Your opinions, please, about giving a scale

Thanks, that's exactly my concern. I'm thinking that maybe they're ready to branch out to loose tea since they sent me a couple of loose Hawaiian blends earlier this year, unless that was because they know I'm into tea and somebody else told them that if I'm really into tea, I'm into loose leaf.

The samples I'm giving range from rooibos to Earl Grey to gunpowder to white. Measuring gunpowder and whites by volume is nigh impossible because guns are so dense (Upton's recommendation for one gun I bought a couple of years ago was twice what's needed - gag!) and whites are so voluminous they can't balance to stay on my spoon. These variances make measuring by volume unreliable and meaningless. I bought a scale in self-defense.

For you, I think it will depend on to which types of teas you gravitate. If your selections are consistent in form, you might be able to stay with a spoon. If they vary, however, it's a lot easier to use a scale than it is to remember, "For this tea, I need a scant teaspoon. For this other tea, I want more than a teaspoon. For that tea, I better use a tablespoon." If you're able to take the industry standard cited by Upton (2.25 g per 6 oz. cup) and compare your favorites, the volumes might turn out to be very close or widely varied.

I s'pose I could limit what I give to teas similar in volume and drink the others myself, but that's not as much fun for the gift recipients.

A scale is exactly what to give, I think- a luxury to buy for oneself, yet great to have if somebody else gives it to you. Topci

First, I think you should add me to your gift list, please! :D

I'd include the scale, and get them involved from the beginning the right way, with a note explaining that a spoon works, but the scale is more accurate, blah blah. I've yet to get one for myself simply because I have a hard time rationalizing it - I can guesstimate the teas I drink often with a spoon. But, I know the tea isn't as perfect - receiving one as a gift would be an ideal present.

I think you should spend more on tea and less on extra stuff. The experience would seem less scientific that way.

Yep. I'm in 100% agreement. I'd ditch as much periphery as possible and just get a great assortment of tea and maybe an easy to follow basic temperature guide. I did a similar thing for my sister one year and I went with a nice stove top teakettle, a three piece ceramic tea mug and a bunch of fairly forgiving, but excellent, teas. Then have them give you some feedback on what they liked didn't like and slowly turn them on to more/better teas and some technique.

Think of how you started. I'm sure you weren't measuring tea to the microgram in a scale with instant read thermometers. If anything the complications may keep them with teabags.

- Dominic

That's a good point. So many times, we'll do for someone else as a gift, but won't for ourselves because we rationalize that we don't really need it. Then, when someone else gives it to us, we don't know how we ever managed to do without and it becomes a permanent part of our routine.

The scale won't affect what's spent on tea. I won't spend less on tea by buying it and won't spend more by not buying it.

Thanks, yes, I see your point. Also, I could tell them they can use a spoon if they want for the CTC type of stuff and the scale for the uncontrollable voluminous stuff.

Okay ;).

Thanks, that's something I didn't think about on purpose - instilling good habits from the beginning. I wanted them to have enough to start and jump past all the accessories that didn't work and save the money I wasted in the past on learning by trial and error which would happen if I gave only the teas. By including a note as you suggest, they'll know that they won't have to use the scale if they don't want, but if it's already there, it'll be that much easier for them to start using it right away rather than waiting to get one.

Thanks for your input.

Heh. By leaving how the water's heated up to them and not including anything of significant weight, I'm keeping the shipping cost down and they get to receive the most bang from my bucks.

Sorry, I don't see that happening. Communication is problematic so it's best for me to get them started and let them look on their own for teas similar to what they like of what I'm sending them or venture out to others from there. Sometimes, merely learning that all kinds of teas exist is enough to get someone exploring after they've had some tea that tastes better than supermarket quality.

Yes, and I still don't always do that because, for some teas, there is such a thing as good enough. Just pour boiling water over a teaspoon of black tea and three minutes later...Voila! :)

As for my start in making my own tea, it was frustrating, time-consuming, and expensive. I wish I had me around to show me the ropes from the get-go so my good experiences with tea outweighed the poor experiences. If I liked coffee or Coke or the other more popular beverages, I might not have stuck with tea as long as I did. But then again, knowing me, it might have ended up the same anyway. <shrug>

Yes, that's exactly why I asked. I want to avoid that. I'm very much aware that most people aren't like me, willing to pay a little more attention to detail in order to get the most from an experience.

Thanks for your input.

What would you think if someone gave you a scale?

Since you're fairly new and haven't decided about buying one, would it seem less OTT if a scale was given to you? Would you be more, or less, willing to try using one, to experiment to see if your tea came out any better?

I must have read in a bit more than you meant... I assumed these were close personal friends not distant people whom you don't talk to often.

I guess if this is a fire-and-forget gift, then yes, including all of the accouterments and letting them sort it out is fine. I'd still venture to guess though that even a typed guide from you would be fine. Keep it semi foolproof and use terms like "a teaspoon of tea to however many ounces of water at boil/not quite boil/warm temperature." Include a little guide like that with each container of tea and geared for the teaware you are including.

I still think a scale is overkill, I rarely to never use one even with very prized and expensive teas. Just my thoughts, it's your gift feel free to go in any direction you want :)

- Dominic

It's hard to explain, so whatever picture you got of the situation is understandable. If email was still an option for them, I could count on feedback, but not at this time nor in the forseeable future.

Yes, of course I will, eventually. There are so many different ways of thinking about tea, however, that I prefer to convert through the path of least resistance which is why I'm soliciting opinions. Right now, the votes are three against and 2 for.

I've got a friend who uses teabags and won't consider even timing his infusions much less anything to do with loose tea because it's too much trouble and not worth the effort. He's stuck on using supermarket teabags and he brews by color. When we go to Starbucks, he pockets one of the teabags to make tea at home later. When I said that tea gets bitter from oversteeping, he said that's okay - he just dumps sugar in it. That was over five years ago. With that kind of mindset, I'm not wasting any of my time because he simply doesn't want to make any effort no matter how small. He thinks he's getting more value for his money by using only one teabag and steeping it longer to make the color the way he thinks it should be. People like him are happy with what they do and don't want to fix what they're unable to perceive as being broken. It's their life, their choice, their tastebuds. I'm not into beating my head against their walls, but you know I view him with amazed amusement and he does the same about my brewing loose tea.

For the gift package, I'm currently leaning towards including a scale with a note as you and Serendip suggest saying that the scale is provided as a convenience because some of the teas are too voluminous for easy measuring with a spoon. It's the reason I was compelled to buy a scale for myself. If I explain it that way, hopefully, they'll view it as an option without losing the aesthetic pleasure of making tea by getting scientific about it as Mydnight pointed out.

For the guide, I'm thinking to stick colored stars on the different teas to categorize type (silver stars for white teas, green stars for green teas, red stars for black tea, etc.). I'll have to see what colors are available besides those and gold to sort out the green & black oolongs, yellows, and tisanes; might have to use colored circles, too.

I had to give this some thought but now that I've pictured myself weighing out the fluffy Silver Needle tea leaves on my little scale it seems less obsessive and more practical. It's really just a way of measuring weight directly rather than using volume as a proxy.

Thanks, much.

I think I will drop the thermometer and ignore the scale. You don't need either to make good tea.

MarshalN

I think you're doing just fine, giving what they need plus just a bit extra. Your thinking on the scale is on the money; you don't want to overwhelm them. Save the scale until next year. Also, I hope you're including teas that tend not to oversteep -- foolproof teas -- such as a high quality Yunnan Gold.

For that matter, you could drop the thermometer as well, as MarshalN suggests, but be sure to tell them about getting the feel of the heat by touching the side of the vessel as the Koreans do, or some such. You might not need a thermometer to make good tea, but you sure can ruin good tea if you aren't careful about temperature, right? Michael

instant-read

extra. Your thinking on the scale is on the money; you don't want to overwhelm them. Save the scale until next year. Also, I hope you're including teas that tend not to oversteep -- foolproof teas -- such as a high quality Yunnan Gold.

suggests, but be sure to tell them about getting the feel of the heat by touching the side of the vessel as the Koreans do, or some such. You might not need a thermometer to make good tea, but you sure can ruin good tea if you aren't careful about temperature, right?

Thanks, you made a good point - leave something to give them next year!

Your observation about the Koreans made me LOL because the oldest of the household is Korean, the first generation born in the U.S. of parents who came from Korea. She's so Americanized, I wonder if she knows the first thing about how they made tea, she's that much of a coffee-drinker. I'm thinking her parents must have made tea while she was growing up, though. Ma ybe the tea I send will bring up good memories for her.

Thanks, again.