Jun 3rd, '08, 17:14
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scruffmcgruff
Decaf sencha in a samovar? Who the hell do these people think they are?! Unless they're caffeine-sensitive offspring from some Romeo-and-Juliet-esque fling during the Russo-Japanese war, that is crazy.
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Jun 3rd, '08, 17:22
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Yeah, I am serious...that was a little bizarre...scruffmcgruff wrote:Decaf sencha in a samovar? Who the hell do these people think they are?! Unless they're caffeine-sensitive offspring from some Romeo-and-Juliet-esque fling during the Russo-Japanese war, that is crazy.
I saw a lot of samovars. I think my memory is correct. I know it was decaf sencha because I turned it down both days.
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!
Wow that is crazy. Especially considering that they brew with kyusus or gaiwans in the store. Mostly kyusus though.Chip wrote:Yeah, I am serious...that was a little bizarre...scruffmcgruff wrote:Decaf sencha in a samovar? Who the hell do these people think they are?! Unless they're caffeine-sensitive offspring from some Romeo-and-Juliet-esque fling during the Russo-Japanese war, that is crazy.
I saw a lot of samovars. I think my memory is correct. I know it was decaf sencha because I turned it down both days.
I bet they did the samovars just because they felt a need to be able to service people very quickly and in large quantity. They're probably kinda new to the whole trade show gig in the US.
I'm guessing you went to the one in Valley Fair/Westfield? Sadly I don't like that store as much, of the 3 in the bay that's the saddest one. My order of preference is:scruffmcgruff wrote:I'm a bit surprised about their lack of Japanese options at the show. When I went into one of their B&M stores here, there was an entire section of senchas and other unflavored Japanese teas. It was almost overwhelming, even!
I very much enjoyed the Kagoshima sencha I got from there. Also... they sell 2oz packages, which is a big plus in my book.
1. SF City Center / Westfield
2. Stonestown SF
3. Valley Fair / Westfield.
I'm a bit partial to Stonestown due to free parking and they know me there. The SF City Center one though has by far the largest selection.
Jun 3rd, '08, 18:49
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Interesting... I'll have to check out the other two stores sometime. Just out of curiosity, why was the Valley Fair one not as nice?
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Primarily size. Lupicia stores are intended to be long and narrow stores. The Valley Fair store is somewhat of a wide layout, especially compared to the other two. Since the two SF stores are long enough they have it setup for the entire left side of the store to be the wall of boxes for holding the tea and the counter of tea canisters to smell. The back wall for stonestown and city center are somewhat of a seasonal item counter, but primarily it is in front of where they make samples/tastings. The layout of Valley Fair is setup this way. Valley Fair hooks the canister counter around partly to the back. But this is also due to the size/layout. They just don't have as much counterspace for the tins as the others do and so therefore have a smaller selection.scruffmcgruff wrote:Interesting... I'll have to check out the other two stores sometime. Just out of curiosity, why was the Valley Fair one not as nice?
Well I got my order today, and the teaset included was the one that was supposed to (supposed to by the offer, not the order invoice). It's still a really great set for something that's free with purchase. I'll probably take some pics and post it to my blog later, but it looks like a great deal if you want a little gongfu set. I still can't believe that they included a 66.00 set with a 25.00 purchase. Odd.
Jun 4th, '08, 19:52
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Yes, let us know when you post those pics!Pentox wrote:Well I got my order today, and the teaset included was the one that was supposed to (supposed to by the offer, not the order invoice). It's still a really great set for something that's free with purchase. I'll probably take some pics and post it to my blog later, but it looks like a great deal if you want a little gongfu set. I still can't believe that they included a 66.00 set with a 25.00 purchase. Odd.
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