Finally getting to my samples from Makers Tea! As Azzrian suggested, you really should use the entire sample for a cup. They’re kind of small, and I’ll admit that I was a bit disappointed. I mean, you have to pay $5 upfront, I was hoping they’d be a bit bigger so I could play around with them more. But you really only have one shot: this makes me nervous with flavored teas, because they don’t resteep well usually so you have one chance to get a good cup out of it. And the suggested steeping time is… 7 minutes?! That seems way too long for a black.
This is a nice caramel tea with a smooth, tasty flavor but I’m just not getting much salt. The caramel is really really good, but I was hoping for more of a salty bite and I can’t taste it at all! And the base is just okay, nothing really outstanding. So a good tea, but nothing really spectacular.
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They said they would be giving bigger sample sizes in the future :D
Oh, that’s good! I would have liked to experiment a bit more with this one.
I have very little respect for this company, I don’t like the way they’ve conducted themselves up to this point.
I don’t like that we had to put money down—I like to think of free samples as a test drive, and if the tea is good I will definitely place an order with the company. This feels kind of like they are forcing a sale almost.
They are definitely no Butikit Teas, Verdant Tea, Red Leaf Tea or 52teas (the ones I compare companies to) I wasn’t impressed with the quality of the tea, the lack of ingredients label (or even on the website) Although I do like the idea of putting tea in a que.
They definitely need to tweak the blends a bit. I think it’s a good idea, just perhaps not executed as well as it could be.
Unfortunately, the queue seems to be the only worthwhile thing about the company… so I guess I’ll just keep teas in queue! LOL I don’t intend on paying $5 for samples that were supposed to be free, especially if they are just enough for one cup of tea! The only time I pay more than a dollar for a cup of tea is when someone else is making it for me. And to say that the money is “refunded” with the first full-price package you buy, so … I’m what then? Investing in the company? What if I don’t like my first batch of samples and want to try another batch of three… I have to pay another $5 for that. If they’re going to charge for samples, at least make it a worth the money I’ve paid for it. I understand paying for postage, but in all the years that I was selling teas, it never cost me $5. to send out three samples to anyone.
And their lack of communication is truly distressing to me as a consumer. I like to deal with companies that do not hide behind their generic responses … and that’s exactly what I feel like I’m getting whenever I hear from this company. It sounds like a previously composed form letter, very generic and impersonal.
Just my impressions of this company … so far the only thing that has impressed me is their queue.
Interesting about the $5 upfront investment. Is this new? They sent my samples without this charge. It did take awhile for them to be sent though. I’ll have to check as well on the size of sample. For some reason, I remember there being enough for a couple settings. Interesting.
For the first batch of people there was no fee, for the second it was $5 down. It sucks, because I wasn’t in the 1st round despite being in the first 10 people to respond—they kind of went in a random order.
@Alphakitty: Yes, that’s exactly how I feel about it too. I was in the first 10 to respond to the thread, and yet I didn’t get in the first round either. I just don’t like the way they handled the whole thing.
And in the PM that I finally DID get from them (well after the first round of folks had ordered and began receiving their samples), in that post they mentioned NOTHING about the $5 charge, they still claimed that the samples would be “free” – they don’t even update their previously composed form letters.
It all shows a lack of concern toward their customer. I cannot trust this company after the way they treated me. I would rather row a boat to china and pick my own tea leaves than buy from this company.
I agree with everything LiberTEAS said. Their communication has been horrible. I also don’t think they understand the concept that when you area new tea company, you have to invest money in your customers before they invest money in you. That’s why you see so many other tea companies sending out samples without requiring any money. Word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool, especially in this era of social media.
Also, $5 for barely any samples is a joke. Other companies, like Den’s Tea, send you way more tea for $3.
It actually still says that samples are free on their site, which is a bit misleading. I agree that new companies sending out samples generally consider it an investment of sorts—and if it’s good tea that speaks for itself, of course they are going to get customers! I feel like I might ask for my $5 back, since so far I haven’t tried any of their teas I’d want to add to my stash (though I still have 1 sample left).
They said they would be giving bigger sample sizes in the future :D
Oh, that’s good! I would have liked to experiment a bit more with this one.
I have very little respect for this company, I don’t like the way they’ve conducted themselves up to this point.
I don’t like that we had to put money down—I like to think of free samples as a test drive, and if the tea is good I will definitely place an order with the company. This feels kind of like they are forcing a sale almost.
They are definitely no Butikit Teas, Verdant Tea, Red Leaf Tea or 52teas (the ones I compare companies to) I wasn’t impressed with the quality of the tea, the lack of ingredients label (or even on the website) Although I do like the idea of putting tea in a que.
They definitely need to tweak the blends a bit. I think it’s a good idea, just perhaps not executed as well as it could be.
Unfortunately, the queue seems to be the only worthwhile thing about the company… so I guess I’ll just keep teas in queue! LOL I don’t intend on paying $5 for samples that were supposed to be free, especially if they are just enough for one cup of tea! The only time I pay more than a dollar for a cup of tea is when someone else is making it for me. And to say that the money is “refunded” with the first full-price package you buy, so … I’m what then? Investing in the company? What if I don’t like my first batch of samples and want to try another batch of three… I have to pay another $5 for that. If they’re going to charge for samples, at least make it a worth the money I’ve paid for it. I understand paying for postage, but in all the years that I was selling teas, it never cost me $5. to send out three samples to anyone.
And their lack of communication is truly distressing to me as a consumer. I like to deal with companies that do not hide behind their generic responses … and that’s exactly what I feel like I’m getting whenever I hear from this company. It sounds like a previously composed form letter, very generic and impersonal.
Just my impressions of this company … so far the only thing that has impressed me is their queue.
Interesting about the $5 upfront investment. Is this new? They sent my samples without this charge. It did take awhile for them to be sent though. I’ll have to check as well on the size of sample. For some reason, I remember there being enough for a couple settings. Interesting.
For the first batch of people there was no fee, for the second it was $5 down. It sucks, because I wasn’t in the 1st round despite being in the first 10 people to respond—they kind of went in a random order.
@Alphakitty: Yes, that’s exactly how I feel about it too. I was in the first 10 to respond to the thread, and yet I didn’t get in the first round either. I just don’t like the way they handled the whole thing.
And in the PM that I finally DID get from them (well after the first round of folks had ordered and began receiving their samples), in that post they mentioned NOTHING about the $5 charge, they still claimed that the samples would be “free” – they don’t even update their previously composed form letters.
It all shows a lack of concern toward their customer. I cannot trust this company after the way they treated me. I would rather row a boat to china and pick my own tea leaves than buy from this company.
I agree with everything LiberTEAS said. Their communication has been horrible. I also don’t think they understand the concept that when you area new tea company, you have to invest money in your customers before they invest money in you. That’s why you see so many other tea companies sending out samples without requiring any money. Word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool, especially in this era of social media.
Also, $5 for barely any samples is a joke. Other companies, like Den’s Tea, send you way more tea for $3.
It actually still says that samples are free on their site, which is a bit misleading. I agree that new companies sending out samples generally consider it an investment of sorts—and if it’s good tea that speaks for itself, of course they are going to get customers! I feel like I might ask for my $5 back, since so far I haven’t tried any of their teas I’d want to add to my stash (though I still have 1 sample left).