Tea Shop in Los Angeles? For high quality

by **acehigh** » Jun 15th, '06, 11:59

Tea Shop in Los Angeles? For high quality

by acehigh » Jun 15th, '06, 11:59

I am going to CA in a few weeks. I just wondering if there any good tea shops... When I was in San Fran last year I found a one which were really amazing in Japan town.

by **bearsbearsbears** » Jun 15th, '06, 16:32

Re: Tea Shop in Los Angeles? For high quality

by bearsbearsbears » Jun 15th, '06, 16:32

acehigh wrote:I am going to CA in a few weeks. I just wondering if there any good tea shops... When I was in San Fran last year I found a one which were really amazing in Japan town.

the tea shops in LA are just ok re: high quality tea.

Elixir on Melrose in West Hollywood has great atmosphere and OK tea, mostly camellia/herbal blends.
Chado on 3rd street (?) has bad atmosphere and ok tea. good selection. The store in south pasadena has better atmosphere.
Tea Garden in Weho on Beverly is "all talk and no celica," IMNSHO.
Les Palais des Thes in Beverly Hills has many, many teas. The one I had was just ok, but i'm sure they have something good in all those cans. They don't really brew to drink the tea in, only to go, so you might not get a good try of what you buy.

Chinatown has Wing Hop Fung, which has the best selection of good tea, IMHO. They also have a location in Monterey Park. There are various herbalist stores with tea in that area, but none with as wide a selection. WHF also has a lot of teaware.

There are various stores in (near death) Little Tokyo that carry teas, but they're not very fresh.

There are some frilly chintzy teahouses, too, but I avoid them on principle and couldn't give you a review or recommendation.

by **bearsbearsbears** » Jun 16th, '06, 13:00

by bearsbearsbears » Jun 16th, '06, 13:00

I also forgot:

African Red Tea Imports on Fairfax in Hollywood.
Hugos - 2 locations, on in the valley and on in West Hollywood. An organic natural food restaurant that serves tea and tea beverages and sells loose-leaf tea.
Ten Ren - Chinatown (many people shun their teas, though)

by **acehigh** » Jun 16th, '06, 23:04

by acehigh » Jun 16th, '06, 23:04

Thank you very much..

we have a Ren Tea in NYC , and been to one in San Fran... I mostly like Japanese tea, which they do not carry.

by **dejj** » Jun 17th, '06, 23:41

by dejj » Jun 17th, '06, 23:41

Just curious: what did you find in Japantown that was really good? I live in the Bay Area, but to my knowledge at least, I haven't found any good tea shops in Japantown. Maybe I'm missing something.

Also, I second Le Palais des Thes in Beverly Hills. Especially if you like flavored teas, they are really good for that.

Have fun on your trip!

by **acehigh** » Jun 18th, '06, 15:16

by acehigh » Jun 18th, '06, 15:16

dejj wrote:Just curious: what did you find in Japantown that was really good? I live in the Bay Area, but to my knowledge at least, I haven't found any good tea shops in Japantown. Maybe I'm missing something.

Also, I second Le Palais des Thes in Beverly Hills. Especially if you like flavored teas, they are really good for that.

Have fun on your trip!

It was called Shifuku Tea Company but now they are using white crane tea in the Japanese center. The owner Dave is very nice. Save me money by shipping the items to NY so i didnt have to pay tax or carry them on the plane.

White Crane Tea
1737 Post Street Suite 337
San Francisco California 94115

415 922 5505

They only sold Japanese green tea. Its a small store.

Have you been there?