Tea Reviews

Discuss some of the favorite customer-created Signature Blends.


Feb 10th, '10, 08:16
Posts: 9
Joined: Jan 2nd, '10, 16:53

Tea Reviews

by Mote » Feb 10th, '10, 08:16

Hey guys, I've got a question: Why won't you review my teas?

Dozens of you have bought A #1 First Place Blend, A Close Second, and Pub Fight, but nobody seems to feel like reviewing. I would kill for a little feedback. I'd also be willing to bet that other people are having trouble selling good blends because their first buyers aren't taking the time to post a few comments.

For everyone's sake, guys, please review what you buy!

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Feb 10th, '10, 11:59
Posts: 59
Joined: Oct 8th, '09, 23:01
Location: Jersey!, the nice part

Re: Tea Reviews

by beckynoel » Feb 10th, '10, 11:59

I have doubts that the majority of people on TeaChat buy signature blends. Also, when somebody makes a purchase on Adagio, if they don't make an account before they purchase, (you can still buy without an account) you don't have the option of reviewing the teas you bought.

So my guess is that, those who bought your teas probably aren't on TC, and probably are first time Adagio buyers without accounts.

These are my theories anyway....

To date, one of my signature blends has been purchased 107 times, and only 4 people have reviewed it, (including myself) so the purchase-to-review ratio is pretty low.

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Feb 11th, '10, 10:05
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Re: Tea Reviews

by LauraW » Feb 11th, '10, 10:05

I wish I could get something of mine to sell 107 times :shock: Or more than 3.. but I guess I'm still new - I don't think any of my blends have been up for more than a month or so.

Feb 11th, '10, 14:29
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Joined: Jan 2nd, '10, 16:53

Re: Tea Reviews

by Mote » Feb 11th, '10, 14:29

Oh, well. I find myself becoming a bit disenchanted with the Signature Blends, anyways. The priority doesn't seem to be on creating nice-tasting and original blends, which I thought was the point.

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Feb 11th, '10, 14:46
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Location: Jersey!, the nice part

Re: Tea Reviews

by beckynoel » Feb 11th, '10, 14:46

Mote wrote:Oh, well. I find myself becoming a bit disenchanted with the Signature Blends, anyways. The priority doesn't seem to be on creating nice-tasting and original blends, which I thought was the point.
What do you mean? There are so many blends to choose from and I think that there are lots of interesting, fun, and quite tasty concoctions!

Not everyone who makes a signature blend is aware of the blending faux pas like combining green, white, and black teas together, which is pretty much sure to be a dud.

I find myself quite impressed with not only the uniqueness of some blends, but also the great names and labels people come up with. It's so much fun browsing Adagio's site and finding previously undiscovered gems!!!

Feb 12th, '10, 14:54
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Re: Tea Reviews

by Mote » Feb 12th, '10, 14:54

There are so many blends to choose from and I think that there are lots of interesting, fun, and quite tasty concoctions!
This is true, but they're few and far between. As for this:
I find myself quite impressed with not only the uniqueness of some blends, but also the great names and labels people come up with.
I actually consider that to be part of the problem. It seems to me that people are more interested in buying and creating teas that are either named after their favorite tween book series or have exciting labels, regardless of blend quality. You may also be interested to note that one of the frequent bestsellers is just a repackaged ripoff of Adagio's Cha Cha blend. From what I've seen, creativity is not what's being rewarded. Also irksome is the special treatment that some of the more popular blenders receive.

I don't mean to imply that there aren't blends that are worthwhile. Far from it, I think that there are a lot of great teas hiding in the Signature Blends section of the site; they're just hard to find amongst all the rest.

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Feb 12th, '10, 14:57
Posts: 54
Joined: Nov 12th, '09, 16:02

Re: Tea Reviews

by cls46 » Feb 12th, '10, 14:57

Mote wrote:Oh, well. I find myself becoming a bit disenchanted with the Signature Blends, anyways. The priority doesn't seem to be on creating nice-tasting and original blends, which I thought was the point.

No I agree. The longer I am a part of the adagio community the more it seems to be just a label making competition. Some of these blends that are "featured" have crazy mixes of teas like whites, blacks and greens but they become featured blends anyway. Also there is obviously some sort of special treatment for certain people because some of the Zodiac blends have more characters in their titles than allowed and I noticed that Eleanor Justice's four latest blends are somehow at the top of the signature blends list even though that is not where they would belong alphabetically :x Even the teas they choose to review on their TeaV are biased. Birthday Tea and Sweet Velvet Fog are the same tea! But they were both reviewed on TeaV which I am sure really boosts how many tins of your blend are sold. I know they may be in different ratios of tea, but really how different can they really be? Except that Birthday Tea contains sprinkles. I didn't know I had the option to add sprinkles to my tea blends :shock: . Oh wait I don't. I don't work for the company (the creator of Birthday Tea does). I know I have good blends, but it doesn't matter what your teas actually taste like.

Feb 12th, '10, 20:16
Posts: 239
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Location: Chicago
Contact: RachelC

Re: Tea Reviews

by RachelC » Feb 12th, '10, 20:16

Birthday Tea and Sweet Velvet Fog are the same tea! But they were both reviewed on TeaV which I am sure really boosts how many tins of your blend are sold. I know they may be in different ratios of tea, but really how different can they really be? Except that Birthday Tea contains sprinkles. I didn't know I had the option to add sprinkles to my tea blends :shock: . Oh wait I don't. I don't work for the company (the creator of Birthday Tea does). I know I have good blends, but it doesn't matter what your teas actually taste like.
Yes, it is true that both Birthday Tea and my tea Sweet Velvet Fog contain the same teas in the blend but there is a HUGE difference in the percentage of each tea. So NOT the "same" tea just the same were used to create the blend. I have tried Birthday Tea and there is a clear difference in flavor. Perhaps a taste is in order. I just thought that might be of some interest to you. If not then no biggy. Although, you are correct, I too can obviously see that some make it to the "Featured" section without so much as a taste of the tea. It seems only those with a clever name and pretty label make it. It really is too bad because I would be more likely to buy a "featured blend" if at least I knew there was a better chance I would like it then those that weren't in the featured section. :)
Last edited by RachelC on Feb 12th, '10, 20:38, edited 1 time in total.

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Feb 12th, '10, 20:37
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Re: Tea Reviews

by cls46 » Feb 12th, '10, 20:37

Yes, it is true that both Birthday Tea and my tea Sweet Velvet Fog content the same teas in the blend but there is a HUGE difference in the percentage of each tea. I have tried Birthday Tea and there is a clear difference in flavor. Perhaps a taste is in order. I just thought that might be of some interest to you. Although, you are correct, I too can obviously see that some make it to the "Featured" section without so much as a taste of the tea. To see if it is worthy to be featured but more largely it is based on name and label.
I have not tried either of these blends so I would be willing to concede that they could very well be very different tasting teas, making you right on both counts.

Feb 12th, '10, 20:44
Posts: 239
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Re: Tea Reviews

by RachelC » Feb 12th, '10, 20:44

cls46 wrote:
Yes, it is true that both Birthday Tea and my tea Sweet Velvet Fog content the same teas in the blend but there is a HUGE difference in the percentage of each tea. I have tried Birthday Tea and there is a clear difference in flavor. Perhaps a taste is in order. I just thought that might be of some interest to you. Although, you are correct, I too can obviously see that some make it to the "Featured" section without so much as a taste of the tea. To see if it is worthy to be featured but more largely it is based on name and label.
I have not tried either of these blends so I would be willing to concede that they could very well be very different tasting teas, making you right on both counts.
Good News!!! I saw you were a couple down on the Pass and I put A LOT of my tea blends in there and guess what?...one of them is my Sweet Velvet Fog. You must tell me how you like it when you get. Enjoy! :D

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Feb 12th, '10, 23:10
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Re: Tea Reviews

by Amaikokonut » Feb 12th, '10, 23:10

Personally I just find it a little silly that any blend can be added to the site before anyone even tastes it, making me quite skeptical of trying any blends that haven't been reviewed. Pretty labels and creative names are nice, but sadly they don't make blends magically taste good.

Because of this, I do believe that reviews are indeed quite important when it comes to blends. In a vast sea of untested (and frankly often quite silly) blends, reviews can go a long, long way.

This is just wishful thinking, but I wonder if a sort of "validation" system for blends would be effective, like a script that tracks if a certain blend has been ordered more than once by say, three different accounts-- then validated blends would get a special mark of some sort to show that several people liked the blend enough to reorder it (and therefore it probably doesn't taste like mud). Just a little something to help decent blends stand out, regardless of reviews.

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Feb 13th, '10, 12:22
Posts: 259
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Re: Tea Reviews

by jazz88 » Feb 13th, '10, 12:22

• Hey, lighten up :D it's just tea blends.
• Creating a witty name or a nice label matters, it's part of the game and it's fun too.
• it is difficult to sell anything, even really great products. That's why there are marketing departments employing a lot of talented people.

Some suggestions:
You could promote your blends on Facebook or Twitter. Create a blog (it's free) and review your blends. Ask your friends to try and review your blends. Participate in a SB box pass.

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Feb 13th, '10, 13:31
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Re: Tea Reviews

by kymidwife » Feb 13th, '10, 13:31

Ditto on what Jazz said... its just a fun little program. Its hardly as if the blending program's sole purpose is to generate a "profit" for the creator of the tea. I have always viewed it as a way to make a tea you want for your own use or for a gift... and if others are intrigued by your recipe or the gimmick you use for the name/label/theme, then you get a little perk of points if someone else buys it. And there's just no way to predict (or criticize) what appeals to people, and what they choose to buy or not buy.

I do agree I wish more people took the time to review... my most popular tea blend right now has sold over 200 units and has only 6 reviews, and one of those was my own review. I always wonder if some people choose not to review because they are reluctant to post negative feedback?

I have been puzzled at times on how blends are chosen as Featured Blends... I am pretty sure I have never seen any of my teas rotate through the featured slots, even though some are really good sellers and the label work is not horrible. At one time, there was a tea regularly circulated as a Featured Blend, and it had absolutely terrible feedback in the reviews posted... also a mystery. I was pleased to have a couple of my blends reviewed by Zack, which was unexpected and unsolicited. Long story short, I'm sure they're running the Sig Blend program in the way that best supports their gateway to new customers and overall company growth.

As for the marketing of blends... I don't blame anyone for being creative to draw attention to their blends. Just because they use a gimmick doesn't mean the tea blend is no good, and what suits one person may not suit another. I've tried lots of blends... some I loved, some I hated. I've created lots of blends... some have sold hundreds of units, some have sold none. I've created the exact same blend more than once, and taken different approaches on the label and the name, and it made all the difference in the world in the level of attention it drew from consumers. My most popular blends seem to have repeat buyers, according to what I've read in reviews... and the gimmick approach will only get you a first purchase, but the flavor will get you repeat purchases.

Anyway... pretty cool of Adagio to give us free license to make what we want with no financial investment on our part, market it the way we want, and to give us a bit of kick-back tea reward if others find our creations appealing. I rarely drink flavored teas anymore, but I still find the Signature Blends program very ingenious and entertaining.

Sarah

Feb 13th, '10, 13:39
Posts: 239
Joined: Jul 27th, '09, 09:30
Location: Chicago
Contact: RachelC

Re: Tea Reviews

by RachelC » Feb 13th, '10, 13:39

kymidwife wrote:Ditto on what Jazz said... its just a fun little program. Its hardly as if the blending program's sole purpose is to generate a "profit" for the creator of the tea. I have always viewed it as a way to make a tea you want for your own use or for a gift... and if others are intrigued by your recipe or the gimmick you use for the name/label/theme, then you get a little perk of points if someone else buys it. And there's just no way to predict (or criticize) what appeals to people, and what they choose to buy or not buy.

I do agree I wish more people took the time to review... my most popular tea blend right now has sold over 200 units and has only 6 reviews, and one of those was my own review. I always wonder if some people choose not to review because they are reluctant to post negative feedback?

I have been puzzled at times on how blends are chosen as Featured Blends... I am pretty sure I have never seen any of my teas rotate through the featured slots, even though some are really good sellers and the label work is not horrible. At one time, there was a tea regularly circulated as a Featured Blend, and it had absolutely terrible feedback in the reviews posted... also a mystery. I was pleased to have a couple of my blends reviewed by Zack, which was unexpected and unsolicited. Long story short, I'm sure they're running the Sig Blend program in the way that best supports their gateway to new customers and overall company growth.

As for the marketing of blends... I don't blame anyone for being creative to draw attention to their blends. Just because they use a gimmick doesn't mean the tea blend is no good, and what suits one person may not suit another. I've tried lots of blends... some I loved, some I hated. I've created lots of blends... some have sold hundreds of units, some have sold none. I've created the exact same blend more than once, and taken different approaches on the label and the name, and it made all the difference in the world in the level of attention it drew from consumers. My most popular blends seem to have repeat buyers, according to what I've read in reviews... and the gimmick approach will only get you a first purchase, but the flavor will get you repeat purchases.

Anyway... pretty cool of Adagio to give us free license to make what we want with no financial investment on our part, market it the way we want, and to give us a bit of kick-back tea reward if others find our creations appealing. I rarely drink flavored teas anymore, but I still find the Signature Blends program very ingenious and entertaining.

Sarah
Kudos Sarah I totally agree. :D

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Feb 14th, '10, 15:55
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Re: Tea Reviews

by zack » Feb 14th, '10, 15:55

<3

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