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Mellow Monk teas has been posting videos of a recent tea-buying trip to Japan on their blog and on YouTube. I highly recommend checking them out, it is a six-part series and is very fascinating:
Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:
Part Four:
Part Five:
Part Six:
Tea @ 10,531 feet.
After-dinner tea.
Hira serves up some masala tea.
Morning tea before Machhapachhare.
Himalayan mint tea.
what lovely photos, thanks for the share. the mountains look spectacular. the mint is called pudina in Nepal and I can see real pudinas floating.
I set out about two weeks ago to explore Chicago’s Chinatown — just off the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line stop. I hoped to find tiny tea-houses tucked away off the main streets, tea importers, tea shops — I hoped to find a mecca of tea right in my own city. However, I found none of this. Not even an inkling of hope. I left completely and utterly disappointed.
I began walking around, first North on Wentworth to China Square on Archer, there were many shops, Americanized restaurants, Chinese Herbs, bookstores, and a few stores selling cheap souvenirs. The only store slightly of interest was the Chinese Cultural Bookstore [2145B S. China Place] which had a small selection of Yixing pots (all above $100USD) and an instructional video called “Learn China’s Art of Enjoying Tea With Me” which I purchased and have not yet watched.
I then walked down Wentworth into the heart of Chinatown, going down each side-street a block or two just hoping to uncover a gem of a shop. But there was nothing to be found. I stopped by the well known Ten Ren tea shop on Wentworth. It is a classic Chinese tea shop, the walls lined with shelves of large tea tins. I had to wonder how long the tea had been sitting in the tins. They had one pu-erh cake priced at $20.00USD, and many tea-wares — few items to be found under $50.00USD.
Surprisingly the most “authentic” Chinese teahouse I’ve found in the Chicagoland area is in Evanston. It is called Dream About Tea [http://www.dreamabouttea.com/] if you get up there, make sure you check it out. Lastly, if anyone knows of any tea spots in Chicago’s Chinatown (perhaps I missed a few streets? maybe an entire section of Chinatown?) please enlighten me!
Thanks for the heads up to the tea shop in Evanston, I have lived here for a while and had seen is a couple of times but never thought it looked to spectacular or anything. I am definitely going to check it out now.
My husband is from Chicago and we have tried looking for tea shops and they are few and far between. Chicago Chinatown is a big disappointment when it comes to tea considering the size of the city. The only place we even found was a Ten Ren and that wasn’t even that impressive.
Yeppers, Dream About Tea is a special place to be sure! I am in there often, and always come away smiling!
To me, finding a great tea is an adventure. I can’t always wander around the hills of Asia searching out tiny tea gardens, or wander the streets of Chongqing looking for that tiny tea shop that no tourist has ever set foot in. Because I cannot always do these things, I’ll go to great lengths to find little-known teas, to discover something that not many in the Western world has tried.
Some of my great finds have been on EBay and Twitter. I stumbled across Yunnan Sourcing a few years ago on Ebay, run by an American Expat — Scott Wilson. He searches out rare teas and sells them on his EBay store for reasonable prices – and ships directly from China. You cannot beat the selection, and the pride you feel after you receive your package from China, and try teas that you can’t get at the tea shop down the street, or from large online companies.
My other great tea resource I met through Twitter, my friend Daniel Hong has taught me much about Oolong and I recently purchased some teas from him. These teas included aged Oolongs, Rare TGY Oolongs, and some other Oolongs I hadn’t yet heard of. It is occurrences like these that really create the tea experience for me.
We cannot all travel through the tea producing regions of the world, some of us aren’t that into tea, while others are too busy or cannot afford such travel. I have had the opportunity to do these things, and I long for another. In the meantime, I like nothing more than to search out teas and have my own little adventures online. Nothing turns me off more than huge tea sellers online that offer everything under the sun, for much more money than is necessary. I’d love to one day travel again, to bring back some rare teas, and to sell them online and share my stories. One day this will happen. Please share with me any “armchair tea adventures” you’ve had in the comments, it will be great to hear them!
Have you ever heard of the tea name “Sifang Cha” ? which is not sold to public but only carefully reserved and share with good friends and lucky man.it’s a very personal tea. I’ve ever drinked that kind of tea from a Master once, the tea is so soft and so smooth, just like the cloud. I miss it everytime.
There are so many different teas around the world especially in China, just like a forest, it’s interesting to take a tea adventure, pls join Tony.
Thanks for the links, Tony. My friend just returned from China and sent me a barley tea. Super excited to try it, though I think it will be very similar to a Thai Iced Tea I had in Little Rock, AR, at Bangkok Thai Cuisine. Regardless, I agree. It’s always so fun to find a new, obscure tea that is completely unfamiliar on this side of the globe.
India has a rich tea culture, still the world’s largest tea producer — tea has become an important part of everyday life for most Indians. Masala Chai shops can be found on any street-corner, on the back of bicycles, and in many cases, the chaiwallah (“one who serves chai”) will come to you — as is the case while riding the Indian Railways. Many times, chai can be purchased in India for about 5 rupees – equivalent to just less than a dime (USD). Here are a few shots from my recent trip to India:
Wow! Great pictures and information. So excited to see more about different tea cultures!
[...] Tony added an interesting post today on Tea Culture in India: Photos | World of TeaHere’s a small readingIndia has a rich tea culture, still the world’s largest tea producer — tea has become an important part of everyday life for most Indians. Masala Chai shops can be found on any street-corner, on the back of bicycles, and in many cases, … [...]
Wow! Great pictures and information. So excited to see more about different tea cultures!
Sorry, forgot to add great post! Can’t wait to see your next post!
Nice Photos, Looking forward to more!
Beautiful green tea! No fair, makes me hungry, thirsty and envious
OOO that green tea IS beautiful! Nice series of images!
Love The Samovar in bothe the Yerba Buena and Zen Valley , SF locations. bellisimo and sublime.
Great photos of a wonderful tea city. These are some of my own personal favorites. Thank you.