Hi all,

I was in San Francisco last week, and tasted tea in two places:

1. 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.

2. 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