LA trip end of Jan

[wyardley]

If you were going to go to the Lupicia at the Century City mall, both bears3x and I live pretty near there (I'm like 2 miles west), so we could easily meet somewhere in that area.

[Vulture]

wyardley, they might not be the best on traditional teas but they are amazing for thier flavored blends. They are one of the best blenders for this and they like to have 'in store only' blends. The Hawaii store has 9 unique blends you can only get there and nowhere else in the world. That's the draw to go there, it should be a place we stop by for that. When we have a final list of places we are stopping by, we can talk about it more.

Edit: Just saw your post. That might be a good idea to meet around there or even after stopping by there

[Chip]

Lupicia=Teavana ... I was waiting for Pentox to reach through cyber space seeking vengence.

Lupicia and Hankook deliver glitz. I would definitely check them out. But the quaintness of Chinatown type shops should not be missed, and the teaware prices cannot be beat! Most Chinatown tea, and I emphasize most, sell crap tea, at least here in the east.

[Pentox]

Most of the stuff I saw when I went in the store seemed to be flavored / scented teas and what not. And even the types of teas that I would drink, I am pretty sure I could get a better quality tea for the same price elsewhere. Which of their teas do you think are especially good?

Their teaware didn't do much for me either. But I haven't tried drinking any of their teas, so I won't say anything else about them.

They do have those nice little clips for closing bags of tea, though.

The selection varies depending upon the size of the store. With smaller store sizes the single estate teas get cut first. Apparently they keep finding that there's not much of a market for unflavored black teas here in the states. So they have been experimenting with how to market them. For instance for second flush darjeelings they were by request only online. The stores had quantities on hand though. Shincha, First Flush Darjeeling, and Second Flush darejeeling single estate teas are all seasonal and don't get a permanent cubby hole. So if you don't go on the month that they have them you'll never see them. Most of the stores do have a fair amount of traditional japanese green teas on hand though, but a smaller store will be more dominated by the flavored blacks/greens.

Their teaware is quite impressive in my opinion. There is quite a bit behind their teaware that most people won't notice because of the relative plainness of the products. Also not everything is displayed year round. For instance I believe all of their glass (I know every glass product i've gotten so far is) is made by Hario Glass. Hario glass does not have much of a presence in the US, but are quite amazing glass products. Since the brand is not know, they have no reason to market the name. But it is all quite phenomenal stuff. Their kyusu are all tokoname from what I've seen, again it's not marketed since most don't know about it. The Hotaru series is just breathtaking in my opinon.

Amusingly their bag clips aren't that great. They break after opening and closing about 3 bags. So about 30 uses. The plastic just wears out on them.

As far as what teas they have that are good it depends on your tea style preference. The most notable ones for me are the Yame Gyokuro Vil. Hoshino, Chiran Yutakamidori, and Nara Tsukigase. There have only been a few gyo which even can compare to their offering. Chiran YM is a YM which is not a fuka, which seems to be quite rare. The NT is a wonderful chumushi general sencha. And quite cheap at that.

In the other categories, their Matcha is pretty good, but nothing outstanding. Quite fresh though, they keep it on about a 3 month expiration. Some of their Darjeelings are outstanding in quality. Puttabong and Castleton from 2007 were both standouts in my mind. They also have grades which are hard to find. A Puttabong First flush SFTGFOP-1 for example.

So yeah, THEY ARE NOT LIKE TEAVANA.

I'd suggest even looking / trying their selection/offerings before comparing them to Teavana.

[Pentox]

Oh yeah, and one other thing. They'll make some of anything you want to try. They don't bat an eye at people asking to try just the top end stuff.

[Rakuras]

Officially showing interest in the trip unless working or otherwise- then again, I live about five minutes from Vulture so I doubt I'd miss it without some notice. That aside, I bet I've some research to do on teashops in the LA area, eh? I'm too used to the 'local teashop' mentality that swarmed my childhood compared to the modern 'go five miles, get poor tea. Go thirty and get better tea'. Anyways, off to the interwebs.

[andy825]

Assuming this is a sat/sun, I would be in for anything on saturday morning until about 2:30pm, then I would have to go to work. My hsband might come along, too, depending.

[bearsbearsbears]

i work across the street from lupicia, so i've been in a few times. they do have pretty teaware, and their sencha is fine by me. Friendly staff. Tiny store here, though: walk in the front door and you hit the back wall.

Also near lupicia is palais des thes in beverly hills, which has pricey but pretty teaware and lots of expensive underwhelming tea, and dr. tea in west hollywood, which is as unworthwhile as it sounds.

if it's a sat or sun, my suggestion is to either start east or west and work in the opposite direction. Either start at tea habitat (way west) and head to lupicia/palais/chado/wherever then to wing hop fung and ten ren in chinatown/sgv (banquet dinner!), or start with dim sum in chinatown/sgv and end at tea habitat.

[Vulture]

Assuming this is a sat/sun, I would be in for anything on saturday morning until about 2:30pm, then I would have to go to work. My hsband might come along, too, depending.

24th is a saturday, 25th a sunday. I work friday nights but I have time to request it off so I can come have fun either way. No one has inputted if they prefer saturday or sunday besides you so far. If anything I can see about planning the first stop at a sit down place so everyone can chat and meet, then move on from there.

[Pentox]

I'd prefer a sat.

[Vulture]

Did a bit of mapping out on this. Looks like most the tea places are all crunched together. Here is a link to a possible route for the trip:

Google Map

Also I found that Tea Habitat has tastings, this is from their web site:

Tea Tasting
Date: Every Sunday
Time: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Location: Tea Habitat
Cost: $10 per person

Our weekly tasting features 5 selected hand crafted rare teas from White tea, Green tea, Oolong tea, Black tea, Pu-erh tea or herbal tea right at our tea bar, served by our tea specialists. It’s the ultimate way to discover your cup of tea.

I believe we can start our trip at the tea tasting at around 12pm. Do some nice tastings and chatting as we meet. Then trek up north a bit and hit a line of tea shops. If we start running out of time for someone, we can skip a shop or two.

Andy - I think this would work out to meet for the tea tasting session then you can go on your way to work that day.

Overall our stops (in order) will be:

Tea Habitat - a teahouse with a tasting bar
Lupicia - lets you taste but is a stand up store, more a vendor than teahouse
Palais Des Thes - a sit-down teahouse restaurant (can skip)
Chado - only serves tea to go (can skip)
Honkook - only serves tea to go (but I think is a vendor of tea/teaware too?)
Wing Hop Fung - Like lupicia, vendor but lets you taste the teas. (supposed to be huge)
Ten Ren - In the same complex as Wing Hop Fung (looks to be a sit down, will call for more info)

After that we can go our separate ways or hang out for dinner somewhere in the area.

[Victoria]

Don't you think Palos Verdes is a long way out of our area? Tea Habitat may be a place to save for another time.

Chado - not sure where you are getting the "only serves tea to go", that is incorrect. But we certainly can skip it - I was not impressed by their teas. But they do have a tearoom.

It seems to me like we are trying to do too much.

[bearsbearsbears]

Overall our stops (in order) will be:

Tea Habitat - a teahouse with a tasting bar
Lupicia - lets you taste but is a stand up store, more a vendor than teahouse
Palais Des Thes - a sit-down teahouse restaurant (can skip)
Chado - only serves tea to go (can skip)
Honkook - only serves tea to go (but I think is a vendor of tea/teaware too?)
Wing Hop Fung - Like lupicia, vendor but lets you taste the teas. (supposed to be huge)
Ten Ren - In the same complex as Wing Hop Fung (looks to be a sit down, will call for more info)

After that we can go our separate ways or hang out for dinner somewhere in the area.

You flipped Palais and Chado. It's the other way 'round. Chado is the teahouse restaurant, and Palais is to go only. All stores above sell leaf and teaware as well. Hankook/Chasaengwon has great korean teaware.

Feeling Victoria here tho. It's a very ambitious agenda.

[wyardley]

Don't you think Palos Verdes is a long way out of our area? Tea Habitat may be a place to save for another time.

It is definitely a bit out of the way. On the other hand, Imen's shop is really the most unique and interesting shop on the list. It's also the place we're most likely to be able to sit down and try a variety of teas in a relaxed environment, and even brew our own teas if anyone wants to. Definitely biased since bears3x and I have known her since before she even opened the shop, but I honestly think this is one of the better places to go.

I'm not sure if the weekend tastings are still going on, but I can almost guarantee that if we do make it down there (and give her some advance notice), Imen will be more than happy to let us taste her teas. In fact, a special tasting would probably be better for such a large group.

If we are going there & folks are coming up from SD, it might make sense for those people to head straight there on their way up (you can get there from the 405).

WHF: they will let you taste the teas, and I believe will also give out small samples of most of their tea if you ask.... however, I don't personally think they brew their own teas that well. Also, most of the staff doesn't speak much English. There are two locations, Chinatown and Monterey Park (they have slightly different stuff; I very slightly prefer the mpk one). It's only another 10-12 minute drive past Chinatown. There are a few good teas, which bears3x can point out, but I would mostly suggest it for cheaper teaware. They have a lot of good stuff like tea towels, tea tables / trays, gaiwans, tea canisters, etc. Not all of it is tasteful, and some of it is not well made, but the prices are good, and I think there are a few real bargains in there. Also have a great selection of wine, cooking appliances, Chinese herbs, and other household stuff.

Ten Ren / Ten Fu: Strongly suggest going to one of the two in the SGV area (near the Monterey Park one). The Chinatown one is really underwhelming. All of them have sit-down kind of service, but it's separate from the tea leaf part, and mostly for brewing boba tea. There isn't a more traditional tea service at any of them, though I think they will let you try tea. I think the one on Valley near Del Mar is the best, personally. Any of them are more worth going to for teaware than for tea IMO. The prices are high, but they should have a few nice things. I think the one I just mentioned has some nice porcelain, and some Ok stoneware (not sure if it's actually Yixing clay, even if they say it is, but it's at least decent quality).

[Vulture]

It seems to me like we are trying to do too much.

That is why I gave a couple places we can skip. I was just taking a list and seeing where they were. All the places were in a line so I thought it wouldn't be a problem. I wanted to give choices to the people that were going .

I also wanted to go to Tea Habitat, they do tastings on Saturdays and we can start there to hang out and talk. All my info I was gleaming off their web sites and info from Bears. I believe we can skip Chado and Palais Des Thes. Its still early in the planning stages here as well so give me some room .

Wyardley and Bears,

I have Tea Habitat's number to setup the reservation for tea tastings. But as you know the person there, it be best if one of you set that up. We don't have to do it right now as I don't have a full head count.