Hey Bangkok Puerh Folks

[SFLouis]

Last week I asked around here looking to see if anyone knew where to look for puerh in Bangkok. Some people said to stop by Ong's tea & maybe try Chinatown, but I believe I may have happened upon a gem. There is a small tea shop in Silom, near Chong Nonsi station, that we happened upon yesterday and wound up drinking good ancient tree teas with the owner for like 3+ hours. The shop is called J.R.T., and the owner is Paula Chan. It was really very good. I bought a cake of 2009 Yongzhen hand-braided Lincang old tree tea, and I plan to go back before returning to the US. I highly recommend it if you haven't been. Photos forthcoming if you want them.

Louis

[TokyoB]

Photos would be great!

[theredbaron]

Very interesting! Thanks a lot.
I haven't been in that area in a long time. Photos would be very much appreciated. Looking from the river, is it before or past Chong Nonsi intersection, left or right?

[Tead Off]

Last week I asked around here looking to see if anyone knew where to look for puerh in Bangkok. Some people said to stop by Ong's tea & maybe try Chinatown, but I believe I may have happened upon a gem. There is a small tea shop in Silom, near Chong Nonsi station, that we happened upon yesterday and wound up drinking good ancient tree teas with the owner for like 3+ hours. The shop is called J.R.T., and the owner is Paula Chan. It was really very good. I bought a cake of 2009 Yongzhen hand-braided Lincang old tree tea, and I plan to go back before returning to the US. I highly recommend it if you haven't been. Photos forthcoming if you want them.

Louis

About 6 months ago, I walked into the shop. No one was inside. I browsed the shelves and waited patiently for about 15 minutes, even calling out if there was someone around. No one showed up! I could have taken an arm full of the cakes and simply walked out. That's one of the things I love about BKK. Most people don't even lock their doors.

[Tead Off]

Very interesting! Thanks a lot.
I haven't been in that area in a long time. Photos would be very much appreciated. Looking from the river, is it before or past Chong Nonsi intersection, left or right?

Get off on the Riverside of the station and walk back towards Silom. Very close to the last stairway of the BTS.

[theredbaron]

Get off on the Riverside of the station and walk back towards Silom. Very close to the last stairway of the BTS.

Thanks a lot.
If i understand you right, the shop is on Narathiwat Road, close to Silom? I rarely go by BTS, i always ride my motorcycle.

[Tead Off]

Get off on the Riverside of the station and walk back towards Silom. Very close to the last stairway of the BTS.

Thanks a lot.
If i understand you right, the shop is on Narathiwat Road, close to Silom? I rarely go by BTS, i always ride my motorcycle.

Yes, closer to Silom than Sathorn.

[theredbaron]

Yes, closer to Silom than Sathorn.

Excellent! Thanks a lot!

[theredbaron]

, but I believe I may have happened upon a gem.

Louis

Yes, definitely a gem!
I had a lunch meeting in the area today, and went afterwards to the shop. It's a gallery for Chinese paintings, with one side of the wall for Pu Erh. Paula is at least as much a tea lover as a tea seller, is Chinese and lives in Thailand since 10 years. For non-Mandarin speakers, she speaks excellent Thai, and also English.
No big factory teas, just smaller factory, and mostly wild tree, old tree and ancient tree teas (and some cooked Pu Erh, with which i did not bother with). I spent about 2 hours drinking tea with her, and bought 2 cakes of 2008 hand-braided Lincang tea.

Thanks a lot for the tip!

[JRS22]

I was going to ask my son to stop off at this shop on his way home for a visit next month. Then I had visions of the friendly U.S. customs folks at Kennedy airport going through his luggage and finding a package of tightly packed dried leaves.... The chinese language label wouldn't help.

[lysander]

There is a great pu'er specialist at Thanya Park, I went there a few days ago and had a monster tasting session with the owner for several hours, he has loads of quality stock. He's very friendly, his English isn't great but if you speak a little Thai you can communicate, he said his wife speaks good English, she was away at the time, I'll be going back soon!

https://www.facebook.com/Teadezhang

ps: if you happen on any decent shops in Bangkok for Yixing pots let me know.

[Rui]

Yes, definitely a gem!
I had a lunch meeting in the area today, and went afterwards to the shop. It's a gallery for Chinese paintings, with one side of the wall for Pu Erh. Paula is at least as much a tea lover as a tea seller, is Chinese and lives in Thailand since 10 years. For non-Mandarin speakers, she speaks excellent Thai, and also English.
No big factory teas, just smaller factory, and mostly wild tree, old tree and ancient tree teas (and some cooked Pu Erh, with which i did not bother with). I spent about 2 hours drinking tea with her, and bought 2 cakes of 2008 hand-braided Lincang tea.

Thanks a lot for the tip!

Many thanks for all the info. Does this shop have a web presence of some form please?

[Tead Off]

Many thanks for all the info. Does this shop have a web presence of some form please?

AFAIK, she has no web presence. I know the shop well, but Teadezhang is on a different level, carrying higher grade teas, in general.

[theredbaron]

There is a great pu'er specialist at Thanya Park, I went there a few days ago and had a monster tasting session with the owner for several hours, he has loads of quality stock. He's very friendly, his English isn't great but if you speak a little Thai you can communicate, he said his wife speaks good English, she was away at the time, I'll be going back soon!

https://www.facebook.com/Teadezhang

ps: if you happen on any decent shops in Bangkok for Yixing pots let me know.

Thanks for that, i never knew the shop, but went there yesterday
The owner is really nice, he's Chinese from Chiang Rai province, descendant of the Kuomintang lost army who fled to Burma and settled in Thailand.
Other than some fabulous self produced Pu Erh's he had some more than decent Shui Xien (MUCH better than what you get elsewhere in Bangkok). One more thing he is doing is ordering his own tea pots from Yixing in small editions, carefully selecting clay and craftsmen. He said that he wants to (re-)create future heritage pots for his Thai customer base. The pots i saw were very nice. His thing is also trying to promote modern tea culture in Thailand. He said that soon he will have a Yixing craftsman performing teapot making in his shop.
The shop is a bit out of the way (but that means a reasonable rent, and translates also in more reasonable prices for customers) in a newish suburban department store in Srinakarin Road, but well worth going there. Definitely a highlight for the otherwise rather barren tea culture here in Bangkok!

[Rui]

Many thanks for all the info. Does this shop have a web presence of some form please?

AFAIK, she has no web presence. I know the shop well, but Teadezhang is on a different level, carrying higher grade teas, in general.

Thank you for coming back to me.

That is a shame but I'll check Teadezhang in Facebook.