Our newest Tea of the Week: Green Apple Watermelon

apparently we’re all stalking frank :)

@Sil I’m actually glad to hear that I am not the only one who does this. It used to be much worse with me before I became a subscriber. I used to visit the 52Teas website several times daily (more like several times an hour all day) until the website was updated with the new tea. Yes, I knew I’d get an emailed newsletter, but sometimes I’d get the newsletter up to 12 hours or so after the tea had been announced and depending upon the tea, sometimes that 12 hours was too late.

Now that I subscribe, I do it more for curiosity’s sake (which tea will I get for this week?) rather than out of worry that I’ll miss out on the next great flavor. And I don’t stalk the website as often as I used to before I became a subscriber, just maybe a couple of times on Monday until it’s posted … and then if it’s not posted on Monday, a few more times on Tuesday and so on.

Yeah, some people stalk celebrities, I stalk tea.

@LiberTEAS, are you saying I’m NOT a celebrity? :P

I never know how to respond to this sort of thing. I get messages in my orders sometimes that say stuff like: “Your teas are awesome. I HATE YOU!”

I just don’t know how to process that.

I’m sorry (?).

Take it as a terms of endearment – a compliment – playful kidding around. :)

Until I’m sleeping on the streets, drinking my tea to stay warm, it’s all in good fun ;)

Everybody wants me to have this huge permanent collection. What’s up with that? =)

Actually, I’m VERY selective about what goes on the permanent collection. I would prefer to NOT have to stock a lot of teas (It gives me more room for new blends and reblends). I would MUCH rather bring some teas back every once in a while.

Really, the only way a tea should be in my permanent collection is if I’m getting a few orders for it every week. So those are really extra special and awesome teas.

I am still rooting for Sun & Cloud Mist to make it into the permanent collection! I know it’s quite a selective process but I just can’t imagine living without that tea.

That one will be even harder to justify, as it means keeping stock of Yun Wu, which I otherwise rarely blend with at this point. But that doesn’t mean I can’t reblend it. (I’m expecting some Yun Wu in any day now… =) )

“Really, the only way a tea should be in my permanent collection is if I’m getting a few orders for it every week.”

I respect your decision-making process, but am confused by this statement. How do you know whether something will bring in a few orders a week unless it’s actually in the permanent collection? If a blend sells out in 20 minutes or something ([cough] cheesecake anything [cough]), how can you tell whether it’s because the blend’s amazing or because you create demand by limiting the supply? I guess it could be an iterative process: new blend sells out, you re-blend (maybe) and if you keep getting requests to re-blend, maybe you consider inducting it into the hall of fame…?

You’re exactly right, of course. I can’t really tell if a given blend will meet the requirements for a permanent blend without some trial and error. In fact, some of the teas that are in my permanent collection right now, probably shouldn’t be there.

Pancake Breakfast, Malted ChocoMate, Coconut Cream Pie, Strawberry Zabaglione, Pina Colada Honeybush, …these are all consistent sellers. In fact, if you look at http://steepster.com/teas/52teas?sort=popular the teas that are MOST popular here are more or less our permanent collection.

It’s not that I want to upset people who want their favorite included in the list, it’s just that I have to be careful and use my space and resources efficiently. I think many of our customers would be stunned to see the space I operate out of. (If I ever get it tidied up, maybe I’ll take some pictures someday.) 52teas is headquartered in an office space that is 16′ × 12′. That is: computer, receipt printer, phone, office printer, shipping label printer, product label printer, filing cabinet, scales, band sealer, mixing bowls, pantry of freeze dried fruits, nuts, herbs, spices, botanicals, and fruit peels, teas, packaging and shipping supplies, more teas, unblended teas, packaged blended teas, flavors, merchandise, label stock (shipping and product) and on and on. Anyway, it’s a bit crowded. LOL.

Even apart from the space issue, I guess the biggest thing is I just don’t like creating a blend and having it just sit on my shelf. I’f I’m not making a fresh batch at least every month or so, I feel like my customers aren’t getting my best product—and weirdly perhaps, it kind of makes me feel a bit sad and insecure about my work if it just sits on a shelf and no one buys it. Every day that I look at it I feel a little more crumby for having created something so seemingly unpopular. (Right now, the Doggy Tea is making me a little crazy inside. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I just feel stupid for having made it.)

Well, that’s probably way more than I should say, but there you have it. LOL.

Thanks for the insight, Frank. And don’t beat yourself up over creating a blend that didn’t sell well. Lots of big companies make products that don’t go over well – Crystal Pepsi, “New” Coke, etc., but they’re still doing well ;)

Is there a point when you actually remove stuff from the permanent collection? Or once it’s there, is it there?

I do occasionally prune the “Permanent” Collection. I took Buttered Cinnamon Raisin Toast and Sheri’s Blend off last year. I might be taking Pumpkin Pie (probably after the cold season) and 1 or two of the honeybush blends off this year.

I was thinking of getting some of the doggy tea for my rats. I just need to double check the ingredients to make sure everything is a go.

For what it’s worth, I would totally get Doggy tea if I had a dog! Maybe I’ll get it for when my friend visits with her dog. =) And yes, I’ll echo the thanks—thanks for the reply and for sharing more of your process with us.

I also would get doggy tea if I had a dog. But I don’t.

My dogs keep trying to drink the tea I brew for myself, so maybe I SHOULD get them some….

When I grabbed mine it said it was the last one.