Is thing thing still on?
It's been a while to say the least, huh? I last posted in Spring of 2013, and prior to that, Summer of 2012. Life got, well, busy. I changed careers significantly in 2014, had a second kid in 2017, and six weeks after that, changed companies (same industry). But I was losing steam even before then.
I still drink tea, but not like I once did. I like an afternoon cup when I think of it, and maybe a cup on the weekend, but it's an infrequent thing. I drink lots of coffee instead. Such is life. I don't write on the internet anymore because a large part of my job is writing - memos, proposals, meeting agendas, strategic plans, and reports. Very technical reports. It's not quite as dry as I've made it sound, but it's a whole lot of writing, which leaves me with not a lot of desire to write in my free time (such as it is).
I thought about the blog here or there over the years, but I really felt I didn't have much left to say about tea, and a whole lot less free time. I honestly thought about deleting the blog more than once - some of the posts read as written by a much younger man. But I check the stats, and it still gets views, more than when it was active, actually. And I get the occasional non-spam comment, which is cool.
Out of the blue, then, I got an email from Karen at Upton Teas who had found my blog, and wanted to offer a free sample for me to try and review for my blog. Way in the back when, I used to comment how great it would be if tea sellers reached out with free samples for me to review -- bit of a shock when one finally did.
Upton is a great company. They started showing up on the blog at the end of my active blogging period, when I first started getting tea from them, and they're my go-to ever since. Great selection, super high quality tea, a nice old-fashioned print catalog that's enjoyable to sit and read, and great service too. They're out of Metrowest Mass (not actually Upton, though I think they started there). I actually drove by their office/warehouse a few times when I was working up in Mass (no public storefront, though). Living just over the border in CT, I used to joke that the delivery was so fast, all I had to do was think about a type of tea and it would show up.
So, after all these years of quiet, an email showed up from my favorite tea seller offering a free sample for me to write up. Now, I hate asking for anything for free. And this blog has been dormant to say the least. And I was very forthright on those points -- whatever minor "media impact" this blog might have had must be long gone! But Karen was very understanding and offered to send a sample of my choosing anyway...so I decided why not.
To my surprise, it was not just the little 1/2 once sample bag I was expecting, but a 4 1/2 ounce sample bag of a Ceylon, plus a 1/2 ounce bag of a really nice sounding green tea, a copy of their latest print catalog, and a thank you card for offering to write a review. Class act all around! Dang, now I in turn have to do a nice job!
So, guess I'll have to dust off the blog, crank up the electric kettle (nice add since I stopped writing), and brew up a few cups. I have to at least write up the Ceylon and green tea, since the Upton folks were so generous about it, and I have a few loose teas around the house, and a couple of bagged teas at the office that I may get to writing up as well. I'll try to stick to a once-a-week schedule and see how many posts get out.
So, loyal reader(s), enjoy!
