@belewfripp, thank you for the condensed version. I tend to agree with that. One exception may be if someone mentions a characteristic I have a strong aversion to, such as malt.
There are people I’ve known for a long time who have been consistent and honest in their descriptions. I value the opinions of these people a lot.
There are more shenanigans in tea sales than most people are aware of. Some of this is cultural and some of it comes with bulk sales of any commodity like tea.
I wish more awareness was placed on the practice of deceptive scenting.
For example, baozhong should have an allspice flavor at the finish. But it shouldn’t have actual allspice added to it, as I recently found in a sample.
Value of tea recommendations
I view recommendations here similarly to reviews of other things like movies or restaurants: I tend to be very wary until I've seen enough by a particular reviewer to have a sense of how to translate what they say into what my palate will experience. For me, this was one of the saddest part of Greg Clancy closing his online retail shop (norbutea.com), because overtime I figured out how to read end of his reviews and could be sure that things he described a certain way would make me very very happy.
And I will remember getting attacked on steepster.com for one or two of my very early postings in which I rated a particular tea as 100, and clearly she attackers just liked the entire style of tea I was talking about and assumed I was giving an inflated reading for no reason or with zero context of experiencing similar teas. I've come to realize that some of those ratings were probably inflated by lack of experience with a particular type of tea, and being thrilled buy the new style more than because that tea was a particularly fine example of it, but a couple of others (his 'Diamond Grade' TGY from 2009....sigh) just really were fabulous teas that I I happen to be introduced to before I had had lesser examples of the same type of tea.
At the same time though, if I someone who I may not have a lot of experience with expresses tremendous enthusiasm that really sounds interesting, I'm comfortable taking the occasional flyer just because. I've definitely found a few cool teas that way.
And I will remember getting attacked on steepster.com for one or two of my very early postings in which I rated a particular tea as 100, and clearly she attackers just liked the entire style of tea I was talking about and assumed I was giving an inflated reading for no reason or with zero context of experiencing similar teas. I've come to realize that some of those ratings were probably inflated by lack of experience with a particular type of tea, and being thrilled buy the new style more than because that tea was a particularly fine example of it, but a couple of others (his 'Diamond Grade' TGY from 2009....sigh) just really were fabulous teas that I I happen to be introduced to before I had had lesser examples of the same type of tea.
At the same time though, if I someone who I may not have a lot of experience with expresses tremendous enthusiasm that really sounds interesting, I'm comfortable taking the occasional flyer just because. I've definitely found a few cool teas that way.
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swordofmytriumph
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:19 am
- Location: Seattle, USA
Personally, I think it depends on the sort of recommendation. It’s one thing to recommend a particular tea, and another to recommend a vendor. My own tastes will differ wildly from that of others, and as others have mentioned, genetics and water will also factor in. Meaning that trusting a recommendation for a specific tea will not be very useful to me without knowing that persons tastes along with everything else. It’s better to just buy the tea and try it.
But a recommendation for a vendor, on the other hand, is another matter. Providing the recommendation comes from a source I know is experienced and honest, it’s less about that person’s tastes than it is about how knowledgeable they are, and the knowledge that they aren’t likely to recommend a vendor who sells counterfeits or tea with allspice in it. This sort of recommendation is way more useful to me than a specific tea recommendation. I’m not super experienced, so knowing someone who is way more experienced than me buys from a vendor themselves is a great starting point.
But a recommendation for a vendor, on the other hand, is another matter. Providing the recommendation comes from a source I know is experienced and honest, it’s less about that person’s tastes than it is about how knowledgeable they are, and the knowledge that they aren’t likely to recommend a vendor who sells counterfeits or tea with allspice in it. This sort of recommendation is way more useful to me than a specific tea recommendation. I’m not super experienced, so knowing someone who is way more experienced than me buys from a vendor themselves is a great starting point.
@swordofmytriumph, my experience has been with vendors that it is often hit or miss. I think it is wise of you to separate between tea and vendor.