Hojo Tea

Janice
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:11 pm
Location: New Jersey

Mon Nov 04, 2019 2:51 pm

faj wrote:
Sun Nov 03, 2019 3:39 pm
OCTO, would it be possible for you to please PM me the contact info too? I have tried sending additional emails and am not receiving a response after several days.

Thanks in advance,
Several days! Tomorrow will be 3 weeks for my order. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me that 1 Kobiwako pot is enough.
faj
Posts: 710
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:45 am
Location: Quebec

Mon Nov 04, 2019 7:32 pm

Janice wrote:
Mon Nov 04, 2019 2:51 pm
Several days! Tomorrow will be 3 weeks for my order. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me that 1 Kobiwako pot is enough.
Just to clarify... I sent an initial email. Several days later, I wrote another one, to which Hojo replied saying he had found both messages it in his spam folder by chance. I then replied, got no response, and sent another message from a different address.

I am pretty sure my email is ending up in his spam folder, so my main issue is not so much the delay in response, as the probability that I will never get a response.

As for how many Kobiwako clay teapots are enough, I would suggest you need only one. One more. ;)
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OCTO
Posts: 1120
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:25 pm
Location: Penang, Malaysia

Mon Nov 04, 2019 7:40 pm

faj wrote:
Sun Nov 03, 2019 3:39 pm
OCTO, would it be possible for you to please PM me the contact info too? I have tried sending additional emails and am not receiving a response after several days.

Thanks in advance,
PM sent.
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Tor
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:19 am
Location: Bangkok

Tue Nov 05, 2019 4:59 am

He just posted something on Facebook 6 hours ago. If you have an account you might wanna try sending him a message.

https://www.facebook.com/13015085366453 ... 62?sfns=mo
Janice
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:11 pm
Location: New Jersey

Tue Nov 05, 2019 5:08 am

I sent another email last night and received an apology and invoice this morning. Apparently his original reply got stuck in his draft folder.

I’m afraid following Hojo on Facebook will aggravate my TAD. I’ll probably do it anyway.
Last edited by Janice on Tue Nov 05, 2019 7:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
faj
Posts: 710
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:45 am
Location: Quebec

Tue Nov 05, 2019 5:31 am

I actually received an email response before I was able to figure out why WhatsApp was considering all numbers I tried as "not found".
Vanenbw
Posts: 176
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:14 pm
Location: NJ, USA

Wed Jan 15, 2020 6:37 am

I'm glad I found this thread. I had some communications with Akira before placing my order, and each of his responses were delayed. No big deal, but I placed my order on Friday, then forwarded it to his other email address on Monday, and then I revised the order Tuesday. It's Wednesday morning and I haven't heard back from him. Under normal circumstances, I probably would not feel too comfortable purchasing from him, even if he does respond at some point. But seeing as his name is in good standing within the tea community, and after reading this post, I'm a little more understanding and forgiving. I had not thought about the possibility that my emails may be ending up in his spam folder. It shouldn't since he received my previous emails.

I'll wait another week or so before following up with him.
Last edited by Vanenbw on Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Janice
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:11 pm
Location: New Jersey

Wed Jan 15, 2020 7:35 am

Vanenbw wrote:
Wed Jan 15, 2020 6:37 am
I'm glad I found this thread. I had some communications with Akira before placing my order, and each of his responses were delayed. No big deal, but I placed my order on Friday, then forwarded it to his other email address on Monday, and then I revised the order Tuesday. It's Wednesday morning and I haven't heard back from him. Under normal circumstances, I probably would not feel too comfortable purchasing from him, even if he does respond at some point. But seeing as his name is in good standing within the tea community, and after reading this post, I'm a little more understanding and forgiving. I had not thought about the possibility that my emails may be ending up in his spam folder. It shouldn't since you received my previous emails.

I'll wait another week or so before following up with him.
Hojo’s response got stuck in his draft folder, not his spam folder. It appears from his site that he travels a good bit buying tea so he’s not in the office full time processing emails. This is the only occasion for me there was a significant delay in receiving a response. I’ll definitely continue to buy tea from Hojo.
Vanenbw
Posts: 176
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:14 pm
Location: NJ, USA

Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:36 am

Janice wrote:
Wed Jan 15, 2020 7:35 am
Hojo’s response got stuck in his draft folder, not his spam folder. It appears from his site that he travels a good bit buying tea so he’s not in the office full time processing emails. This is the only occasion for me there was a significant delay in receiving a response. I’ll definitely continue to buy tea from Hojo.
Thanks, @Janice. Maybe I'll shoot him another email tomorrow just to see if he received my order. I'm not in a hurry to receive the items. I'm definitely interested in purchasing from him. He's been very helpful and has sent me detailed responses to all of my questions. I figured there had to be some reason for the delay. I'm not too worried about it.
Vanenbw
Posts: 176
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:14 pm
Location: NJ, USA

Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:18 pm

Just thought I'd mention that today Akira sent me the invoice. It wasn't that much of a delay. I sent in my original order on Friday, and revised it on Tuesday. Today is Thursday. I am looking forward to trying out my new houhin.

Tonight I brewed tea in my new yohen mogake hiramaru kyusu teapot by Hiroshi Mizuno. I'm already on my sixth infusion, something I would not have been able to achieve in my 360ml kyusu. I've never stretched out a tea session for this long. I think I started about an hour and fifteen minutes ago. I'm very eager to experience drinking tea from a kobiwako clay pot.
Last edited by Vanenbw on Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Janice
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:11 pm
Location: New Jersey

Thu Jan 16, 2020 12:29 pm

I began my journey on Tea Chat and purchasing tea samples and tea ware from Adagio. I was down the road from them in NJ and if I ordered by 3 pm I received the order the next day. Nothing has come close to that for almost-instant gratification but the quality of the tea and tea ware has improved. Be sure to post photos of your houhin in use.
Vanenbw
Posts: 176
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:14 pm
Location: NJ, USA

Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:43 pm

I just learned about Adagio. I wss browsing theit website last week. That is impressive service. I received my new kyusu from Artistic Nippon in 6 days, shipping with EMS. I was very surprised.

I will post some photos. I selected a small parcel delivery, so it might be a few weeks before I receive it.
vuanguyen
Posts: 105
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2020 6:06 pm
Location: San Jose, California

Mon Mar 02, 2020 6:09 pm

OCTO wrote:
Wed Oct 30, 2019 12:56 am
Janice wrote:
Tue Oct 29, 2019 12:34 pm
I was inspired by the post here about new kobiwako pots to rush over to Hojo’s site to reserve a 70 ml pot to complement my 110 ml pot. I heard back in 2 days and then the next day I sent in an order for the pot and several teas. That was 10/15, 2 weeks ago. I did resend my email several days later but I haven’t received a response to either email. The email address worked the first time and was also the one that Hojo used to send a response.

Has anyone else had to wait this long for a response? Any suggestions?

This is the pot I want. I particularly like the shape.

Image
Janice

I'm in direct contact with his Marketing Manager here in Malaysia. Do let me know if you would like to contact her personally. I can give you her mobile number. Queries and photos can be sent directly through WhatsApp. That's how I usually get my stuffs from Hojo, Very fast response time.

Cheers!
@OCTO I would appreciate if you could PM me the telephone #

Thanks.

Vu
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archimon
Posts: 35
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:20 pm
Location: New Jersey

Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:30 pm

I didn't see a thread for Hojo, so I thought that I'd start one. I was thinking of picking up a 150ml Nosaka Roughl Clay pot made by Watanabe Tozo to use with Oolongs (preferably unroasted, but I'd be okay with using for roasted as well) and a large set of Oolong samples (particularly unroasted Taiwanese and some Dan Cong), along with some Jasmine pearls. I haven't actually been able to confirm the order yet since Hojo has been busy for some time, so I wanted to see what you guys thought about his teapots (and particularly this teapot/clay) and about the quality of his teas more generally before I hand over the dough. I've also been thinking about adding a few more teas to the order, especially some Gyokuro, Darjeeling, and Lapsang Souchong. Has anyone bought non-sencha/gyokuro from Hojo? What are your thoughts on the quality he offers?

Here's the pot I had in mind:
Image
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Victoria
Admin
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Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:33 pm
Location: Santa Monica, CA
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Sat Jun 20, 2020 7:05 pm

Welcome to TeaForum @archimon. Hojo’s teas and teaware are overall are top quality. If you order a kyusu it makes sense to add some tea as well. I’ve sampled a few gyokuro that we’re gifted over the years, all were high quality. I haven’t tried any of his oolong or Darjeeling. Regarding Nosaka clay kyusu and Watanabe Tozo, you can search here on TeaForum, there are many threads and posts regarding both. I have a Shimizu Ken Nosaka kyusu without Namamigaki from Hojo. It’s a great kyusu for both Japanese greens and greener high mountain oolong. I prefer the textural quality of Nosaka clay without Namamigaki, the shinier smoother one I have with Namamigaki is great, it just doesn’t give me the same vibe.
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