Had an odd experience with these folks. I just moved about 30-40 miles
south of Minneapolis, and was pretty excited that there was an
almost-local tea shop.

I've been looking at Ti Kuan Yin Oolongs (we liked it the best of the
Republic of Tea's Oolongs), and I've looked at Stash, Tea Time in Palo
Alto, LSdT, Special Teas, and the prices vary wildly.

I called La Societe', intending to place an order - they have some
advantages of being local and any order would get to me quickly, plus
they seem to be moderately priced. So I asked him at the Tea, and what
the differences were between their different varieties (floral,
regular, and monkey picked) and he (don't know who it was - employee,
owner, or what) told me that if I was new to tea, then he recommended
the basic variety, that the monkey picked was much more complex. Then
I asked that why the prices varied so much from place to place, and he
basically said "I'm not going to get into this now; thanks for calling"
and hung up. His tone was not rude in the least, but his actions were.

Now, what I wanted to know was:

1. Did I break some unspoken rule of tea etiquette by asking about the
differences in prices? (ie, was I rude first?). I don't believe my tone
was rude or argumentative.
2. Are they usually this... abrupt?

My initial response was to swear never to set foot in their premises or
place any order from them, ever. But I've read quite a few positive
comments about them, which makes me think that this wasn't their usual
behavior.

Cathy Weeks