great). You learned a lesson from them, you paid for it - but you don't want more of the same lessons, so you can pass them on.

The worst are the sort of ok ones...

Pretty much same here. Now I started giving ok ones away too. Still better than to waste them by keeping them for too long.

I have a big sheng sample jar. All samples that are not completely bad, but are either left over from teas i decided to buy a cake or more off, or which for some reason or the other i decided against, will go in there.
It's gonna be an interesting blend in a few years.

The really bad samples i usually throw away, such as samples that are from cakes that were badly stored.

They all go in a grab box for random grabbing or gifting.

My OCD doesn't allow me to have a bunch of open samples, so they are used up quickly.

Same problem with cakes. Once it hits half-way, I have a compulsion to "finish it off".