Hi all,
I was in San Francisco last week, and tasted tea in two places:
- Red Blossom Tea Company (redblossomtea.com)
This is a small store in old Chinatown (831 Grant). Good selection of Chinese greens, oolongs and blacks, a nice selection of Taiwanese oolongs and a good selection of reasonably priced teaware (I bought a 6 oz gaiwan for US$12.50). I met Alice Luong who, with her brother Peter, now run the shop. As the store was not busy when I arrived, she was nice enough to let me taste two of the Taiwanese oolongs, one of my choice and one of hers. All in all, she spent at least a half-hour discussing and drinking tea with me; a charming young woman who knows her stuff. A lovely experience; I highly recommend this place.
- Imperial Tea Court (Ferry building)
I was there on a rainy afternoon, with only one other person in the store. I've gotten good Taiwanese BaoZhongs there; Roy seems to prefer those from the WenShan district, and he had one that was lovely: delicate and floral, with faint spice and mint notes in the later steepings (I made 6 before the pot of water cooled past the point of usefulness). The young man who served me was extraordinarily accommodating, providing a small gaiwan and tasting cup and allowing me to pour the tea myself.
After the BaoZhong I decided to try a pu-erh. My very limited experience with cooked pu has been uniformly disappointing - if I want water flavored with dirt and mildew I can make that from my compost heap - but knowing that Roy ages his own pu I thought I'd try one of his. A very pleasant change: earth, wood, smoke and a delicate burnt sugar/caramel note dancing in the background. No mold. Now this I could grow to like.
Although the teas are expensive, the quality in my experience is very high, and as DogMa observed, tastings are a bargain: $5 per gaiwan, apparently regardless of what tea you choose. Again, highly recommended.
Roy came in while I was there, but spent most of his time talking to the two young men minding the store and left again before I could wheedle an introduction.
Dean