2019 Vendor List

swordofmytriumph
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Thu Jan 31, 2019 10:14 am

chofmann wrote:
Thu Jan 31, 2019 8:32 am
Ethan Kurland wrote:
Wed Jan 30, 2019 8:36 pm
There is not a lot of activity on the forum. If people don't want to read the limited amount of posts in their areas of interest, they are just looking for quick advice on shopping which they will do a couple of times a year. I treasure the talk. I do talk about myself and my teas more than some may find interesting, but it is easy to move on to another post. Cheers
I don't know if I agree with this necessarily. While the number of posts are relatively small and easy to keep track of if you visit the site on a daily or even weekly basis, it can be quite daunting for a brand new member.

There are currently over 1200 posts in the 'Oolong Tea' section and over 450 in the 'Vendor Discussion & Recommendation'. Information can get buried very fast. For example, a new reader might not notice Vicotria's post in January 2018:
have tasted a new roasted Oolong, 'Tian Xian Hong Oolong', (roasted by Mr Li, in Guo Ying Village, Nantou) that is delicious. Hand picked and heavily oxidized, it is amazingly rich from DieKunstDesTees out of Eschborn, Germany;
Or her post about Teaful in July:
Savoring TeaFul's buttery smooth and sweet LiShan. Jason really knows how to pick excellent oolong from Taiwan, their specialty. His Muzha and #18 and #21 are really rich as well.
I wouldn’t have picked up on them.
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Bok
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Thu Jan 31, 2019 6:38 pm

Seems to me like the general tendency to want things spoon fed and convenient without spending too much energy as opposed to do develop some proper “gong fu” in the original sense by one self: time and effort spent to develop a high skill in something.

:roll:
swordofmytriumph
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Thu Jan 31, 2019 7:20 pm

Bok wrote:
Thu Jan 31, 2019 6:38 pm
Seems to me like the general tendency to want things spoon fed and convenient without spending too much energy as opposed to do develop some proper “gong fu” in the original sense by one self: time and effort spent to develop a high skill in something.

:roll:
Maybe so.
Ethan Kurland
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Thu Jan 31, 2019 10:02 pm

choffman, You make sense. To be disappointing to some newbies and perhaps too blunt, I don't think there are great shortcuts. For example, one might think just to follow Victoria posts, but she does not talk much about prices and value for $ (which is a big concern for some people). I think my gut reaction against lists, is that people will use them for speed, settle on a few teas for speed, and ultimately miss out on a wider range and many qualities. Maybe I am wrong. It might be a ? of whether something is used as a crutch or a tool.
chofmann
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Thu Jan 31, 2019 10:17 pm

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Thu Jan 31, 2019 10:02 pm
choffman, You make sense. To be disappointing to some newbies and perhaps too blunt, I don't think there are great shortcuts. For example, one might think just to follow Victoria posts, but she does not talk much about prices and value for $ (which is a big concern for some people). I think my gut reaction against lists, is that people will use them for speed, settle on a few teas for speed, and ultimately miss out on a wider range and many qualities. Maybe I am wrong. It might be a ? of whether something is used as a crutch or a tool.
All very fair points. Pros and cons... life is full of them :?: (Full Disclosure, I have no idea what that emoji means)
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There is no self
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Location: I think you say, convenience store?

Fri Feb 01, 2019 4:14 am

Perhaps a better question could be "what teas" rather than "what vendors". Vendors like Yunnan Sourcing may seem safe for beginners, given the variety of their teas, but at the same time the sheer size of their offer is extremely confusing if you don't know what you're looking for. On the other hand, smaller vendors specialising in a couple of teas are out of the question, unless you already know that you like them.
When I first started my tea journey, I followed the "what green are you drinking" thread on TC and took note of the most-mentioned vendors. Same with wulongs, although by that time I already had the chance of exchanging tips with more seasoned drinkers. I still think this is the safest option for beginners. When in doubt, one can always drop a line asking "I like these flavours, what are some good teas for me?".

(Sorry, Braden. I know you simply asked for vendors, but there are more things in tea that are dreamt up in our philosophy(-ies)).
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teasecret
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Fri Feb 01, 2019 9:05 am

this format is nice, but of course everyone will have their own list! https://olfactoryrescueservice.wordpres ... l-of-fame/
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Sarah
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2019 8:55 pm

Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:02 pm

I've been kind of following the Reddit vendor list as I am new to tea other than easily found offerings from places like David's Tea or even Twinings from the grocery store. I would like a list on here, but understand conversation can be more productive. Maybe even a small list of good beginners sources would be nice, something keeping in mind budget while also helping people experience new teas.
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There is no self
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Location: I think you say, convenience store?

Thu Feb 07, 2019 2:20 am

Sarah wrote:
Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:02 pm
I've been kind of following the Reddit vendor list as I am new to tea other than easily found offerings from places like David's Tea or even Twinings from the grocery store. I would like a list on here, but understand conversation can be more productive. Maybe even a small list of good beginners sources would be nice, something keeping in mind budget while also helping people experience new teas.
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swordofmytriumph
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Thu Feb 07, 2019 3:00 am

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debunix
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Thu Feb 07, 2019 10:21 am

What most people ask for are recommendations for what teas currently on offer from a particular vendor are recommended. For me, this is not possible for those vendors whose stock turns over regularly, because I order a wide variety of teas, and may not open something until it is already gone from the web site. I can only list vendors I regularly buy from, and then, if you use the search function and search for the name of the vendor and posts by my username (and I am the same here and in the past on TeaChat), you can see what I've written about from those vendors. It is not a comprehensive list: I sometimes order one time from a vendor who might provide a superb tea, but didn't have enough distinct offerings for me to make repeated orders and thus remember them now:

Norbu
Essence of Tea
Yunnan Sourcing
Taiwan Sourcing
O-Cha
BirdPick
Dens
Yuuki-Cha
Morning Crane
JingTeaShop (there is a similarly named Jing Tea, but I have not ordered from them)
and I currently 'subscribe' to Obubu Tea Farm near Kyoto, and get shipments of several teas every quarter. I toured the farm and am enjoying their teas very much.

This morning, for example, I'm enjoying a 2016 harvest of a relatively light roast (but not 'green') LiShan oolong from Norbu, that I probably purchased in 2016 but only opened a month or so ago.
swordofmytriumph
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Thu Feb 07, 2019 10:57 am

Floating Leaves Tea is good also.
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aet
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Location: Kunming ( China )

Thu May 02, 2019 9:57 pm

I was quite tired to read trough the all thread so forgive me if this was said here already.
I believe the Vendor list is a practical thing. The one on reddit is ok , but I also feel that the vendors voted by community is not much use , since it only reflects preference of certain people who voted based on many factors ( Ive seen some vendors promoting on other soc.networks...Vote for us on Reddit! ;-) . It could be optional of course , but shouldn't be as main filter for the list.

I would prefer have a list done either alphabetically or alphabetically by country from where the vendor is operating / shipping the goods ( not that somebody claims that has some office in China but shipping from Germany , or something like that ) . Of course some details about vendors ( brief ) , like what the specialize on..etc. If any feedback to this vendor, link can be also provided. ( like reviews on steepster for example )

The problem of reddit list is , that I check some vendor for green tea and find that shop is in US which is inconvenient. Too much time and hassle to click trough the all vendors until find one in your country. So I believe the vendor's location is the important factor. ( and shipping options - national / world )
I know there is a bit hard work and long time behind it, but reddit has done half job already, so could be done now much faster and better.

Discussions / opinions on particular vendors can be and should be still continued on some thread ( which can be linked somehow with the list it self ) , but I would find really tiring to scroll down thousands of posts to search for vendor in Italy , for example ;-)

In vendor discussion can be separated threads for each vendor ( alphabetically ) , which would be started only is somebody create it. Means , no need to open separate threads for all shops right away. So admins do not have to bother with this too much.
So if I see vendor ABC-Tea from Italy on list, I go to vendors discussion board and alphabetically quickly can check is thread was started there already , if not, can create one.

Speak of that, I have also an idea about better front page maybe? I understand that admins try to keep the site nice and organized but I'd personally prefer see the latest posts somehow in front page. So I don't have to scroll down and check the dates of each category to see if anything new here. Like steepster ( except the spams of course ) . So the effect? If I open the teaforum page and I see right away the name of the vendor I know and somebody asking something, I'm keen to click and answer. If I don't see , I just scroll down see first board has new article, might read just this one and then do my own things again , without reaching the board of vendors discussion at all , for example.

hope my ideas are not to conversational with conventional mind set of the community here.


Good luck!
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Bok
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Thu May 02, 2019 10:19 pm

aet wrote:
Thu May 02, 2019 9:57 pm
Speak of that, I have also an idea about better front page maybe? I understand that admins try to keep the site nice and organized but I'd personally prefer see the latest posts somehow in front page.
You might want to try the activity button on the top... gives you the latest activity in one click – if that is not too tiresome :mrgreen:
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aet
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Posts: 409
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Fri May 03, 2019 8:47 am

thanks. Ive been following this forum since beginning and never thought of the clicking on any buttons . I guess it's only me then ;)
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