Tuesday TeaDay 5/17/11 Sam Pulled?

[Chip]

Greetings dear TeaFriends. Please do drop in and share what is in your cup throughout the day. Also be sure to check out the topic of the day.

Yesterday we discussed whether members kept a written inventory of their teas. Please continue to discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Xell was wondering, "what size samples do people prefer a vendor to sell?" (not including OTTI!) Please share your thoughts if this varies depending on type of tea.

We are looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with ... everyone. Bottoms up.

[FlyedPiper]

I voted depends on price, but the type of tea would matter to me also. For green tea a larger amount would be nice to get enough for a few brews to get the feel for the steeping times, temps etc.

Oolongs and pu's I'd be good with a 10 or 20g sample in most cases I think.

[David R.]

My ideal sample size is 15g. It is not easy as a beginner to tell after one session if a tea is worth buying. A really really good one will stand out immediately, but it is not always the case. With puerh for example, I like to drink it several times before buying a whole cake. 15g gives me the opportunity to test 3 different configurations : 3g long brew like in a tasting cup, 7g heavy ratio gong fu style, and 5g my usual dosage.

Opening up Honyama Sencha Hebizuka this morning.

[Drax]

I intially said "10g," but decided to change my vote to "depends on the price."

The truth is, as long as I can get 2 sessions out of a sample, I'm happy.

What makes me very unhappy is when a vendor doubles or triples the price for a sample.

Or worse, I've seen a vendor offer a "25g sample" with the next available size at 50g, and the sample is nearly the same price as the 50g. Really, what you've basically said to me as a customer is "I just want you to buy the 50g."

I understand that it takes time to prepare smaller packages (especially in the case of pu'erh), so I don't expect an exactly scaled down price (although -- novel thought, what if somebody did...??? *gasp*!!). But I also shouldn't feel screwed over for buying a sample.

Perhaps vendors fear the $1 purchase? I don't know. There are other ways to avoid those problems...

Sorry for rambling. Obviously I've had many frowny-face experiences here as a customer...

For this morning's tea, going to break out a session with o-cha's yutaka midori shincha in a bit...!

[JBaymore]

I don't tend to buy samples.

"Do or do not. There is no try." Yoda



best,

................john

[jaderabbit]

I prefer 10g. If I really don't like a tea, 25 g can be too much (i.e. crappy pu ).

[tortoise]

I don't tend to buy samples.

"Do or do not. There is no try." Yoda



best,

................john

Sage words from an accomplished Jedi.

I usually avoid samples as well unless it's in a "sample pack" where I can try a few varieties of say, several grades of Baozhong, etc -- then decide where I want to concentrate my money in a future purchase. Those make sense.

25g is a bit more than a sample, IMO. 10g does qualify as sample sized, though with some teas, you may need more than 10g for a proper brewing. Like Mr. Baymore, I just tend to go for 50g (100g if sencha), because then at least I have more than two chances to get it right.

I think there is just no cut and dry answer to this question given the breadth of tea styles and quality offered by online vendors.

Exploring Kame-Jiru Shi this morning. I'm beginning to improve my gyo brewing...I think.

[AdamMY]

It depends on the tea, but for the most part I want to be able to get in two good tries at the tea. Although as that is not always feasible, so really I am between 10-25 grams.

[debunix]

I brew a bit more dilute than most people, and a 10 gram sample is generally enough for me. I don't mind a 25 gram sample, however. I once got some 5 gram samples that were hard to test out well until I got very small gaiwans. Ordering some of Essence of Tea's fantastic aged puerhs, I started with as little as 6 grams of the priciest one.

This morning, I'll be drinking some Den's Shin-ryoku sencha--I think I bought this one without sampling first, on the strength of my enjoyment of a couple of their other teas.

[Nenugal]

For me it depends on the price I guess. I think 7 grams is a minimum if I want to be able to judge a tea, and I usually prefer 10-20.
Today I'm drinking Adagio's Pouchong (baozhong) and some Yang Yan Gou Qing green tea from TeaSpring. I just got a bunch of samples from Tea From Taiwan that I will try out later...

[olivierco]

I don't buy/like samples.

[JRS22]

I am a big fan of samples. I've found that with Chinese greens and whites, when I buy the really good (read expensive) teas at trusted vendors like Jing and Seven Cups, 25 grams will not go to waste. Even if I don't reorder they're good enough to finish.

I'm currently enjoying puerh samples from The Mandarin's Tea Room. I received my 40 ml Mini Shui Ping Zhu Ni Yixing Zisha Clay Teapot from the Dragon Tea House last week. On Sunday I began a session with a sample from the Mandarin's Tea Room of 2000 Hon Tai Chang's Chi Tse Pin Cooked Puerh. At $8 for 12 grams it was the least expensive puerh sample, so the safest one to practice with. The session lasted 3 days, and now I'm ready to move on to the pricier ones.


40 ml Yixing by JaniceSpringer, on Flickr

[Chip]

I am definitely into tastings, especially group tastings of several teas. It is not only an opp to try teas, share teas, but also discuss teas.

However having started drinking tea long before samples were so readily availble from the better vendors, I have been "wired" to not buy samples from vendors. Perhaps I should rethink this as the few times I have gotten samples from vendors, it has been positive.

I would likely prefer 10 grams, though at times maybe more 20 or 25 grams ... but is this still a sample?

Began the TD with a new bag of Yutaka Midori LE from O-Cha, 2010 vintage with the Mrs. Still realllly good!

[Nenugal]

I am a big fan of samples. I've found that with Chinese greens and whites, when I buy the really good (read expensive) teas at trusted vendors like Jing and Seven Cups, 25 grams will not go to waste. Even if I don't reorder they're good enough to finish.

I'm currently enjoying puerh samples from The Mandarin's Tea Room. I received my 40 ml Mini Shui Ping Zhu Ni Yixing Zisha Clay Teapot from the Dragon Tea House last week. On Sunday I began a session with a sample from the Mandarin's Tea Room of 2000 Hon Tai Chang's Chi Tse Pin Cooked Puerh. At $8 for 12 grams it was the least expensive puerh sample, so the safest one to practice with. The session lasted 3 days, and now I'm ready to move on to the pricier ones.


40 ml Yixing by JaniceSpringer, on Flickr

That's a really interesting cup!

[Chip]

Yeah JRS, where is the cup from? Thanks for coloring our TD!!!