OH CRAP. NOW i know what it’s like to have too many teas to try!
swaps from TastyBrew, Shadowfall, Dinosara, Shelley_Lorraine have done me in.
with whatshesaid, Sil, Scheherazade, and CHAroma swaps still to come!
what have i done!?!?! hahahaha
it’s craziness. it’s chaos. teasanity! and VERY FUN!
but - i NEED a SYSTEM. i feel like i should apologize to Scheherazade and CHAroma for being such a disorganized swap partner this time around. i’ve lost complete track of what teas i have and what teas i am craving and what tea is still en route or in process.
i’m really new to the swapping and i kinda dove in headfirst with a flourish. as i usually do with everything.
i’m not a half measure type of person.
How do you guys do it?!
How do you make sure you don’t get swaps of things you already have?
Or have already tasted?
and how the hell do you decide from a mountain of tea what to drink next?!?!? haha
these are the funnest problems to have.

yesterday as i had a mountain of little tea swap samples spread out in front of me in the kitchen my boyfriend was like, “do you have a whole world of online friends that i don’t even know about?”, like it had just occurred to him that the tea comes from people (giving and thoughtful and passionate people), and i was like “duh ya”.

this tea. it’s nice. i like it. but it’s not super exciting.
i followed the steeping directions pretty closely. it is vanilla but not really enough. and the tea base isn’t thrilling either. it’s a middle tea. but this is the 296th unique tea i’ve tasted! all thanks to swapping. and this one specifically thanks to TastyBrew.

Sil

i STRONGLY suggest that if you’re doing a lot of swaps at once, the minute you get them, put the name of the person on to the package. I started adding mine when i realised that if i were going to get a few more teas in, i’d have lost who gave it to me. That way, even if it takes a while, i still know who gave it to me to thank them when i get around to it.

I also try to get to my swaps right away so that i can add them to my cupboard and then take them out sooner rather than later. If i do other swaps, i just warn the person i might not have a lot to share of some things. :)
i also have now needed to sort my swaps into “flavoured” and non flavoured so that i can just pull a random sample from the box depending on my mood for either.

ohfancythat

Sil that was possibly some of the best advice you gave me, way back :) (well not that far back, haha)

it gets REAL easy to lose track REAL fast, haha.

Shmiracles

oh flavored and non-flavored, that’s a good idea! very good. plus i was thinking i’ll start a “plain” tea cycle of tasting soon. i have so much to learn and teach my mouth, hopefully i will gain some tea XP.
i guess i use my email as an organization tool? when i send a swap i email myself a list of the teas i’ve sent and the address and swapper info. then when i receive it i also email myself a list of what was in the box. that way i can search my email for the tea and find out where the hell it came from. (basically a nerdier and more cumbersome way of doing what you recommended so efficiently) haha!

Sil, you are definitely an experienced tea wrangler. your masterful navigation of the tea stash is legendary!! and your tips have probably helped more than just me i’m sure. THANKS very much!

momo

I have a spreadsheet that includes putting in who sent me the tea and where I’ve stored it. That way I know what I have and then when I swap it, I know where to find it. It just requires maintaining because even the last time I swapped I had no idea where I put one tea.

Sil

I was going to say…i have a spreadsheet as well, though i’m been a bit silly with it. I put in what i get from people but then when it comes to what i sent, because i add in random things here and there. My spreadsheet is steepster name, what i asked for (not what i received); what they asked for, they’re real name and address and then future columns have repeats of what they asked for and what i gave them if there are repeat swaps with the same person.

I also colour code the spreadsheet – red means i’ve received something from them but they have not yet received my package. Yellow is, they’ve got it but i’m still waiting on theirs and then it’s green once we’re both in a happy place. Red = i’m a bad bad tea swapper…yellow because it’s typically “caution” and at least in that case it’s only ME out the tea, which i prefer to them not having received mypackage.

It’a a good way to track bugging people as to whether they’ve received MY swap so that i’m not inadvertantly not delivering on my end of things because they may have forgotten to tell me. Also RL comes up, so sometimes people just totally forget to say HEY! i got your package! ;)

ohfancythat

You guys are hardcore! :)

Sil

whatshesaid…i prefer to just think of myself as anal retentive…or really organised lol. I dunno about hardcore…i just derive pleasure out of organising things…same reason i sort and organise my tea for fun every few weeks lol

Shmiracles

man-handling my tea is my number one hobby.

ohfancythat

Hardcore…tea organizers ;)

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Sil

i STRONGLY suggest that if you’re doing a lot of swaps at once, the minute you get them, put the name of the person on to the package. I started adding mine when i realised that if i were going to get a few more teas in, i’d have lost who gave it to me. That way, even if it takes a while, i still know who gave it to me to thank them when i get around to it.

I also try to get to my swaps right away so that i can add them to my cupboard and then take them out sooner rather than later. If i do other swaps, i just warn the person i might not have a lot to share of some things. :)
i also have now needed to sort my swaps into “flavoured” and non flavoured so that i can just pull a random sample from the box depending on my mood for either.

ohfancythat

Sil that was possibly some of the best advice you gave me, way back :) (well not that far back, haha)

it gets REAL easy to lose track REAL fast, haha.

Shmiracles

oh flavored and non-flavored, that’s a good idea! very good. plus i was thinking i’ll start a “plain” tea cycle of tasting soon. i have so much to learn and teach my mouth, hopefully i will gain some tea XP.
i guess i use my email as an organization tool? when i send a swap i email myself a list of the teas i’ve sent and the address and swapper info. then when i receive it i also email myself a list of what was in the box. that way i can search my email for the tea and find out where the hell it came from. (basically a nerdier and more cumbersome way of doing what you recommended so efficiently) haha!

Sil, you are definitely an experienced tea wrangler. your masterful navigation of the tea stash is legendary!! and your tips have probably helped more than just me i’m sure. THANKS very much!

momo

I have a spreadsheet that includes putting in who sent me the tea and where I’ve stored it. That way I know what I have and then when I swap it, I know where to find it. It just requires maintaining because even the last time I swapped I had no idea where I put one tea.

Sil

I was going to say…i have a spreadsheet as well, though i’m been a bit silly with it. I put in what i get from people but then when it comes to what i sent, because i add in random things here and there. My spreadsheet is steepster name, what i asked for (not what i received); what they asked for, they’re real name and address and then future columns have repeats of what they asked for and what i gave them if there are repeat swaps with the same person.

I also colour code the spreadsheet – red means i’ve received something from them but they have not yet received my package. Yellow is, they’ve got it but i’m still waiting on theirs and then it’s green once we’re both in a happy place. Red = i’m a bad bad tea swapper…yellow because it’s typically “caution” and at least in that case it’s only ME out the tea, which i prefer to them not having received mypackage.

It’a a good way to track bugging people as to whether they’ve received MY swap so that i’m not inadvertantly not delivering on my end of things because they may have forgotten to tell me. Also RL comes up, so sometimes people just totally forget to say HEY! i got your package! ;)

ohfancythat

You guys are hardcore! :)

Sil

whatshesaid…i prefer to just think of myself as anal retentive…or really organised lol. I dunno about hardcore…i just derive pleasure out of organising things…same reason i sort and organise my tea for fun every few weeks lol

Shmiracles

man-handling my tea is my number one hobby.

ohfancythat

Hardcore…tea organizers ;)

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THAT’S NUMBERWANG!

i have 2 hamsters named Bauhaus and Danzig.

i drink my tea plain.

vegan. fine arts major. bass player. runner. yoga do-er. childfree. scifi fan. e-reader fanatic. knitting newb. ADHD club member (ie; all my exclamation points are for realz!!)

i’m always aspiring to read more books.

some tea pictures!
http://instagram.com/shmiracles

Steepster’s Ultimate Fan Fic Thread!
http://steepster.com/discuss/5153

i only log each tea i taste once.

!!! SWAPPING !!!

ALWAYS interested in reducing my tea stash, so please ask if you want to swap or sample something! even if it’s just one tea.

every tea in my cupboard is swapable! (at least i TRY to keep it up to date)
every tea i have tried is listed in my rated teas.

Location

Virginia, USA

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