DogMa,
Thanks for the comments. I'll be in SF next week, and I planned to visit Red Blossom, having recently purchased two reasonably-priced gaiwans from them.
I always make a pilgrimage to ITC whenever I'm in town - the prices are high, but so is the quality. The last time I was there I got a Baozhong that was IMHO just about perfect: balanced, floral and good for 6-8 steeps. At $20/oz though, it ought to be :).
I don't like drinking from gaiwans either, but I assume I can ask for a cup to decant into.
Dean
I happened to find myself in the SF area for a photonics conference (as one
>so often does), and managed to drop into a few tea spots between wavicles.
>There seems to be a proliferation of such, similar in style but very
>different in atmosphere. In case it's useful to anyone, here are a few
>sententious comments:
>
> - Imperial Tea Court, Chinatown and the Ferry Building.
> I prefer the original location for dimmer, quieter, more retreat-like
> atmosphere. The new location is separated from the (rather classy) Ferry
> Building mall by not much more than a partial lattice, and on this nasty
> January day was reasonably quiet but frigid. Have yet to meet Roy Fong,
> who seems ever to be in the warehouse or out buying; but Grace is a
> charming presence. They have a bunch of above-average pots and other
> useful teaware, though the best pots are NFS. Plenty of tea on offer in
> both locations, at high prices - generally, however, commensurate with
> quality. Tastings are a bargain by comparison. Service by elegant young
> men. (Why so rarely women in this business?)
>
> The Ferry Building ITC location has a fair amount of food on offer; most
> people there seemed to be more dining than drinking. Combined with
> admittedly pleasant aromas from the center's other food and personal-care
> vendors, I found this to be somewhat distracting. Personally, were I in
> that neighborhood, I'd save my caloric quota for Yank Sing, an upscale dim
> sum house in the heart of the Rincon Center complex. Beyond the HK-class
> food, there's a kind of waterfall from the atrium ceiling that adds good
> feng shui or something. I can't speak for their tea, since I'd brought a
> very nice (code for "wanted it back right away") new Yixing pot and a bag
> of SRT's cheapest but IMO best-tasting fenghuang dan cong for my host. >
> I was somewhat uncomfortable with the instructional style, which I did not
> experience directly (being a take-charge kinda guy) but repeatedly
> witnessed. My impression was that both server/teachers and customers were
> getting lost in mannered ritual at the expense of the tea. Watching people
> awkwardly slurp from gaiwans instead of decanting was vicariously
> embarrassing - nothing wrong with the act, but it was clearly out of
> character for those partaking. Worse, they seem to use near-boiling water
> indiscriminately. When I asked for something much cooler for our long jing
> (a delicate green), I was politely asked what temperature I'd like - a
> good response, but the wrong place to start. (I just asked for a pot of
> cold water to mix ad lib.) I'm wondering how many people who start the cha
> dao here (or in many other places) ever learn that green tea does not
> taste like spinach? Even many oolongs can't take this treatment. As long
> as I'm ranting, I'll also complain about the gaiwan we were given, much
> too large for the amount of leaf it contained. I dropped a broad hint, and
> was offered another a good 10% smaller.
>
> - Red Blossom Tea Company, Chinatown.
> This tiny, deep shop has just a couple of tasting tables between rows of
> paraphernalia, with most tea in the back. Pots and gaiwans fairly priced,
> though most a bit fancy to my taste. Not exactly a secluded experience,
> right on Grant St., but pleasant and informed service. And the staff
> seemed able to establish a quiet zone around each table.
>
> - Vital T-leaf, two Chinatown locations (head office in Seattle).
> The main store is a magnet for extroverts, open to Grant St. and with a
> riotous agglomeration of 20-something passersby enjoying free rounds at
> the bar with the friendly energy of a post- (winning) game beer crowd.
> Staff young as well, with Benihana-type cheerful showmanship blending with
> as much serious information as people seemed able to absorb. A very large
> range of teas, many flavored (not my cuppa) and flowers/herbs (even a
> couple types of kuding) in tins and open trays, which may be OK if
> turnover is high. Many Pu-erhs also on display, including presentation
> bing and zhuanchas of at least two kg and a 30-yo shu cake for $380.
> (Latter was plastic-wrapped, so the aroma was inaccessible. Looked
> authentic, though.) Many pots at fair prices, though again only a couple
> I'd want. My sense was that the staff was entirely prepared for a much
> more serious tasting experience during times quieter than a Saturday > afternoon.
>
> A couple of blocks uphill is a more intimate satellite shop, with a
> representative stock (including the $380 shu bing) and less riotous > atmosphere.
>
> - Teance, Berkeley. Best for last.
> This was supposed to be the penultimate scene of a day's nostalgia tour of
> Berkeley, following a walk around the Vine St. Gourmet Ghetto-as-was
> (where I used to buy coffee in his one shop from Mr. Peet) and before
> trooping up Grizzly Peak for a characteristically stunning sunset. A
> careful drive along Solano failed to produce this establishment, even as
> an emergency call to Joe K. confirmed the location. Fortunately, my
> friend's Blackberry was web-enabled, so we were able to discover that they
> had just moved down to the Flats. The unprepossessing neighborhood
> prompted speculation about marketing mistakes, but their new (of two
> months) home proved to be in the middle of a cluster of assorted shops and
> restaurants fine enough to qualify the whole as a Destination.
>
> Teance offers a stylishly sparse ambience reminiscent of, but more elegant
> than, the late Wild Lily Tea Room. The front is an open shop, with an
> appropriate number of teas and some nice teaware of diverse styles - the
> celadon (per former establishment name) perhaps the best on offer; three
> exceptional Yixings were unfortunately NFS.
>
> The tasting area is a single circle of about a dozen seats in several
> nicely designed stations, so as to be serviceable by one or several
> people. Tasting are again a bargain for the quality. Our server, one
> Darius (I forbore the bibulous pun about one man's Mede being another's
> Persian) seemed quite well informed about the qualities of his stock, and
> helped us to a selection of interesting oolongs. Aware that we were not
> ignorant of technique, he also offered a broad range of pots and gaiwans,
> as well as mixing and serving gear.
>
> I was concerned at how empty the place was, given a sunny-Sunday mob in
> the environs. Perhaps they do mostly a take-out business. At least until
> it's (re-)discovered, though, I'd make it a top choice for area visitors
> with transportation.
>
> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
>
> On a final note, I stopped into a number of Asian grocery stores,
> apothecaries and tchachke shops in the ongoing quest for cheap'n'cheerful
> shu Pu-erh to bring to Chinese restaurants. Every such place I looked had
> one, and only one, cheap bing on display: a 340g "black tea" from Hung
> Chong Tai in HK, of which maker Samarkand has written on RFDT:
> groups.google.com/group/rec.food.drink.tea/msg/3a2c4b18381e83ac. Is this a
> conspiracy? I did finally do the experiment of asking a back-alley TCM
> outfit for something better, but that's another story.
>
> DM