How much tea do you buy?

For general/other topics related to tea.


Jun 19th, '13, 01:48
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How much tea do you buy?

by andrewmendez » Jun 19th, '13, 01:48

I have been contemplating this idea for months now about the quantity of tea that I should purchase. Is it normal to have several ounces of seven or eight teas in your cupboard and alternate through all of them for months or do people usually buy smaller amounts of teas and then maybe a larger amount of a more favorite tea?

What is everyone's take on this subject?

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Jun 19th, '13, 02:02
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Re: How much tea do you buy?

by debunix » Jun 19th, '13, 02:02

It really depends on what kind of teas you're drinking (and of course on budget, ability to control the clicking finger when ordering online or the 'just one more' when buying in person).

Most green teas and especially green oolongs lose a lot of their charm with time, and it's a good idea to buy no more than enough to get you through to the next harvest, and not to keep more open than you can drink in a month or two. I like to buy these in 50g or smaller lots, occasionally 100g at a time for some that I really like and can share with others so go through it quicker.

But other teas, like darker oolongs, can be stable for a couple of years, and most puerhs are considered more desirable with age, so it's easier to go a little crazy on those.

I try to avoid buying green teas and green oolongs in more than 50g packages, and am getting better at buying a year's worth at a time, and though I drink plenty of them, I have many times more oolongs and puerhs than green teas, by number of teas, numbers of packages, and by grams of tea.

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Jun 19th, '13, 13:21
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Re: How much tea do you buy?

by etorix » Jun 19th, '13, 13:21

hm, last time i bought more than 50 gms of nice tea was in the 60s at Fortnums .. 4ozs of Golden Broken Orange Pekoe

i mostly buy minimum amounts where possible, but a good few at a time from a supplier i like the look of [or is recommended]

and im trying to hit ALL the good suppliers

only after im sure will i go a 50gm

i have to say that shipping costs seem to becoming a major issue recently

im going to have to up my quantities from fewer sources

Jun 19th, '13, 15:31
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Re: How much tea do you buy?

by saxon75 » Jun 19th, '13, 15:31

debunix wrote:I try to avoid buying green teas and green oolongs in more than 50g packages, and am getting better at buying a year's worth at a time
How do you store your unopened packages of green tea?

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Jun 19th, '13, 15:41
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Re: How much tea do you buy?

by debunix » Jun 19th, '13, 15:41

If they're well sealed, ideally they live in the refrigerator, if there's room, and get taken out at least several hours in advance of being opened for the first time.

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Jun 19th, '13, 21:02
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Re: How much tea do you buy?

by Poohblah » Jun 19th, '13, 21:02

depends, though my tendency is to keep a handful of samples around. Usually a few hundred grams in total spread out across a dozen or fewer samples. A couple weeks ago I had 30 different teas to choose from; I think that set a new record. The vast majority were <= 35gr samples though. So I usually buy tea to maintain my small stock of samples. I tend to order $50-75 worth of samples at a time, which usually comes out to 200 to 500gr of tea.

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Jun 20th, '13, 05:55
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Re: How much tea do you buy?

by Teaism » Jun 20th, '13, 05:55

Mine is a bit excessive but I would humbly just share the information for curiosity sake.

I bought tea over 2 decades and amassed quite a lot of tea. Most, in fact all the time, buying tea is for personal consumption rather than for investment as I enjoy tea very much. Some tea are bought because of obligation, some are samples but most are bought based on intensive testing and evaluating of the tea. My purchase are mostly, almost 99% from vendors and collectors after tasting them and very seldom online as the place I stay has abundance of tea shops and tea hobbyist. I also travel a lot to many countries to purchase tea. ( Right now, I am travelling for more than 2 weeks to hunt for tea and enjoy tea with many collectors and masters in Malaysia :D )

So, how much tea after all these years. I can't really tell but from estimation, puer (from 1960s to present , mostly sheng) around 150kg, white to red tea (incl Yancha) at least 30kg, and many kilos of Darjeeling all info plus minus 20kg, if I can recall from memory. I think I might have even more....hmmmm.
That is a lot of tea and I drink them and taste them at least 3 times a day on different tea averagely.

Most of the time I buy after tasting them vigorously and many can age well and taste well from long storage. I try many methods of storage over the years but most of my tea esp. puer are in dry and sealed storage. The method is controversial but works for me. The rest of the tea are either in sealed bags or in many of the antique tea pewter canister I have collected over the years.

Over the years, I have learned and can sense what tea can age well than the other but still may be wrong sometimes...that is the fun of it. Even white tea age beautifully after many years.

Well, that is my humble collection and it was a great journey to grow with the tea when they age and also the wonderful memories of discovering and buying them. Some friend visit me after every few years and I will keep the same piece of tea to wait for his/her next visit. The tea will mellow like a good aged friendship. That is the joy of buying and collecting tea.

Jun 20th, '13, 06:17
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Re: How much tea do you buy?

by lordmage » Jun 20th, '13, 06:17

i tend to stick to 2oz for most of the ones i am not sure on and no more than a two week supply of my hog wild flavors and cycle thur them.

currently have 4-7 oz of a wild orange blossom white tea
less than 2 for everything else altho i found another two flavored white i love just as much. so i may end up with a big bin full of 4oz or so of each.

4oz for me is about one week with my rotation

Jun 20th, '13, 19:49
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Re: How much tea do you buy?

by John Delaney » Jun 20th, '13, 19:49

andrewmendez wrote:I have been contemplating this idea for months now about the quantity of tea that I should purchase. Is it normal to have several ounces of seven or eight teas in your cupboard and alternate through all of them for months or do people usually buy smaller amounts of teas and then maybe a larger amount of a more favorite tea?

What is everyone's take on this subject?
I suggest you start by simply buying some tea in smaller quantities to start. Get some samplers so you have some variety. Figure out which ones you like and get more of those. Then, if you want more tea, you can just keep adding to that list with smaller quantities where you try out additional teas. Just make sure you get some quality tins to store your teas and separate them at least based on the kinds. For example, keep black teas together in one tin and green teas in another and so on.

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