Liquid Proust Teas 2016 Master Thread
I have two questions for everyone:
1. When I’m at the Midwest Tea Fest, what should I have with me? I’m a super small online business and have to figure out what to order soon. I’m thinking I need business cards, some sort of sign for people to know what company I am, and ??? not sure.
2. Would their be an issue with posting links for the group buys on Steepster for a few days before letting others know via Facebook/Reddit/Instagram?
If it’s anything like the one in New York it will be hard for people to find a specific vendor, I’d want a sign to place up high so people will spot you.
Business cards will be a must. People who don’t buy on the day of may take a card and buy later. Plus, they are a relatively cheap investment through Vistaprint.
You’ll be able to be seen and found. It’s nowhere near as big as NY. :) and there’s a map in the program.
pu.f.o …. I’ll think about it… Does it have to be legit pu’erh or can it be painted materials?
Just received my French Toast! One of my two packages came with a couple vanilla beans inside.. should I be keeping these in there? How long?
If you want, it won’t do much. The way I process the French Toast Dianhong is by three different steps and the last step is to age the flavored hand tied dianhong balls in fresh vanilla beans which is why those vanilla beans are really dry; it takes about six to ten weeks before the moisture and aroma transfer from the vanilla beans to the dianhong. I just include them in the package because I figure some might break a piece off and brew with the tea or just enjoy having one in their package.
Offer: Looking for about 30 minutes of work done in Illustrator if anyone has it. Just need a vector done and I don’t have a license. Would love to pay in tea :)
I have done a lot of graphic arts in the past with vectoring, but I haven’t touched the stuff since Adobe CS2 in 2008. I suppose it’s also possible to find a free vector program, but for someone experienced this would be a breeze.
:(
I spent 45 minutes in Inkscape and now I’m stuck on the curving of these lines. ughhh
Sending good vibes your way. You’ll get it done. I was half tempted to draw some stuff for you, but it would be hand done which you can also already do. If only there was a way to make traditional methods sleeker and more professional looking. Again, good vibes. Think of the Drunken Dragon that I’ll send your way in the next trade (darker, but I think you’ll still like it)
Thanks Daylon, I actually used Inkscape and only needed two tutorials but I have now finished the design and submitted a business card design as well. It was interesting to learn a new program :)
SALE I am currently preparing for the Midwest Tea Festival and need room so I reduced a few of the 2015 creations.
Autumn Warmth only $2
Silver Jasmine $2
Gyokuro Jackseed $4
Mate Nectar $3
Please understand that this sale is going to cost me money as these prices are lower than what I paid for the material plus fees for selling them on Etsy.
Also, to keep you all up to date: I am currently working on Verdant’s Laoshan Chocolate Genmaicha (not for them, but with permission), a Watermelon Oolong using Beautiful Taiwan Tea’s sourced Baozhong, my first barrel aged tea Rummy Pu’, and the first tea that will be dedicated to Proust which will titled Swan’s Way (even though it’s a turtle tea!)
I would like to get your Silver Jasmine and Gyokuro Jackseed but the prices on Etsy are not the same as listed above. I also want to try out your Laoshan Chocolate Genmaicha when that’s ready!
@ubacat I just triple checked… The prices should show correct. Is yours set to CAD?
To all my Canada people: I’m still working on generating a Canada only coupon, but for now I’ll just do some free tea and pay the extra on the weight of the whole order.
When I figure out the difference in currency to provide a discou that seems viable for both ends I will put it in as a message to buyers. If anyone knows how to charge products differently based on country let me know please. I could do PayPal direct… but LPT will die by 2017 if reviews don’t show up making a new customer feel okay with buying from some random Ohio guy who is blending tea and post weird things in IG.
Huge Update
I’m about to go into some hibernation as I just did almost all of this years work in just a few month and I’m exhausted!
1 ) Dark Matter 2016, the first Liquid Proust Tea group buy, has been mostly sent out https://www.facebook.com/LiquidProustTeas/photos/a.1424906114501724.1073741827.1424903851168617/1608142826178051
Really excited about this as it opened up a lot of dialog, led to new friends, and gained more confidence in the connection between Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit to Steepster.
2) I really respect bloggers because I’ve only gotten one out; they take time! https://liquidproust.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/watermelon-baozhong/ , I am also working on one for the Laoshan Chocolate Genmaicha due to the learning of making the rice and sourcing the cocoa nibs.
3)The fundraiser that was thrown for me was really really enjoyable. I also learned that when I am not paying attention, pictures of me are terrible http://www.meetup.com/Columbus-Tea-Lovers/photos/26864489/
4) I have somehow finished a few teas and released them recently… not even sure how I did this with Dark Matter 2016 and 2016 Sheng Olympics only two months apart; I must be crazy.
They are Watermelon Baozhong, Jacked Raw pu’erh, Laoshan Chocolate Genmiacha, and Swann’s Way (you have to try this…)
5) I have received these thank you messages from people that I don’t even know just about my post cheering them up or providing information… that is honestly some of the best things I’ve ever came across in my life to date. Something about random messages coming my way for just doing what I am passionate about seems to surprise me every time and I just want to say thank you to anyone who has because I’m terrible at receiving compliments and probably blew you off; I’m more of a giver and I am working on it.
6) Midwest Tea Festival, I hope to see as many of you as I can that are going!
Please ask questions, I love questions :)
edit
7) https://liquidproust.wordpress.com/2016/04/05/laoshan-chocolate-genmaicha/
I think you are effing amazing, LP. I read about your creation of Swann’s Way with all the refernces to love and I cried-because I was touched and inspired. Loved the word press on creating the watermelon tea, too. While I cannot speak for everyone here, a lot of us think you are one helluva human being and I for one am always cheering you on. Thank you for being YOU.
As long as people enjoy my cintributions, I shall continue and become more skillful. I’m glad to provide what I can to the tea community with hopes to connect others with new friends, passions, and possibly lifestyle.
Thank you for the support and feedback.
Etsy Pattern: Anyone think $15 a month to have my own website like LiquidProustTeas.com would make a difference in the audience I can obtain?
I think so. I don’t drive so I do most of my shopping online. I hate waiting for things I’ve bought, so I avoid overseas tea companies, What-Cha being the exception.
You already have a following and with social media, you can steer more traffic to your website.I think having your own domain makes a world of a difference. More visibility, control of all of your content, search engine optimization, etc. Let me know if you need help/recommendations building a site.
@t ching, Pattern is a service through Etsy to make a site using their stuff. This is a hobby of mine and I don’t think I can afford 15+ hours to learn all the website stuff right now. Do you really think a website outside of Etsy really gets more attention as some small dude following his passion as a hobby for a selective few in the tea community?
I think having your own domain absolutely helps drive sales. If your search engine optimization is right, you can easily make up the $180 annual investment on a website. While I don’t have any experience with Etsy Pattern, I do know Squarespace has a plan for $18/mo that is very easy to build/maintain. You should really think about your end goal, are you looking to keep sales restricted to a small tea community, or branch out and market to people looking for tea online? If it is the former, you are fine where you are with Etsy, people will have to know to look you up, if you are looking to expand, definitely your own website will help drive sales. Also a domain looks more professional in my opinion, if you are going to be promoting your company at tea festivals, a .com address looks much better on a business card than an etsy site.
I have to agree with @t-ching. A friend of mine is an electrologist. She has been in business (independent) since 1995 and has mostly served the transgender community and the majority of her business in the past was by word of mouth. With laser hair removal becoming more popular and affordable, she was losing a lot clients and not gaining any new ones. In January of this year, she did a trade with a technically adept client and set up a website and domain. She is so busy now, she had to hire a second person to accommodate all the new clients. She has also succeeded in acquiring clients outside of the trans community, something she had been aiming for.
The new teas are selling well already :)
Give it a week and I’ll be looking for bloggers to point out the bad and good of these new teas. Let me know if you’re interested.
Things are blissfully not crazy on my blog right now, so I would be up to review.
Has anyone got the new batch of French Toast Dian Hong? I’m having trouble brewing it properly. In this batch each ball seems to be about 3 grams, which is the amount of loose leaf black I’d use with other brews. But for some reason the French Toast brew comes out very light, even in 210F water.. so I tried using 2 balls, but the taste is kind of perfume-y. I can’t seem to get the brew to be as tasty as the last batch I tried. Anyone got some advice here?
This still perplexes me. I’m sure you’re right as others have said this about batch 1 and 2, but I never get that. I used this at my fundraiser on Sunday and nobody said anything about it. I wonder if it’s just a personal taste thing?
I had one of those large gravity steepers because it’s the easiest way to pour for everyone as I just put it onto of a french press to extract.
When I make it: I put two balls into one of these teapots like this https://www.facebook.com/LiquidProustTeas/posts/1593083714350629
I’m going to have to think about this because some say they get this and others don’t. I thought the solution was the interesting egg like taste, as I explained it, in the first steep that I told people to throw out if they don’t like it. I’ve not encountered it yet and I want to, but with multiple people finding this I have to figure something out.
How much water are you using when you brew with two balls? What temperature, and how long?
I’ll try to mirror your method exactly, and see if I come up with differing results.. which would signify a personal taste thing. However, I did try an older batch a while back from a swap and got no perfumey taste and absolutely loved it.. so that leads me to believe its a brewing issue.
Since the Midwest Tea Festival will be 100% new to me an a challenge in itself, Liquid Proust Teas is having a 10% sale from now until the 24th.
The goal is have online orders in by then so come May I will know exactly how much I will be taking, storage needed for stock, and then how I will do my table layout.
Coupon is simply: festival
Oh the temptation! I really want to get Swann’s Way but wanted to get it at the festival. Decisions decisions
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