Which cities in the US would you rank as having a definite tea
culture, worthy of a visit as a tourist?

niisonge > writes:

> Which cities in the US would you rank as having a definite tea
> culture, worthy of a visit as a tourist?

As a first approximation, none, unless you count sweet iced tea.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

None. In my metro area I know the places that sell and serve tea
which keeps me happy. Theyre not on any map. I cant complain but I
wouldnt call it a culture. So the best you can do is find somebody
who knows the local tea spots and spend the rest of your time being a
tourist. Im sure you wouldnt find anything new in a Chinatown like
San Francisco. I drool over pictures of Chinese tea markets.

Jim

On Aug 18, 9:40 pm, niisonge > wrote:
> Which cities in the US would you rank as having a definite tea
> culture, worthy of a visit as a tourist?

niisonge wrote:
> Which cities in the US would you rank as having a definite tea
> culture, worthy of a visit as a tourist?

As others have said, none - but only if you're restricting "culture" to
commerce. I suspect that a couple of dozen US cities have
small-to-middling groups of tea aficionados who meet with varying
regularity to share stories, samples and experiences. So it might be
worth asking the question that way, and on multiple groups and blogs
since membership is somewhat self-selecting.

-DM

(who will be happy to rouse some of the local troops for a distinguished
visitor to Boston)

dogma_i > writes:

> niisonge wrote:
> > Which cities in the US would you rank as having a definite tea
> > culture, worthy of a visit as a tourist?
>
> As others have said, none - but only if you're restricting "culture"
> to commerce. I suspect that a couple of dozen US cities have
> small-to-middling groups of tea aficionados who meet with varying
> regularity to share stories, samples and experiences. So it might be
> worth asking the question that way, and on multiple groups and blogs
> since membership is somewhat self-selecting.
>
> -DM
>
> (who will be happy to rouse some of the local troops for a
> distinguished visitor to Boston)

And *please* let me know if you're coming to New York, Warren!

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Aug 18, 11:40*pm, niisonge > wrote:
> Which cities in the US would you rank as having a definite tea
> culture, worthy of a visit as a tourist?

Sadly, I too have to say none. New York City has been the best I've
come across yet but it isn't so much a culture and it isn't well
centralized so it requires some effort. I've had decent tea in a few
cities but nothing I would base a trip around, occasionally I will
find a unique tea shop or cafe in out of the way places and it is more
about the people and ambiance than the tea.

I did hear about a sweet place in Siena, Italy from a close friend
which features tea and teapots from around the world and they brew the
correct tea in them in the proper style to order, I'll find out more
about that when we get to spend some time together in the coming
weeks.

- Dominic

On 2009-08-19, niisonge > wrote:

> Which cities in the US would you rank as having a definite tea
> culture, worthy of a visit as a tourist?

I think SF and the surrounding areas (East Bay) probably have the best
range of options, and you get the sense that SF has more growing
interest in tea than some other cities. There's even a whole book about
tea stuff in SF.

Chinese-tea-wise, the Bay area has Red Blossom, Imperial Tea Court,
Teance, etc. -- all have some strong points (as well as, IMHO, some
weaknesses). Some people also swear by Chaikhana down in Santa Cruz,
which has almost a cult-like following. I would personally rate some
other shops in the US above any of these shops, but I still think SF has
something closer to a "tea culture" than those other cities.

The Pacific Northwest also has some interesting tea related businesses.
Seattle has Floating Leaves and New Century Tea Gallery.

Not technically in the US, but Vancouver / Richmond is quite worth
visiting in my opinion (for Best Tea House, Aroma (US branch of Lam Kie
Yuen, and I've heard good things on here and elsewhere about 'Spring
Cottage Tea', a mostly wholesale business).

My best tea experiences have mostly been small private gatherings with
other tea nerds, so if you're going to be in the US, definitely drop a
line to some like-minded folks in the city of your destination and see
if you can set something up. If you're going to New York, LA, SF, or the
Pac NW, definitely drop me a line privately, and I can put you in touch
with some people. Here in LA, we have a small group that does private
tastings fairly frequently (a lot of us originally met through RFDT, as
well as from members' web logs), and I know there is a group that meets
out of Tea Gallery in New York.

LA doesn't have much in the way of truly amazing shops besides Tea
Habitat (full disclosu the owner is a friend and member of our tea
group), which was recently featured in the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/features/food...,4817599.story
Also, there's a big tea exhibit on at the Fowler museum at UCLA through
the fall.
http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/incEngine...cm=exhibitions

--
Multi-lingual forum for Chinese and Japanese tea and teawa
http://teadrunk.org/

> And *please* let me know if you're coming to New York, Warren!

Thanks, and thanks to everyone else. If I do plan a visit, I will let
everyone know. And if anyone is planning a visit to Toronto or Fujian,
do let me know, so we can arrange a meet up sometime.

I'm going to 'me-too' Will's post; San Francisco's Chinatown now has
at least two commercial (and touristy actually) tea shops, the one
I've actually visited briefly was right on the main drag, out in the
open, so to speak.

It seems in the past you had to be 'in the know' to find good tea,
well its still like that.

But things seem to be changing.


berk

Thats the longest commute Ive ever seen. I dont know but I would say
Canada has more of a tea culture than the US. Avoid the pollution and
we'll bike to tea shops. For the ones across town just thrown them on
mass transit. And it so happens everyone of those shops has a nearby
Irish Pub. This just occured to me. Hey Dominic there is your
formula for tea shoppe success.

Jim

PS Im riding my first 50k this weekend. I havent figured out which
tea Im taking.

On Aug 19, 8:13 pm, niisonge > wrote:
> Thanks, and thanks to everyone else. If I do plan a visit, I will let
> everyone know. And if anyone is planning a visit to Toronto or Fujian,
> do let me know, so we can arrange a meet up sometime.

On Aug 20, 8:46*am, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> Thats the longest commute Ive ever seen. *I dont know but I would say
> Canada has more of a tea culture than the US. *Avoid the pollution and
> we'll bike to tea shops. *For the ones across town just thrown them on
> mass transit. *And it so happens everyone of those shops has a nearby
> Irish Pub. *This just occured to me. *Hey Dominic there is your
> formula for tea shoppe success.
>
> Jim
>
> PS Im riding my first 50k this weekend. *I havent figured out which
> tea Im taking.

That I could do, fresh Guinness draft, live traditional Irish drinking
tunes, darts... come to think of it, I should just go that route and
leave tea as my own hobby.

- Dominic

I can offer you to place your favourite places in a map, the database
i made with shops, and places related to tea all around the tea world.
share your knowledge sending me a list with names, addresses,
telephone numbers, web site url, etc and i will add them to the web.
something for a beginning, at least:
http://worldoftea.iespana.es/

kind regards,
bonifacio barrio hijosa
http://worldoftea.iespana.es/


On Aug 19, 4:03*pm, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> None. *In my metro area I know the places that sell and serve tea
> which keeps me happy. *Theyre not on any map. *I cant complain but I
> wouldnt call it a culture. *So the best you can do is find somebody
> who knows the local tea spots and spend the rest of your time being a
> tourist. *Im sure you wouldnt find anything new in a Chinatown like
> San Francisco. *I drool over pictures of Chinese tea markets.
>
> Jim
>
> On Aug 18, 9:40 pm, niisonge > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Which cities in the US would you rank as having a definite tea
> > culture, worthy of a visit as a tourist?