Oolong Box Pass

[teaisme]

ok I received the box last night and there are way too many teas I got dizzy looking at all of those bags.....so I poured them all out of their bags.... and mixed them all together into one plastic grocery bag for easy storage and access. It looks real pretty. Now everyone can have 'combo tea'. Somewhere it's probably a specialty no?

[geeber1]

[teaisme]

just wondering, were all the tea wares taken out ? Or are they in another box en route? I don't feel like hunting down the answer in 36 pages of thread.
The box does look a little bit messy though...and I did a quick bag check of each bag and many were left slightly open. Do you think a postal worker inspected it?
Maybe in the future you should make a rule : Only foil pouches which seal closed, or if you have a bag put it in a small tin

[geeber1]

Churng, the box didn't have any teaware in it when I got it this summer.

[Victoria]

Yes, I believe all the teaware was gone quite sometime ago. This is the second round for this box and the main reason I think it is time to retire it. Although the old teas are gone, still it seems time.

I don't think there is an effective way to limit the type of packaging. It is each person's responsibility to keep it neat and tidy and to make sure bags they use or contribute are resealed properly.

I am leaning at this point to a possible contest of some type for the remaining content. The last person participating would simply forward the box to the winner. The winner could keep, toss, or share with friends.

In allowing the box to continue this long we have moved away from the initial intent which was to afford the opportunity for members to try high quality oolongs and learn to brew by different methods. The initial box pass was quite successful, the second go around ... less so. To continue now seems contrary to the spirit in which the original purpose was intended. Perhaps it is time to stop and step back for awhile.

[teaisme]

opportunity for members to try high quality oolongs

So true, what remains in the box is nothing compared to what it started with both in quality and variety. It seems like its almost become a dumping ground for unwanted or old teas. I want to add 4-5 'quality' oolongs for others to try, but am hesitant because I know the box's life will not be long. I will deff add 1-2 though for whoever wins the box as a prize. So at least a few good offerings are still there, unless shogun drinks them all.

One thing this box has done is affirmed my initial hypothesis that certain, very popular vendors', have sub par oolong, especially when taiwanese oolongs come into the picture. So, in a sense this box has saved me testing money, and affirmed my guess that ftl has good tea (thanks to the sample by MaitreTea). By the way where did you get those small foil pouches that you put your 2 personal samples into? I like very much.

[Maitre_Tea]

They contained samples of other tea from a friend, so I'm re-using the bag. I'm sure you can google "mylar bag" or something and maybe you can buy something similar...even in different sizes.

[wyardley]

If they're little silver or black stand-up zip-seal packages, they're probably mine, and they're from Sorbent Systems.

http://sorbentsystems.com/standupbags_order.html

[teaisme]

yeah those look like the right ones, small silver and black ones, they are the 1oz AA it seems , Thanks

[wyardley]

yeah those look like the right ones, small silver and black ones, they are the 1oz AA it seems , Thanks

Yup. Look for their featured specials - it's the only way to buy < 1000, though you usually don't get a choice of color. For the AA size, black is currently on special - $15/100.

Their $100 foodsaver style vacuum sealer is ok too... not great, but works about as well as you are probably going to get for something that's not an enclosed chamber device.

[teaisme]

ok Shogun89 are you almost ready?
I should be sending it out sometime next week with a couple nice additions. Haven't decided what yet, but deff expect a new flt OB 09 because I drank most of what was in that new bag just put in.

[hooksie]

Victoria, what is the status of the box? If it's still making it's final way around, I wouldn't mind being appended to the list.

I know, I am late to the game.

[Victoria]

As far as I know churng has the box and is waiting for shogun89. I have added you to the list. If anyone who has been bumped would like to be reinstated - please contact me!

The current list:

So sayeth the Oolong Queen-
New list order/status:

EdKrueger - DONE
T4Texas - DONE
BSteele - DONE
Cha Cha Cha - DONE
kymidwife - DONE
heatwaves - DONE
Drax - DONE
geeber1 - DONE
cheaton - DONE
Intuit - DONE
Ebtoulson - DONE
leiche - DONE
thirtysixbelow - DONE
Maitre_Tea - DONE
churng - CURRENT
Shogun89 -
hooksie -

Bumped due to inactive:
Evil Flowers
DangerInRed
Balmung135
TeaCompulsion
Vulture
teashionista
Garrett

[teaisme]

Yes I still have the box and shogun has still not replied.
What would you like me to do with the box Victoria?

Would anyone be mad if I did a little bit of cleaning and threw out some not so appealing/stale looking and smelling teas?

[Victoria]

Well next up is hooksie,
and that is a question for hooksie to answer I guess.

This will probably be the last stop.