Interesting you say that people are coming to you with sophisticated questions- it would be worth exploring where they are getting their tea education before arriving at your door with those queries.

There are certainly some shady practices going on in the world of e-commerce. I have definitely received e-mails asking how much I would charge to write about a product on my blog. There are companies who certainly send large quantities of product trying to ensure a regular space on my blog. But, as with all industries, you have integrity or you don’t. I feel a responsibility to be honest with my readers. (And, it doesn’t take long for readers to figure out if you are trustworthy or not. All they have to do is try the product.) I interact with plenty of other bloggers who are also very committed to their work and to their readership.

I think it’s unfortunate that you have washed your hands of dealing with bloggers, but I understand that some things just don’t fit within a company’s priorities.

I was a bit concerned at the end of the article when it led into the comments about plagiarism and hacking. It seemed to infer that this was related to bloggers where that was the topic of the rest of the post. I think this is a very serious thing to suggest about blog writers. (I’ve had enough interactions with you Austin that I don’t think this was your intent, but it made me uncomfortable.)

I sincerely hope that readers understand that many of us bloggers are professional writers and/or people who value the craft of writing and are doing this for little to no financial gain. We devote our time to tea blogging to share our love of tea and to help others discover it.

What’s the relationship between a blog’s declaring how it received teas, and the quality of the review? Are the reviews bad because the bloggers are inexperienced, or because they have been bought with a few tea leaves?

If an online retailer’s teas are good, why not work more closely with bloggers? Ask them to comment on specific aspects of a tea. Ask them how a tea compares to others. Otherwise, a company runs the risk of implying their teas are too good- beyond mere mortal’s ability to appreciate.

Second, many tea bloggers fairly accurately represent the US tea drinking population. If they don’t know how to appreciate your tea, it’s easier to educate a handful of tea drinkers who can share that learning with a larger audience. Or, if several bloggers don’t like a tea, maybe the American palate isn’t ready for it. Either way, you’ve learned where/how to share tea info or when to withdraw a tea.

I foresee the day when online tea retailers will depend less on Google Ads for marketing and will turn toward tea reviewers. On that day, you will see the equivalent of wine personalities like Robert Parker and Gary Vaynerchuk.

Regardless, we work hard to maintain and improve quality of our teas and hope to eventually meet fellow tea lovers who appreciate them. That is also a beautiful aspect of Chinese tea culture.

I hope you do not completely give up on us. To hold ourselves more accountable to each other and the tea industry, a group of us has formed the Association of Tea Bloggers: http://teabloggers.net/

Our goal is to work with each other and tea retailers to spread appreciation and love of quality tea and tea culture. We welcome your comments and contributions to sharing a stronger, more consistent voice.

Jason Walker
walkerteareview.com
jasonowalker@gmail.com