> our experience was less than satisfactory- i had heard so many good
> things about this teashop-but we were very disapponted-
>
> instead of being graciously invited into the tea shop we were treated
> rather rudely-we wanted to have a cup of tea-this was not offered to
> us-we were asked if we wanted tea tastng at $24
That's interesting. Their website does say it's best to call ahead
though:
http://www.theteagallery.com/Articles.asp?ID=131
Never been to the Tea Gallery or NYC - because, ummm, I'm in Fuzhou.
Let me tell you how it is here. Today I happend to pass by Ten Fu Tea,
so I went in to take a look. The sales assistants were very courteous.
One came up to me right away, and offered me a small paper cup of tea
(biluochun). Finished drinking it. Then she came up again for more
tea, this time (tieguanyin). Third round, she came up again, and she
gave me jasmine tea to try. And this was while I was browsing around
the store. And at the same time, there was another sales assistant
always at my side, asking me what teas I liked, and showing me around
the shop. This second assistant kept asking me to take a seat, and try
some tea. Finally, I decided to try green tea (Longjing). We sat down
together - and she brewed it just for me - and we all drank it (sales
assistants included). Wow, what a spectacular tea. She gave me 3
different Longjings to try - one at 50 yuan per pound, the second at
100 yuan per pound, and just for the heck of it, another at 200 yuan
per pound. I probably spent half an hour just sampling tea. She was
very patient.
Of course, after explaining how to brew the tea, demonstrating how to
brew it, and answering all my questions, she got the sale. And I was
very satisfied. That was an awesome experience. Not only that, she
gave me some tea snacks and moon cake to sample too, in case I might
be interested in purchasing those too. But I liked the tea best. And
all of that was free to try.
Teas are highly variable. If you can't sample it in-store before you
purchase, then how will you know if you like it or not? In China,
anywhere you go, you can sample the tea before you purchase. That's
common business practice. And these teas I tried today were all pre-
packaged at the tea factory - no fussing with loose leaves. But in-
store they kept sample packages open on the shelves for customers to
try.
Tea ware was very expensive. Much more expensive that at other places.
But I was very satisfied with the tea.
That's what a tea experience should be - not turn people off.