85
drank Tie Guan Yin by AliExpress
1737 tasting notes

This was my very first purchase from Ali Express. The tea itself is very nice. My only complaint is that the product description said 150 grams, when in fact it contains 10 packets of 7.5 grams, so that is 75 grams. I filed a dispute. The price was still good, but the vendor (Gaineng Chen) should say the correct weight. The deal is only half as good as it seemed…

Fortunately, the tea is quite good. I used a whole packet for about 20 ounces, and it is fragrant and silken in texture. I have had two good infusions and am looking forward to a third.

Update: here’s my correspondence with the vendor:

The vendor’s message:
Gaineng Chen
2014-11-25 05:13:34
Hi, friend. I think you do not understand, each bag is 8g, and total 10 bags are 80g, the gift box is 70g, so the total weight is 150g.
Just as the discription.
You know, this product is 0 profit. But if you like the tea and will give me 5 star feedback, I am willing to refund $1 money to you.
Thanks for your understanding.

My reply:
2014-11-25 09:12:37
I do understand. When I buy 150 grams of tea from anyone else, I receive 150 grams of tea. Tea is sold not by the weight of its packaging but by the weight of the tea. So your description is false advertising. I will not give you a positive feedback for this reason. The tea is good, but you should tell the truth about what consumers will receive when they order 150 grams of tea. I have never heard of sending half the amount of tea because of the weight of the packaging. It’s just a lie.

Needless to say, I’ll not be purchasing from this vendor again. How ridiculous. It’s not even a matter of the money. There is a principle involved here.

new update: good news—the issue has now been resolved:

Gaineng Chen
2014-11-26 04:53:38
Ok, friend. Thanks for your good advice. I have changed the description for this problem.
How about this case. You said I have sent you half of the tea, so I am willing to refund you $2.5.
Ok?

2014.11.26 09:26:01
Yes, that is entirely acceptable. Thank you for changing the description. Truth in advertising!

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 15 sec 8 tsp 20 OZ / 591 ML
yyz

Glad you were happy with the tea. You do have to be careful with the weight on Aliexpress. Some sellers will only put the shipping weight. A good clue to this is if the weight is the same as the shipping weight. Especially if there is a tin, I’ll look to see if there is a weight listed in the description. If not, I ask the seller how much tea is included. If I don’t receive a timely answer it’s usually a sign not to buy from them anyways. Glad you are happy with the purchase regardless.

Kirkoneill1988

good thing they understand now

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yyz

Glad you were happy with the tea. You do have to be careful with the weight on Aliexpress. Some sellers will only put the shipping weight. A good clue to this is if the weight is the same as the shipping weight. Especially if there is a tin, I’ll look to see if there is a weight listed in the description. If not, I ask the seller how much tea is included. If I don’t receive a timely answer it’s usually a sign not to buy from them anyways. Glad you are happy with the purchase regardless.

Kirkoneill1988

good thing they understand now

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I have fallen off the “tea log boat”, as I am now in New Zealand and was really flailing about for a while, having depleted all of my Chinese and Japanese green tea supply! Fortunately, my first order of 2015 has now arrived! I should begin writing very soon about tea at my new blog, sherapop’s tea leaves. Please stop by and contribute your ideas—all viewpoints are welcome!

A long-time tea and perfume lover, I have recently begun to explore the intersections between the two at my blog: http://salondeparfum-sherapop.blogspot.com//

The scent of tea can be just as appealing as—sometimes more than—its taste! Tea also offers boundless visual beauty in its various forms and states of preparation.

A few words about my ratings. In assessing both teas and perfumes, my evaluation is “all things considered.” Teas do not differ very much in price (relative to perfumes or any luxury items), so I do not usually consider the price when rating a tea.

What I do consider is how the particular tea compares to teas of its own type. So I might give a high rating to a fine herbal infusion even though I would never say that it is my favorite TEA. But if it’s good for what it is, then it deserves a high rating. There is no point in wishing that a chamomile blend was an Assam or a sencha tea!

Any rating below 50 means that I find the liquid less desirable to drink than plain water. I may or may not finish the cup, depending upon how thirsty I am and whether there is another hot beverage or (in summertime) a source of fresh water available.

From 50 to 60 indicates that, while potable, the tea is not one which I would buy or repurchase, if I already made the mistake (I have learned) of purchasing it.

From 60 to 70 means that the tea is drinkable but I have criticisms of some sort, and I probably would not purchase or repurchase the tea as I can think of obvious alternatives which would be better.

From 70 to 80 is a solid brew which I would purchase again.

From 80 to 90 is good stuff, and I probably need to have some ready at hand in my humble abode.

From 90 to 100 is a tea (or infusion) which I have come to depend on and look forward to imbibing again and again—if possible!

If you are interested in perfume, you might like my 2400+ perfume reviews, most of which have been archived at sherapop’s sillage (essentially my perfumelog):

http://sherapop.blogspot.com/

Finally, please note that after a great deal of debate with myself, I have decided to use the cupboard here at Steepster as a “museum” of sorts—to commemorate all of the various teas which I have purchased and truly enjoyed since December 2013.

I do not currently possess all of the teas listed in this cupboard, but am using the function as a way of recording how many times I drank every tea which I did own at some point and wish not to forget. Teas found both in my “cupboard” and on my “wishlist” are those which I did own and intend to restock. Teas best forgotten have been removed from the cupboard once depleted (in some cases tossed…).

I have also decided (beginning in 2015) to use the tasting note function to maintain a chronological record of the teas I’ve consumed since December 15, 2013. Most new reviews will now be posted directly at my blog, sherapop’s tea leaves.

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