This is like a one man play about the existential futility of a human life, themed around a man slowly being disappointed over a pot of tea.

@agskater1914

3 ай бұрын

A great Dharma lesson indeed

@petegalvs

3 ай бұрын

This is one of the funniest comments I've ever read

@arbiter6559

3 ай бұрын

The life of a Tea connoisseur 😂

I love it when Don goes full stream of consciousness on these tasting sessions.

😂 it's so funny to see Don go from yes to ok to eummmm o god what did I do...

Aww, I'm sorry it didn't work out, Don! That's a bummer. 🥺😭 Thanks for trying and for being honest with us! Your honesty is refreshing.

I am sorry that this experiment didn't work. However, for what it's worth, your honesty has reaffirmed by respect for you. Thank you for sharing this with us. Btw, I'm about to bust into my new bag of Cocoa Malt Queen. Yumm!

ultra hard challenge: find a video where Don doesn't say the word biscuity

@aminboumerdassi2334

3 ай бұрын

And if you somehow succeed in that challenge: find a video where Celine doesn't describe a tea as "creamy" or "fruity" 😆

@tadeoguerrero7892

3 ай бұрын

Well, for me it's a major category or tea taste. And also "corn", lots of teas taste/smell like sweet corn for me. Especially "humita" which is a South American corn preparation. 😅

I appreciate your honesty both in the initial review from ‘23 and now posting it in ‘24 after time has passed. Maybe not sell it retail but create a “secret add on” product that your fan base (Wednesday crew?) could buy at a discount to taste something that didn’t quite work and help offset your investment? I’d buy a bag just as a learning experience of what came close but didn’t make the cut. Just a thought.

seeing a confused Don is quite something lololol 10/10

Elephant House note 😂 Yep

Thanks Don. Appreciate your honesty and thats why I will continue to purchase tea and teaware from Mei leaf. Keep up the great work! And, sorry this tea didn't work as you expected.

Its my day off today, Mei leaf Catchup day

I'd still love to try some, as I've never had a Mao Feng and---from the looks of some of the other comments here---I'm not alone in that desire. Thanks for sharing this!

It would actually be really interesting (theoretically) if your customers at one point would be able to taste "failures", just to get a taste of what you'd consider a failing. It probably doesn't actually make sense to do it, since people would get confused and you'd only want the best quality as a seller. But interesting nonetheless!

@mrecra8084

3 ай бұрын

That would be interesting

@sband4620

3 ай бұрын

Every flavour teas ;) like the beans only for teaheads

@Apollo440

3 ай бұрын

The quality conundrum is quite a big problem with this idea, which I actually would like. Don should consider making "tea discovery" sets, with teas ranging from "bleurgh" to "Mei Leaf quality", so that people can scope the tea market for themselves, without going to other shops.

Even if it fails, a lovely tea is still a lovely tea. Maybe a private page on the website for failed experiments?

Thank you for being honest with us, Don and sorry this time it didn't work with experimenting 😢

Bummerooni. What a positive spin though!

Thanks for the honesty, sounds like this could be a release anyway and not all is lost.

@gatdellobregat

3 ай бұрын

Still a good tea and I'd love to try it if available. And by the way, so pleased to find a fellow barfly enjoying exquisite tea.

@TimHoekstra

3 ай бұрын

@@gatdellobregat Hey Bogdan 😃 Yes you need something to do and enjoy when whisky is off the table right?

@gatdellobregat

3 ай бұрын

@@TimHoekstra You're sure right, Tim. Have a nice week and some good stuff in your glass/cup!

As somebody else already commented: If you're at an impass whether to sell it or take a loss - sell it. Whatever you consider to be less than ideal is "better than ideal" for 99% of all people and probably 70% of your buyers. On a different note - I wonder what it was? Why did the desired taste vanish 4 months after you tasted it? (conspiracy theory alert!) Did the producer think you were onto something and switched the product and kept the original to himself? Or did the fruity compound evaporate because of the novel way it was produced, meaning it has to be stored/shipped in a vaccuum sealed bag? Or maybe it had to undergo a longer process or it should have been done a couple of times (if applicable), or with more moisture?

@timw.3142

3 ай бұрын

I appreciate your theories. I find it difficult to believe the flavor would dissipate that rapidly but I can’t speak to the importance of vacuum sealing since a lot of experimental teas seemingly relied on it. Not to call out Don’s source but it almost sounds like the producer kept a majority of the batch and only sprinkled a bit into whatever he drank so you could detect a hint of it but not the full experience. Either way I respect the willingness to experiment until we find something delicious, there are bound to be losers along the way.

@Apollo440

3 ай бұрын

@@timw.3142 Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I think the key word that we heard in the video is "anaerobic", meaning processing without access to air. Thus, I presume, the "fruity result" is reversible through contact with air. I guess that pressing the tea into cakes or bricks would do the trick. Or, just like it is done in other experimental methods (like you've mentioned) - vacuum sealing it. In the latter case, a cheap solution would be, if the producer had a simple vacuum cleaner and those clothes bags which can be sealed by sucking air out of them (so called vacuum storage bags). If air is the culprit, then putting the tea in smaller packets would be a must as well. Another crazy idea I just had would be to ferment the tea together with small pieces of cloth, to then put them into each packet. :) Kind of a "tea starter" thing. Just like people put a piece of apple into their tobacco (or a special water soaked stone) to rehumidify it, when it dries out. Crazy stuff, right?

@daniel.lopresti

3 ай бұрын

@@Apollo440 It's interesting, there's also a lot of experimentation with anaerobic fermentation going on in specialty coffee circles. I wouldn't think the simple fact of exposing the tea to air would simply negate the effects of the fermentation; I'm not an expert by any means but I wonder if the effects of the fermentation could have possibly only affected the tea on a (literally) superficial level, for which reason it could then easily dissipate into the ether ...

@Apollo440

3 ай бұрын

@@daniel.lopresti I too thought about coffee. But the way it is processed anaerobically, is more akin to pu erh tea. Meaning it's wet, closed buckets or even casks. Plus, the coffee is fermented when green, then it's dried and roasted. Where as the tea in this case was already processed before. meaning there's less material for the ferment to hold on to, work its way into and stick to. That is why the fruity compound could easily, like you wrote, dissipate into the ether.

Why was the earlier sample good? Was this tea left to ferment for too long?

imo B.A.D(vacuum packed loose black tea) is really really good push button smile(vacuum packed black tea cakes) doesn't really do it for me Playground Rendez-Vous (kombucha fermented pu-erh) again really really good

@daniel.lopresti

3 ай бұрын

I'm hanging on to my (now tiny) collection of BAD, I can't stand the idea of no longer having any ... Of course, I'm also not enjoying it in the meantime. I guess in the back of my mind I'm waiting for some magical moments/people to share it with...

Maybe try brewing it in a Benshan Duanni? My favorite type of teapot right now.

Oh dear 😔 I’m not sure if I want a session of Push Button Smile or a visit to Colchester Zoo 🐘 right now

Is it “Keemun” or “Cheemun”?

Great quality control! Way to be, Don!!

Chocolate and pencil sharpening mmmmm

This is very odd: a sample arrives from the producer and tastes obviously great. Then the bags of the same tea come in just 4 months later and all the taste is gone, while just the smell of the dry leaves remains? And not only that: the wet leaves present a somehow not so happily altered aroma. How can dry leaf aroma stick around longer than taste? In my experience it is always the other way round. ... I take it all your teas that are delivered by sea take that a couple of months to arrive? ... We need a food chemist here.

Is there gonna be a giveaway of this "very good mao feng tea"? 😅

@daniel.lopresti

3 ай бұрын

Very good, quite nice, entirely satisfactory, rather jolly bleeding acceptable ..... ;)

Hi Don, I don't know what it is but the sound of the video is a bit weird... or is it just for me?

@user-gt4gs5xu6s

3 ай бұрын

Mines fine

Call it Elephant House and i will buy it

I wonder if there ever was an experement tea where it just tasted horriblea and undrinakable.

But please be happy - It did not taste like piss 😅🎉

I'd say put it up anyway. With taste being subjective and highly individual, why not?

@macdaddy9344

3 ай бұрын

True, I didn’t care for Grand Master Ripe. LOL … If it’s still a quality tea, and just didn’t live up to the expected experiment hope, it might still sell fine.

@arthurporter131

3 ай бұрын

Why risk the trust in the quality standards of the Mei Leaf brand? Don is correct not to release it here. Selling tasters so people could try and see what he means might be okay so long as it’s advertised as being suboptimal, but offering bulk sales is not the play here.

Not sure how much you invest here but experiment hardly work out the very first time. The true question is: do you have the faith to fix this or do you think it is enough at this point. No correct answer here though.

Moving on....Next

@user-gt4gs5xu6s

3 ай бұрын

Knob head

Now we need to try it anyways 😂

Ohh well, I feel so bad for you. I know this feeling. I have my own business as well, and it relies a lot on creativity. Sometimes I spend months doing research, buying stuff, getting prepared, testing, and then it doesn't work out. Currently I'm doing a yerba mate 🧉 thing, and it's quite some pressure. However, all experiments give us some lessons, and the most successful people in history where not the ones that did all right, but the ones that experimented the most. In any case, people in the comments are supporting you, and I hope you get soon to the best solution of the case.