Space Cowboy wrote:
> I saw in the paper mention of a new tea shoppe in the metro area. It
> is run by a woman who lived in France for 12 years and decided to start
> her own. It is located in a major antique area so she gets a lot of
> foot traffic. I thought this a good location. She makes the pastries
> and serves a limited menu. She had a good selection of teas. All the
> teas from India were from recognizable estates. I got a pot of
> Makaibari green Darjeeling FOP. All the 16oz pots were $5 and 26oz
> $6.50. Since they're not topped off you're lucky to get 2/3 of either.
> Nobody can make a pot to satisfy me. The only thing I know about tea
> shoppes they are expensive for what you get. What I saved on the free
> day at the Nature and Science museum I spent for lunch and tea. Most
> of the tables were full on Sunday and the owner made sure to chat at
> each. We had a short discussion on Darjeeling white teas. She seemed
> embarrassed when I asked the cost per oz on the Makaibari. She said $3
> and I told her $10/100g was the standard cost of any estate tea from
> anywhere let alone something that was more premium. I was probably her
> first customer who understood metrics. My local tea shoppe is doing
> well. The last time I was in I thought the help pesky and annoying.
> If I was running a tea shoppe every pot would be one liter.
>
> Jim

Good post Jim, I was just popping by since I just returned from
vacation and you post hit on almost exactly what I was going to post. I
enjoy a small place called Chincoteague Island (and Assateague Island)
in VA which is most famously known for their wild ponies and the yearly
roundup. I don't get into the roundup and go a few weeks after the
craziness to enjoy the scenic beauty and the amazing beaches as well as
do some fishing, crabbing, kite flying, and as much nothing as I can
get in before going back to reality.

Not that I would expect any great tea, but the one stop to a trendy
little popular coffee/tea shoppe was a major letdown. Even though
claiming to be expert in tea and talking a big game, I was warned to
watch out for the 200 degree plus hot water my poor _bag_ of "the best
Sencha" was screaming from. Ugh. The other "information" and
"expertise" was almost too much to overhear from my table, but I
managed to keep quiet and not say a word. The shop is also an antique
shop, and strewn amongst the antiques and junk were some cast iron
Japanese teapots which were priced just shy of insane at $68-89 and
came complete with authenticity stickers proclaiming "Made in China"...
I should have turned around then.

Tea is so simple, and even with it becoming "popular" in the U.S. I
will never understand why it is impossible to even remotely get it
right. I have now officially given up, all except for places where it
is painfully obvious that they know what they are doing and are
serious. TeaNY was much along the lines of what you described minus the
antiques and higher on the prices.

I was totally surprised though at the great tea I was served at a small
Vietnamese restaraunt as the free house teapot. It happened to be the
exact jasmine oolong I bought in NYC at Kam Man, cheap but very good
oolong and it was perfectly brewed.

That was about it for tea, and stupidly I forgot to bring any with me,
so I'm doing my best to catch up today now that I'm back home. I
started off with some of my own jasmine oolong, and am about to brew up
some Xiaguan Pu-Erh next.

- Dominic
Drinking: The above mentioned Xiaguan