Interesting Deal (From Lupicia)

[Pentox]

So I thought I would let you guys know about this, although I'm not sure if what they sent to me is a bit of a mistake or just a really great deal.

So I got an email from Lupicia which is their standard mailing list email regarding new teas they're offering. In this case it's Taiwanese Winter-Plucked Oolong. What made this one a bit unusual was the special offer they have with it.

In the email it says:

"As a speical gift, receive a Shin or Inn tea pot with a purchase of $10 or more, or a Chen tea set with a purchase of $25 or more of any Taiwanese winter tea."

I found this rather surprising for a number of reasons. 1. Of the tree teas they had they range in price from $28 to $42. 2. The chen tea set pictured in the email by itself is $66. 3. None of the teas are priced between <$25 so who wouldn't get the set instead of a single pot?

So I figured what the heck and decided to order one. I got some of the $28 oolong and padded my order to 35 to get free shipping. I sent an email to customer support saying I wasn't sure if I was supposed to add the tea set to my order or if they would do it, they said they would take care of it. Today I got an email for my order confirmation saying that it had shipped out. What I found odd about it was the set that was included in my order was not the $66 set pictured on the website or in the email, instead it was actually a $120 set, which if I know what set I am thinking of from having been in their stores, it is a beautiful set with its own gong fu style tray. I'm eagerly awaiting to get my set to check it out to see if this is the case.

Either way this seems like a really really good deal. Just thought I would pass it along. I'll forward the email if anyone would like it.

Either way for ordering a $28.

[Space Samurai]

sounds interesting, i'm curious.

[scruffmcgruff]

Wait, I don't understand, how does this relate to IM?




[Mary's Edit: Har har.]

[Mary R]

Dude...what? This sounds like a sweet deal. I must pad over to the Lupicia site and browse. Their booth was really great at the Expo and they were on my short list of places to try. Maybe I'll be bumping them up a bit on the list now.

[brandon]

A huge amount of their stuff if flavored, and the black teas I have had before didn't really hold up. That said, I have had 3 of their Japanese teas (uji sencha, fuka, gyokuro) and they were all good.

[Pentox]

Dude...what? This sounds like a sweet deal. I must pad over to the Lupicia site and browse. Their booth was really great at the Expo and they were on my short list of places to try. Maybe I'll be bumping them up a bit on the list now.

Just as an FYI, the set that the shipping email says they sent me is not listed on their site. Although I could link to the item, but it lacks a picture.

They still remain as one of my favorite vendors. Especially with crazy deals like this.

[Chip]

I enjoyed talking to the Lupicia peeps at the show as well. I wish they had more Japanese tea to taste. I may have gotten a dry sample from them. The teas they offered to taste were good, just not much on the unflavored Japanese end.

I think they are a lot like Ito En in many regards, a Japanese vendor who offers so much more than Japanese tea. Strange...I would think a Japanese vendor would be more focused, but some of the big players are very diversified.

Unrelated but related, I thought Ito En's huge booth was a complete flop. Totally focused on RTD teas, well, seemed that way anyway. I felt kink of strange everytime I ventured into their booth. I did not feel that way about Lupicia...they were very nice and welcoming. Maybe it was just me. Sometimes the chemistry is right and sometimes not.

[Pentox]

I enjoyed talking to the Lupicia peeps at the show as well. I wish they had more Japanese tea to taste. I may have gotten a dry sample from them. The teas they offered to taste were good, just not much on the unflavored Japanese end.

I think they are a lot like Ito En in many regards, a Japanese vendor who offers so much more than Japanese tea. Strange...I would think a Japanese vendor would be more focused, but some of the big players are very diversified.

Unrelated but related, I thought Ito En's huge booth was a complete flop. Totally focused on RTD teas, well, seemed that way anyway. I felt kink of strange everytime I ventured into their booth. I did not feel that way about Lupicia...they were very nice and welcoming. Maybe it was just me. Sometimes the chemistry is right and sometimes not.

I think that Lupicia is showing more flavoreds and the like to an American audience. I don't think that tea is popular enough in America for a company with a B&M presence to be able to purely focus on one area of tea. For example I know that there are quite a few japanese greens that they have in their stores in Japan, but don't offer here in the states. Although I do find that they have probably the most varied selection of japanese greens that I have seen from any singular vendor. Nowdays though Ito-en is very close.

Out of curiosity, who from Lupicia did you get to meet at the show? I constantly wonder about their operation on many levels. Their employees for example are on average amazing. Very helpful and not pushy, but eager to please. I wonder what kind of training they get.

[Mary R]

Out of curiosity, who from Lupicia did you get to meet at the show?

That's a very good question. I'm at work now and only have about half of my prodigious business card collection with me (they were lingering in my purse), and Lupicia's isn't among them. I'll try to find it later.

[Chip]

Ditto....my papers were all stuffed into my carry on and I was not checking anything in. I literally threw some clothing away to get the samples into the very stuffed carry on bag.

Clothing is optional, tea samples are not.

[scruffmcgruff]

I'm a bit surprised about their lack of Japanese options at the show. When I went into one of their B&M stores here, there was an entire section of senchas and other unflavored Japanese teas. It was almost overwhelming, even!

I very much enjoyed the Kagoshima sencha I got from there. Also... they sell 2oz packages, which is a big plus in my book.

[scruffmcgruff]

Clothing is optional, tea samples are not.

Try telling that to the police sometime. *sigh*

[Chip]

Clothing is optional, tea samples are not.

Try telling that to the police sometime. *sigh*

I can sticky tea samples as needed.

I honestly thought they would dump my bag...she looked at it for a while in the scanner and then let it go.

[Mary R]

Ditto....my papers were all stuffed into my carry on and I was not checking anything in.

I checked my bag...but stupid Homeland Security felt the need to search it (I found their flier). And they weren't particularly neat about it either. When I opened up my suitcase I had papers *everywhere,* which hacks me off because I had them organized and tied neatly in a separate tote.

My little OCD heart broke a little.

[Chip]

I'm a bit surprised about their lack of Japanese options at the show. When I went into one of their B&M stores here, there was an entire section of senchas and other unflavored Japanese teas. It was almost overwhelming, even!

I very much enjoyed the Kagoshima sencha I got from there. Also... they sell 2oz packages, which is a big plus in my book.

Are you talking about Lupicia, right? They had some dispayed, just not brewing. In fact, the one was a sencha brewed both Sat and Sun...decaf sencha...I kid you not. I think it was in a samovar...big.

They had a very good presense, very friendly...just brew up some sencha...am I asking for too much???