Tea subscriptions have become more and more popular as healthy living and tea sipping become the ways of the West. I was able to get my hands on Global Tea Hut’s Tea & Magazine Subscription, a monthly subscription produced entirely by volunteers, and I have some interesting things to share…
In this article, I explain what I liked and disliked about Global Tea Hut’s Tea & Magazine Subscription. Be sure to subscribe to Tea End Blog to be automatically entered to win free tea/books/stuff during Tea End Blog Give-Aways!
What I liked...
1. Long-lasting Quality
The Global Tea Hut Magazine is made from quality materials and seems to be a magazine that would wear slowly. The cover nor the pages are easily bendable. Sliding this magazine on and off a bookshelf would be easy and probably would not cause much wear and tear on the cover or the magazine itself.
2. References Itself
I like how the magazine refers to previous issues of the magazine for more of an in depth read on a particular topic. It’s rare that a magazine refers to its previous issues but if you think about it, its kind of nice to be able to use previous issues of a magazine as references for the current content.
5. Informational
I can appreciate when tea producers provide a lot of information about the tea that I am sipping. Global Tea Hut seems to try to provide as much detail as possible. There is plenty of information on the covers of the magazine and even within the tea tin itself.
What I did not like...
1. A Bit Convoluted
Global Tea Hut Magazine is extremely complex and difficult to follow. The images, although stunning, seem to have little correlation with the words on the pages. The March 2018 issue was intended to take the reader on a trip to Mengsong but honestly, I felt like I was lost in China.
2. Not Truly Relative
I didn’t realize that the tea that I held in my hands was also the tea that is featured on page 3 and 4 of Global Tea Hut Magazine. There are 6 lengthy paragraphs that take up most of page 3 (see above). What do you think these paragraphs are about? The tea, right? Wrong. These 6 paragraphs actually invite the reader on a month-long journey of reading, explain that there are two types of tea trees and then goes into determining the age of the tea tree itself. Interesting information but not relative to the images and I was still left wanting to know more about the tea that came with the subscription.
3. Impersonal
I’m not quite sure who the writer was speaking too but it certainly wasn’t me. The third person was seldom used, if used at all. The writer speaks vaguely and never really outlines how the information would be of interest to me personally. I felt like I was lost in a conversation someone was having with someone else.
2. Information Over-load
I can appreciate having plenty of information about my tea but in my opinion, a magazine should not take an entire month to read. As a tea sipping bookworm, I am always reading something and magazines come and go on my tea-table. I attribute an hour, max, to magazine reading. Magazines should also be filled with images that tell stories as this is the way people process information today. Global Tea Hut Magazine was more like a book and I just can’t make that type of commitment to a magazine.
Global Tea Hut Tea & Magazine Subscription is a monthly subscription produced entirely by volunteers. Each issue includes visits to tea and teaware producers, articles and tea info translated from Chinese, info about the spiritual practice of Cha Dao and coverage of topics rarely discussed in the West. The subscription includes a magazine, to which previous publications can be found on Global Tea Hut website, the tea of the month and a surprise gift. You can purchase tea on globalteahut.com as “expansion packs”.
There are 5 Ways To Know You Subscribed To A Magazine Subscription You’ll Love and I compare every magazine to this list. Unfortunately, I would not subscribe to Global Tea Hut Subscription because I feel as though the magazine is lacking in all 5 domains. However, since all previous issues end up on globalteahut.com, I may make it a habit to stop by every now and then to see what’s new.
Swirling Mist Puerh is the tea of the month featured in the March 2018 issue of Global Tea Hut Magazine. Check out my Tea Review of Swirling Mist Puerh by Global Hut Tea!
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What tea subscriptions would you recommend?