Monday 5/16/11 Written inventory of your TEA?

[Chip]

Wowza, Monday...but it is TEADAY, drink up. So, share with everyone what you are guzzling to get through your Monday. Stop by throughout the day and give us updates if you can. TeaDay is about sharing what is in your cup throughout the entire day. Make sure you check out what everyone else is guzzling today as well.

Yesterday, TeaKnowledge and the Social aspect of TeaChat were the top vote getters. You can still post and vote in yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic is I guess about TeaStructure. Do you inventory your teas...update it whenever you get something new...or use something up? Is that just too crazy for you to consider? Whether you inventory or not, it may be part of your structured personality. In any case, share here how you know what teas you have...in real time!!!

I hope your Monday is filled with copious amounts of TEA!!! I am looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone, seeing what everyone else is drinking today ... bottoms up.

[auhckw]

Dejavu question...

I like to keep as much details on my tea purchase, especially those I decided to keep for aging. I store the information in Excel with photos which is also kept in my Mobile for easy reference.

I generally split my tea inventory into 3 categories (tabs). Raw Puerh, Ripe Puerh and Other Tea and here are the columns:-

-Name of the Tea
-Weight (g)
-Price per unit
-Quantity (Unopened)
-Quantity (Opened)
-Total Weight (g) - Unopened
-Total Weight (g) - Unopened and Opened
-Total Price - Unopened
-Total Price - Unopened and Opened
-1 (g) : Price (Auto calculation)
-Date of Manufacture
-Tea Age (Auto calculation based on Date of Manufacture with current date)
-Date of Purchase
-My Storage Duration (Auto calculation based on Date of Purchase with current date)
-Tea Seller (Name only)
-Tea Seller (Full detail, including address, tel)
-Comments

For teaware, I have these columns:-

-Name of Teaware
-Capacity (ML)
-Price
-Tea Pairing
-Date of Manufacture
-Date of Purchase
-My Storage Duration (Auto calculation based on Date of Purchase with current date)
-Tea Seller (Name only)
-Tea Seller (Full detail, including address, tel)
-Comments

So with the information above, I can derive with:-

My Tea Collection

Total Weight (g) - Unopened and Opened
Total Price - Unopened and Opened

Total Weight (g) - Unopened
Total Price - Unopened

Total Weight (g) - Pu-erh (Raw) Tea - Unopened
Total Price - Pu-erh (Raw) Tea - Unopened

Total Weight (g) - Pu-erh (Ripe) Tea - Unopened
Total Price - Pu-erh (Ripe) Tea - Unopened

Total Weight (g) - Other Tea - Unopened
Total Price - Other Tea - Unopened

Daily Consumption (g)
Days per year
Number of sessions - Unopened
Number of years - Unopened

My Teaware Collection

Total Price

[Nenugal]

I keep a spreadsheet too, with info on ID (assigned by me), status (opened, ordered but not arrived yet, or "wait until another <ID> is finished"), type, name, total amount, harvest time, buying date, opening date, guesstimated use before date, source (shop), origin of tea, rating (1 to 7), buy again (yes/maybe/no) and free-form comments. No info on price, but perhaps that is a good idea too...

Kinari shincha in my cup this morning.

[olivierco]

I only keep a chronological list of my purchases so that I am able to stay within my 100€ per month limit.

Kaboku sencha right now. Kirameki should arrive very soon.

[karmaplace]

No written inventory and no digital inventory, though I do refer to my old online invoices from time to time. I should make a "tea budget" and limit the amount of money I can spend on tea and teaware per month, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Luckily for whatever purchases I make with my US bank account I can sort and categorize them and have an estimate of how much I've spent.

No tea yet today, but I will indulge fairly soon.

[Drax]

I do track my tea purchases, though not as detailed as auhckw, but a little more detailed than olivierco.

I also have a couple of journals that I use for tasting notes, and I keep a digital table of contents with a cross reference to my purchase list.

On the pu'erh side, it's been interesting to go back a few years to my initial purchases and see what those same items are selling for now...

[JBaymore]

That would require too much left brain stuff for me!

best,

.........john

[brlarson]

Authckw wins

I keep separate worksheets for white, green. oolong, red, black, pu, with separate aggregate worksheets for previous years (2010, 2009, 2008).
Each worksheet lists country of origin, tea type, vendor, specific tea (w/brewing notes for all attempts), cost, net wt, current wt, date recvd, date opened, date completed. Auto calculations include number of open packages per category and number of grams in open packages per category.

My goal is insure that I have a good mix of quality tea, managed so they don't go stale, and that will stay within my budget.

Seven Cups shui jin gui again this morning.

[tortoise]

I sometimes track teas that I've purchased and sampled, but I do not maintain an inventory list. I like tea, not excel. That sounds like an entirely different hobby.

I guess if I had thousands of dollars of inventory/so much tea I can't even remember what I have, then a master list would be good, but as it is, I rarely have more than 10 or so teas in the house and have not had trouble remembering what or where they are.

8th steep of Winter '10 Lishan this morning. Bery Niice.

[jaderabbit]

I occasionally update my blog with new teas that I bought and a revision of tea inventory. But I don't think I have enough tea to make an excel spreadsheet out of it.
shameless plug: http://chayeji.wordpress.com
Really nothing interesting but I like to share.
I had matcha twice yesterday , but I little to lazy to whisk today.

[hopeofdawn]

I actually keep a written inventory of my teaware (artist, date of purchase, description, etc), since my collection seems determined to expand no matter what. But not for tea ... yet!

[Chimpie]

Life is too short and I'm way too busy for lists.

[FlyedPiper]

I probably should, but I don't. I'm still sort of in the tasting phase, seeing what I like and what not. After I figure all that out I'll probably start keeping some minimal notes.

DHP day today.

[teaisme]

nah I just remember what I have

When I'm buying teas though I make a list of what I want before I start buying, that kind of keeps me from splurging my funds too freely.

Maybe when I get more into aging puerh a list may be more useful

Tried young sheng for first time today.
2006 2nd SouthEast Asia Puerh Trade Memorial Cake
around 1.5-2 g in 240 ml porc pot. 2 infusions.
Wait I have had this...in some restaurant...in taiwan , I do remember wondering what it was I was drinking

The dry leaf smelled slightly strange on one side. The aroma from brewed tea and left on teawares was very pleasant. Fruity. Taste was kinda fruity too, but with something else I don't know. Felt a little strange to drink, conflicting, like something is out of place. Not really bitter or harsh, leaves a nice aftertaste for a short time (though my brewing method not the best to build up the aftertaste).

I don't think I would want to drink this plain, but it seems like it would go really well with some good tobacco. Think I will try it once more brewed heavy, then set the rest aside for aging.

[Skippyandjif]

I don't... But I know exactly which teas I have anyway! (Somehow. )

Brewing some gyokuro right now. First tea of the day, too-- I was travelling all day, and just finished dinner like an hour ago, so now it's tea time. And I'm home for the summer! Yay!