Recently picked up a tin of this in an online order during a period where ETTE was running a free shipping promo…
I have to say, that this might be one of the most frustrating ordering experiences I’ve ever had with any company. For starters, it took nearly three months for this tea to get to me. I mean, it was coming from Singapore so I expected it to take a while, but those three months the tracking for this delivery wasn’t updated AT ALL. So, after about month two and a half I had pretty much just written off the whole order as having been lost along the way. Like, I realize this is something the company has NO control over, but if a shipment has tracking I damn well want that tracking to be updated, especially if it’s coming from overseas…
Then, when the package arrived pretty well everything in it was wrecked. The bag with my Kebaya Blue sachets was open and they were just lying around in the box, and the tin of this tea was open, and poured pretty well everywhere. The only thing in tact, thank God, was the matcha I’d ordered. The damaged tea isn’t entirely ETTE’s fault; but the fact that this tin had ZERO protective wrapping in the box certainly didn’t help. Like, the box itself that this was shipped in looked crushed like something VERY heavy had been placed on top of it, and I think that’s the main culprit here but just… damn…
So, I estimate that I lost roughly half the tin of tea because it had either fallen out of the tin and, subsequently, the hole in the side of the box that had split open from it being crushed OR it was stuck to the masking tape that the post office had used to try and patch said hole, and could not be salvaged. The rest was just loose in the box, and I had to try to scoop up as much of it as possible/salvage it from the box.
I was really fucking mad.
But anyway – I finally got around to making my first cup of this one last night. Honestly? It was disappointing. Now, I have to admit that part of that has to be how much I had built it up in my head, and the months of having to wait for it. Plus, who’s the say how all the factors from shipping, like being loose in a box for potentially months, affected the flavour of the tea…
The main issue was just that it tasted really bitter/charred. I was very careful steeping this, as I am with all my Genmaicha blends, but it was just so off. It tasted like burned/overly roasted brown rice – ashy/char like, with a bitter edge from the green tea. No mango notes to speak of, either. Only saving grace was a bit of sweetness from the coconut in the body of the sip. Still, that’s one very small pro next to a huge list of cons…
Hopefully the rest of my salvaged tin is ok.
All I know is that I’m probably not going to be ordering from ETTE again after this last experience. It’s just not worth the headache.
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My box from Tealyra arrived crushed beyond comprehension and split down the side with a couple of teas missing. Sucks.
Honestly, ems is best. If you ship things by regular mail, you have to wait 3 months before even complaining. It’s also not insured. An extra $10 for piece of mind and speedy delivery is worth it.
My box from Tealyra arrived crushed beyond comprehension and split down the side with a couple of teas missing. Sucks.
Honestly, ems is best. If you ship things by regular mail, you have to wait 3 months before even complaining. It’s also not insured. An extra $10 for piece of mind and speedy delivery is worth it.