A Quick Guide to the Reviews

As I’ve stated, this is a blog for people who want to drink tea and who, like most of us, live in a world of limited time, space, and budget. While I enjoy the pleasures of the aesthetic, this is tempered by a dislike of pretence and a growing awareness of orientalism.

I do use a bit of Chinese tea gear but nothing too extensive or that isn’t collectable, nor is it anything that will be difficult to use, clean, or find space for. The methods I use when making the tea for review will not be super precise but timed within reason. For the most part I use a brewing cup known as a gaiwan (which just means lidded cup) to make Chinese tea and I would urge you to consider purchasing one as they are simply a very practical way of making tea – and much easier to clean out than one of those little clay teapots!

To be clear, this is a blog without financial interests in any other business, and should anyone send me tea to review (perhaps wishful thinking on my part) I’ll accept it only on the understanding that I will give an honest review – if I don’t like it, I will say so. However, if I feel that my personal taste is playing a significant part of that, then I’ll be fair and say so.

As I live in the UK, there will be an obvious bias to shopping there, or to overseas sources that are easy for me to shop with. It is not a bias from preference, just one from practicality. I do have a limited budget and so what I buy, when, and from where will to that extent depend upon how much money I have to spare and how much need I have for more tea. As I begin this blog, I have just spent quite a large sum re-stocking and shall begin work reviewing each of these purchases as I have time. Once I’ve worked through them, I’m likely to be in a position to buy more but there may also be a little break.

If there is a weak element of this project it is my photography – I’m not good at it and don’t have a very good camera. Improving the camera would mean money that could go on something I would enjoy more, such as more tea. So for now, I shall have to make do. Perhaps my skill will improve over time but I wouldn’t bank on it.

In judging the value of any given product I really need some kind of standard against which to compare it. The standard that I use is to some extent arbitrary but it suits me and so long as you are aware of it, then you’ll understand what I mean by good value or bad in my reviews.

Prices have changed a lot over the years that I’ve been drinking lose tea but even today I feel that £10 for 100g of a really nice tea is a good price – this is what I would look to pay for a reasonably good 1^st flush Darjeeling or 2^nd Assam and while most places seem to charge more, I can get them at that. I’ll pay more for something that strikes me as particular good but my feeling is that if a tea costs more, then it needs to have some added value above say a really nice Margaret’s Hope.

Of course, a great many really good teas are a lot cheaper than this but it is the ceiling that requires something extra to go beyond.