Happy to help, Cass. I hope you enjoy the samples you ordered.

Cass, I have found that one trick to tea is knowing what kind of tea you like as then it's easier to try something unfamiliar knowing you'll probably like it. I think of ita drinking jasmine tea, and I like a good oolong. I've tried quite a few now and there's some I like better but even the ones that aren't quite as delicious are very nummy to drink.

This is good advice. Upton especially has so many different choices for every type of tea. I'm currently in search of the perfect assam. Although sometimes it is also nice to try something completely different with the samples. I'm currently drinking Monkey tea, which is not an assam, but really has the malty flavor I was looking for.

I think of ita drinking jasmine tea, and I like a good oolong.

Yup. I test places with jasmine and mango infusions--Upton has good prices, but so far Teavana and Adagio have better flavours. Teavana is expensive and annoying, but I could drink their jasmine tea forever. Lupicia is more expensive, and that certainly doesn't apply to my palate, so no point me spending dosh on them.

ita, there is a local place called the Conservatory of Coffee and Tea. It's on Washington Bl in Culver City. Has lots of teas you can sniff or try and then buy in bulk, and their prices are very reasonable.

ita, there is a local place called the Conservatory of Coffee and Tea. It's on Washington Bl in Culver City

I think I tried going there a few months ago, and they closed the doors at 5:55 in my face. I've been nursing a pointless grudge since then...

However, I am good with tea for the next little while, thanks to very nice Buffistas and an Adagio gift certificate. Once I burn through that, I will head out there.

They don't have wifi, which means I don't go there when I need to grade. I wonder how much custom they scare off with little things like that.

I wonder how much custom they scare off with little things like that.

They're pretty small, right? Maybe they need the rapid turnover of seats? I'm still surprised they closed at six on a weekday. It's like they don't want my money!

It did look much more my speed than Bird Pick. That place (at least the branch I went to) totally overwhelmed me with the twee, and I had a hard time finding what they actually were selling. Reading the labels behind the Teavana employee felt much simpler. The fact that the tea I bought at Tea Pick turned out to be a migraine trigger contributes to my subconscious aversion. And I can't even remember what kind it was! I hope I still have the label--I should update my migraine trigger Evernote doc.

They're pretty small, right? Maybe they need the rapid turnover of seats? I'm still surprised they closed at six on a weekday. It's like they don't want my money!

Yep, all that. I always wonder with shops like that if they are really just a big tax write off and their whole raison d'etre is to indulge someone's hobby and lose money in the process.

It's raining and cold out. I feel bad for the trick or treaters.

Here too. Like, flash flood watch raining. Though it's calmed down a lot since the morning.

sj, here, too. A lot of municipalities have moved trick-or-treating to tomorrow or even later in the weekend (because Friday evenings are high-school football nights, of course). However, we live within the city limits (as does flea and family, although they live almost at the easternmost edge of city limits), and city of Cincinnati has not moved trick-or-treating.

My new boss, who is in Chicago, said she saw on the news that Cincinnati's weather was so bad that trick-or-treating would be moved. That...doesn't seem newsworthy in any city other than ours.

Totally unrelatedly, can I just say how good coconut chips are? SO GOOD.