The Tea Scoop

Transported to China

Ferry Building, San Francisco

I'm sitting in the Imperial Tea Court, a Chinese-style tea room in the Ferry Building in San Francisco, a permanent indoor farmers' market of sorts. The lacquered furniture and yixing pots lining the walls provide a very different atmosphere than the lace and roses of Victorian style tea rooms. The menu features Chinese dishes, and an extensive list of Chinese teas. In general, black teas are my choice, but I prefer Indian blacks, so I turned to oolongs instead, selecting the "uniquely sweet" orchid oolong, served in a gaiwan. For a side dish, I ordered red bean paste steamed dumplings.

This is definitely the kind of place that caters to tea snobs...I mean connoisseurs. The cashier smiled somewhat indulgently when I asked for a pot of tea, and politely/condescendingly informed me that the tea was served Chinese style, which "might be a bit different than what you're used to." And it's true, I have never had tea served to me in this way. So how is it different?

A gaiwan is three pieces: a saucer, a cup, and a lid. The three pieces are always used together: the saucer is used to bring the trio to one's lips, and the lid is used to strain the tea while drinking. The waiter was kind enough to give a little lesson. (Side note: this is the method used by professional tea tasters).

There is something elegant about this presentation. The method requires a sort of purposeful grace rather than mindless imbibing.

In this place, Chinese influence on San Francisco is clear, and appreciated. This is a most welcome respite from wandering among crowds of tourists.

Tea on Five Continents

Peacocks Tea Room in Cambridgeshire, England, claims to be the first tea room to offer tea grown on five continents. Intrigued by such a wide selection, I had to read this article.  The five continents are: Asia (of course), Africa, Australia, Europe, and South America. (I suppose North America didn't make the list, with only one tea plantation that I am aware of). There are 66 teas on the menu, including one from Brazil. The Australian tea sounded the most intriguing to me, smoky Lapsang blended with eucalyptus for a truly Australian touch. And remember Tregothnan, the tea plantation in Cornwall? They're on the list too. 

If I ever make it to the other side of the pond, this tea room will definitely be on the list. 

Old Town Coffee, Tea, and Spice

Today being a rather rainy day, I was in the mood for tea. Of course, there is rarely a time that I am not in the mood for tea, but I digress. I had read about Old Town Coffee, Tea, and Spice on Adagio's TeaMap.

  

I was in Alexandria anyway, so I popped down to the waterfront to see if I could find this tiny hole in the wall. When I walked in, my immediate response was to state that I had arrived in heaven.  In front of me, I saw a wall with around 200 jars of loose leaf tea and surrounding me were teapots, tea accessories, and prepackaged tea of every possible description. Even teapot wind chimes. I spent a few minutes just wandering along the walls, exploring.  Finally I settled down to looking at the tea selection, and the owner came over to chat. He was very friendly, and extremely knowledgeable about his wares. From a few sentences on my part, he was able to figure out my tastes quite accurately and pulled things down from the shelf to share with me. I never felt pressured at all, instead, I felt as if I were part of a club of tea drinkers. He showed me different things that he thought would interest me. 

His prices were also quite reasonable. His tea is priced by the pound. If the cost of a pound is under $40, it is sold by the quarter pound, and if the price is over $40, you can purchase by the single ounce.  The prices range from around $3.50 for a quarter pound of Sencha to far more expensive teas, such as Monkey-Picked Oolong. The selection was incredibly impressive.  He offers quite a variety of single-estate teas as well as a few blends that he creates in store and of course, a variety of flavored teas including quite a selection of Earl Greys. 

Unfortunately, I only had put a half-hour on the parking meter, and stayed for fifteen minutes past that before I rushed back to avoid a ticket. But I will certainly be visiting him again soon.  I did make it out of there with a few goodies, but you'll have to check back to see what they are and what I have to say about them. 

Extra bonus: Supporting local small businesses. Pick three local independent businesses that you would miss if you were gone, and stop in to pick something up to support them, as part of the 3/50 project.

Craftea

When tea becomes part of your lifestyle, when it becomes more than a beverage, it has the tendency to slow things down.  When you have a tea ritual, it can be the calm in the middle of our busy lives.  Tea can bring people together, sitting together and chatting over a pot.  Perhaps it is no surprise that this calming and social ritual should be joined with other slower-paced activities.  

In this case, knitting circles.  I'm a very novice knitter (I can knit in straight lines, and I can't even purl) but I do find it relaxing. I'm a fidgeter by nature, and it gives my hands a focus in the same way that focusing on the pleasure of a hot cuppa can focus my mind.  Both are pleasant activities to share with other people, and apparently, I am not the only person to think so.  Tea and knitting shops are beginning to pop up, apparently mostly on the west coast. I have never heard of one on this coast, but if you know of one, please let me know.  This article in World Tea News writes about three different shops on the west coast.  Some of these owners talk about the sense of community created by these shops. “We knit and have tea and scones. We are a close group – we have been through births, deaths, marriages, divorces, illness and bad house keepers," says one woman.  

Celester Varner, the owner of Loop and Leaf in Santa Barbara, California, says that it gives non-knitters something to do while their friends peruse the shop, and says that she has customers that come only for the tea.  All three shops have a wide variety of loose leaf tea for the customers to choose from.  Twisted, in Portland, provides hot water machines, steepers, and timers for the customers to prepare themselves.  Emily Williams and Sharon Squire, who own Twisted, share my feelings that both activities are inherently smoothing. They started combining the two while still in college. Williams adds that having tea contributes to the soothing, relaxing environment.  

The yarn display at Twisted. Photo from World Tea News. 

Adagio Customer Service

Back in February, an absolutely terrible thing happened to me. My Adagio IngenuiTEA, which I had bought to replace my well-worn and broken Teavana Perfect Teamaker...ceased to work. The strainer would float up, destroying its efficacy as a strainer, and the leaves would clog the spout. An all around tragedy of epic proportions. Being that I use teaballs only in the most desperate straits, this severely cramped my tea-drinking style. I immediately wrote to Adagio, who promised to send me a replacement strainer the following day. I was surprised that they wrote back within an hour, and felt warm fuzzies at the quick resolution of the problem. Adagio explained that sometimes the strainers are manufactured just a smidgeon too small, which was apparently the problem with mine. Until my replacement strainer arrived, I was advised to preheat the teamaker like a pot. I assume this was so that the swelling would hold the strainer in place, however, the swelling was not enough for my poor, under-sized strainer. Knowing that Adagio products usually arrive with a ridiculous speed, I resolved to wait a day or so for my happy ending.

A happy ending that was, sadly, to be postponed. I waited, and waited. A month went by, and no strainer appeared on my door step. I was reduced to teaballs that restricted my oolong leaves and teabags. I refused to simply go out and buy a new device, relying on Adagio to come through. Finally, I wrote to Adagio again. Within an hour, they had written me an apology for their mistake, and the new strainer arrived very shortly afterwards.

This morning, I enjoyed a nice, well-infused cup of Jasmine Oolong. And I am very pleased with Adagio's final action, if the delay was a bit frustrating. At least they came through in the end.

Teavana Shopping Guide

The great thing about chains is that they bring accessibility to everyone. Lattes and espressos have become mainstream thanks to Starbucks, for example. As far as I know, there are not very many chain tea shops (I'm speaking about store fronts here) in the United States. I know of a couple of local chains, like New England's Tealuxe, but the only major chain that I am aware of is Teavana.

Teavana is a great place to get started if you are new to the world of loose tea. The advantage to being able to go to an actual shop is that you aren't just looking at pictures of the leaves, you can examine the leaves in person and smell them, maybe even try a cup. While there are plenty of other teashops out there, sometimes they can be hard to find. But, there is Teavana.

Teavana stocks over 100 teas, including white, green, oolong, black, and rooibos and herbal tisanes. They carry many favorites, as well as a few more exotic brands. Many of their teas are delicious.

However, there are a few caveats. Employees are encouraged to make sales, first and foremost, and so sometimes there is pressure to get the customer to buy as much as possible, something that is avoided with online shopping. So how to get the best experience out of Teavana (and possibly other tea shops as well)?

Behold!

The Teavana Shopper's Guide
1. Preparation: If possible, have some idea of what you are looking for before setting foot in the shop. This can be done by perusing the website. Look for teas that sound interesting to you and that you would be interested in smelling. Make a list before you get to the store!

2. Upon Arrival: When you arrive at the store, try the samples that they have available. But beware, many of them are prepared with German rock cane sugar, which the store also sells. So, if you're looking to cut back on calories, know that they will taste slightly different than if you were to make them with Splenda. (Rock sugar has a slightly different taste than granulated white sugar.)

3. How It's Sold: Tea is sold by the ounce (weight) with a minimum of two ounces of each tea. Therefore, if you tasted a sample that was a blend of two teas, you would be required to purchase four ounces total for tea. List prices are all for two ounces of tea.

4. Storage: Most likely, you will be encouraged to buy a tin for your tea. In the store, there are three sizes of tins: 6oz, 9oz, and 1lb, ranging from $4.50-$7.00. They are really great tins, with a double airtight seal. Having an airtight and lighttight container is vital for keeping your tea fresh for as long as possible. But, if you are buying two ounce quantities, you might not want a six ounce tin taking up room in your cupboard. On the website, three ounce tins are still available for $2.99. (They have been discontinued in the stores, except for a very expensive boxed set.) I would recommend getting the tin over the bags (which are free) because your tea will taste better longer, but know the tin sizes before you go, and know what you want.

5. Pound Discounts: If you drink a lot of tea, the pound discount is something to consider. When you buy a pound of tea, in any combination, you receive 10% off your total tea order. But, be careful. The pound price will be eight times the label price before the discount, and it can get expensive very quickly. I recommend this only if you drink several cups a tea a day, and are prepared to keep it in tins. There is also a five pound discount of 20%, but I would not recommend this for most people as this makes a whopping 1000 cups of tea! If you cannot consume that in a year, don't do it! You can also purchase the tea in 2 pound bags, but you only get the 10% discount once.

6. Tea Paraphernalia: Most of the drinks in the shop are made with the Perfect Teamaker, which is a great quick and easy way to make tea. There are similar versions put out by other companies, such as Adagio's IngenuiTEA. These are a great way to make a single cup of tea. For the less gadget oriented, a Swiss Gold filter works great as well.

The store also carries a wide variety of cast iron teawares. These are great for someone who wishes to invest in their hobby, and really spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying a leisurely cup of tea. This is for the person who is pursuing the lifestyle of tea. Sometimes, however, better prices can be found shopping elsewhere. Search for Joyce Chen pots, as she is the manufacturer of many of the pots that Teavana carries.

7. Have fun! Enjoy your tea shopping experience, and don't let anyone pressure you into what you don't want. Tea is supposed to be a relaxing experience, not a stressful one. Try a cup of tea while you shop, and enjoy!

(Many of these tips would be helpful at other shops as well!)

Whole Foods Market

Every tea connoisseur is also a gourmet. One cannot appreciate tea without an appreciation of taste. In that vein, I am partially going to digress today to talk about a most marvelous place that provides many things other than tea.

Whole Foods.

Coming up, I actually have some recipes for cooking with tea that came from the Whole Foods Podcast, but today I am going to talk about the store itself, specifically the new store that just opened in Fairfax, Virginia, in the Fair Lakes Area.

Last night I visited for the first time, and on a Friday night, the "joint was hoppin'" A grocery store? Oh yes, but it's so much more. Any conceivable ingredient can be found for one thing, including ostrich and emu eggs, at $20 an egg, to goji berries in several forms. I have to admit, I had never even heard of goji berries until last night. But gourmet food items aren't the only thing that makes it special: there are five sit-down eateries, each with a different theme: seafood, barbeque, cheese, japanese, and a wine-tasting room with eighty wines on tap. We chose to do progressive meal, starting with fresh Chincoteague oysters at the seafood bar, served with the usual cocktail sauce but also with a red onion-vinegar that was divine. The wine recommended for oysters (yes wine in a grocery store) was a muscadet that was very light, and very nice with the oysters. The next step was the cheese bar, where we shared a bowl of tomato bisque and a baked gouda sandwich. The tomato bisque was unusual and delectable in its sweetness, but the sandwich was divine. In addition to the gouda, there were slices of apple and gruyere cheese. It was served on sourdough bread, grilled and melted to perfection. There are several cheese plates available that are also served for wine tastings in the upstairs wine room, and we chose the French Flight, which featured a double cream brie (our favorite), a goat's milk cheese (chevre), and a delightful dab of jam, along with walnut pecan raisin bread. Delicious!

Distracted as we were by the actual wares of the grocery store, we were there for two and a half hours before we realized it, and our progressive dinner was halted by the cessation of service at 8:30 (the store closes at nine). We did not leave right away however, as there was a tea aisle to be explored.

They had more tea than I had ever seen in a grocery store: a whole section of Republic of Tea, with just about every bagged tea that they feature in their catalog; Adagio; Rishi; Numi, and many others that I have not yet tasted or even heard of. They even had a wide selection of bottled teas, some sweetened, some not. I brought home a bottle of Honest Tea, an unsweetened Assam, to try. I also took a 4oz jar of Adagio's Darjeeling.

But wait, there's more! At the food bars, there is a great comaraderie between fellow diners, and we fell into talking with several, one of whom pointed out the coffee bar, where they will grind the beans to make your coffee on the spot. We headed over, and not only did they have coffee, but a wide array of Rishi loose leaf teas, with little saucers of leaves on display for looking and sniffing. The tea is sold by the ounce, and is extremely reasonably priced. I left with 2 oz of Ginger Pu-Erh for about $2. We also accepted cups of tea (16 ounces for about $2.00), which were prepared in Adagio's "Ingenuitea." Unfortunately, the recommended steeping time of four minutes proved to be a bit long, and it was too bitter.

Finally, for those who like to combine catechin categories, there is a chocolate section which includes a trifle called "Queenie" which is a chocolate with green tea and Earl Grey mousse in the center. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), the dark chocolate is so strong that the tea flavor is completely overpowered, so it just tastes like chocolate. The chocolate was of fine quality however. A second chocolate that was much more impressive was a bit of chocolate topped with rock salt. The perfect combination of salt and sweet, and a unique presentation.

Whereas in the average grocery store, customers are greatly discouraged from sampling the produce or products, several times we were encouraged to try tastes of things. In produce it was cherries and miniature apples, and at the chocolate counter, we were handed samples of items that we were discussing.

It was a truly incredible experience!

Tea, Lace, and Roses

Tea, Lace, and Roses
I recently went with two friends to the Victorian teahouse called Tea, Lace, and Roses, located in the historic district of Culpeper, Virginia. It was about an hour and fifteen minute drive from Reston, located in Fairfax County.

When we arrived, there were ladies dressed in Victorian garb who apparently sew all their clothes and meet for a monthly luncheon there. Our table was already set for us, three settings with a bread plate, silver, and three different tea-cup and saucer sets, in the Lilac room, which of course, had lilac colored walls. There were three small rooms in total, as well as a tiny gift shop that overflows into the upstairs rooms of the square building.

On the table was a "sniffing station," which were racks of small jars with a few teaspoonfuls of tea leaves in each one, so that customers can smell the teas before they choose one. The selection was extremely wide, with everything from the traditional Earl Greys and Darjeelings, to exotic blends called "Once Upon a Tea" and "Wedding Tea." I decided on the "Rose Petal" which was a traditional Rose Congo, a black tea scented with rose petals and a very nice floral flavor over Chinese black tea. Lauren chose "Cheeky Peach," a peach flavored black tea, and Jessica went with the Darjeeling. Our tea quickly arrived, and we each had our own extremely generous sized pot, which held probably about six cups of tea. The tea had already been steeped and filtered, and the waitress poured out for our first cup, and then we were allowed to serve ourselves after that. My favorite touch on the teapots was the little paper drip catcher on the spout. We were all satisfied with our teas, and I found the Rose Petal to be steeped to perfection, not requiring the slightest bit of sweetening, although we were offered a choice of cubed sugar or artificial sweeteners.

There are many levels available in terms of food accompaniments, from a salad tea of crudites and fruits, to the full English tea, which had four courses. The waitress recommended the English tea for first-time visitors, and we took the suggestion.

The first course was a scone course. The offerings change from day to day, and the scone of the day was a cherry scone with cherry curd on the side, as well as an in-house clotted cream. The scone was hot from the oven, and just soft enough, and the curd (available in the gift shop) was the proverbial icing on the cake, especially with the clotted cream. It was absolute perfection.

After we had finished with our scones, a three-tiered tower was brought out to us. On the bottom plate was the finger sandwich course. It included a chicken salad sandwich on a half-croissant, an open face cucumber sandwich with dill-wasabi spread, and a mini filo dough pastry shell filled with strawberry ham salad. The chicken salad was absolutely delicious, but my favorite was the cucumber sandwich. The wasabi was very light, and did not make it spicy at all, simply lending it a little je ne sais quoi. It was a very nice twist on the traditional tea fare, as was the strawberry ham salad. I would not have thought to put the two ingredients together, but the berries gave it just the right amount of sweetness.

The second tier held the savories. The first was a slice of cucumber with dill hummus and sweet peppers on top, which was divine, and a filo dough pastry filled with hot spinach and melted cheese, which was the hands down favorite of the savories and sandwiches. The third item was a cheese and sausage ball, which while good was not nearly as impressive as the rest of the food, being slightly dry and bland in comparison.

The third tier was the dessert course, with a white chocolate cake, a nut bread made from a house recipe called "Neiman Marcus Cake" and a Russian chocolate swirl cake, all of which lived up to the rest of the meal.

The service was delightful, the other patrons friendly, and a unique atmosphere. Perhaps what made it quite unique was the dress-up room, which contained boas, hats, gloves, and long pearl necklaces for customers to dress up. It appeared that almost all customers, from child to adult, took advantage of this. We certainly did!

And we enjoyed the experience so much that we plan to go back at a future date.

A few other bits of information: Rooms can be rented, and with at least 72 hours notice, a Royal Tea can be given, which includes champagne, caviar, salmon, and other options not usually available. I would recommend reservations, as it is quite a busy little shop, and it becomes more so towards spring, according to the staff.