Teashops...

[StoneLadle]

After a couple months of being part of this very active, exciting and expressive global tea drinking community, I've come to appreciate how diverse our tea universes are, in particular with procurement of tea, and specifically Chinese tea types...

Being in Asia, myself and my peers such as @OCTO, @Bok et al, we manage to get very direct interaction with vendors, merchants and tea farmers and makers even, not to mention pots and other tea ware. It simply isn't exotic by any stretch of the imagination and I've come to appreciate that. The mundane for us is very unique for someone else somewhere in the world.

So, I was speaking with @OCTO one day after visiting Hojo's only bricks and mortar outlet here in Kuala Lumpur and he suggested we show to the community how we actually shop for tea... So I started making some pictures whenever I remembered to when I was in a teashop...

Hojo's main display rack

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The store is located in a major upscale mall, complete with tasting area not shown. Tasting is generally free except for things like aged tea and Dancong, which irks me a hell of a lot, but if you buy the sample cost is taken out of the purchase...

T Nature Tea House

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This is located in a street shop house, in a suburb. There's just tea everywhere. Quite a few people come here for their oolong fixes and also assorted quirky items. It's just fun coming here, point around a bit and drinking tea. Tea is always being brewed here and there is little pressure to buy but one needs to know what one is after as browsing simply doesn't work here...

Teas are piled up high inside the store...

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Tea being brewed for sampling

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And finally here's another one... In the middle of our local Chinatown, on a street where there are easily a dozen or more tea stores...

Evergreen Tea House on Jalan Sultan

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A tong of 80s 7582 being prepared for a customer to take home

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Due to the nature of my work I tend to get around town quite a bit, even while restrictions are in place given the current global climate and I happen to be in tea stores a few times a week just as a matter of being out and about and looking for excuses to jump into a store... Saying hi being one of them and grabbing a few cups of tea being another. It's a totally different experience I can now see and appreciate, but how to bridge the gap, I do not know.

[OCTO]

@StoneLadle

Nice!.... Looking forward to more... hahahaha.... Maybe we can go teashop hopping when situation allows and document a series... hhhmmmmm........

[TeaTotaling]

StoneLadle

Nice!.... Looking forward to more... hahahaha.... Maybe we can go teashop hopping when situation allows and document a series... hhhmmmmm........

@OCTO I think that's a great idea, a way to digitally bridge the gap.

@StoneLadle Thanks for sharing! It's good to be out and about, especially for work, especially when you can teashop hop. Have you ever been to Cha Zhi Ji??

[klepto]

I'm very jealous, its not as if I can go anywhere and hand pick tea cakes or tea ware. Even if you live in a large city in the US, the best you can hope for is to see some tea and teaware shipped in but most vendors don't want to risk that it might not sell so they only get so much. I'm jelly, soo jelly.

[DailyTX]

@StoneLadle
Awesome sharing. This was my experience shopping for tea in China. Go in to a shop, owner would engage you in a conversation on the type of tea you drink, and provide recommendations as you are having a tea session. Really missed those days...

@klepto
The bigger US cities with more Asian population would have those type of shops but unless you have connection or a frequent customer, I noticed most US tea shops will ask what you need and get you out of the shop as quickly as possible.

[karma]

klepto
The bigger US cities with more Asian population would have those type of shops but unless you have connection or a frequent customer, I noticed most US tea shops will ask what you need and get you out of the shop as quickly as possible.

I feel like most of these sorta shops tend to be more of tourist traps in the west than anything, no?

[DailyTX]

klepto
The bigger US cities with more Asian population would have those type of shops but unless you have connection or a frequent customer, I noticed most US tea shops will ask what you need and get you out of the shop as quickly as possible.

I feel like most of these sorta shops tend to be more of tourist traps in the west than anything, no?

I would say yes and no...at least for shops in the California Bay Area. If you speak Chinese, if you know what you are looking for, they will invite you for a cup of tea and exchange tea info and knowledge. The good teas typically are not displayed outside, so you need to ask the right questions.

[pedant]

i really enjoyed that. thanks, @StoneLadle.

looking forward to future installments

[StoneLadle]

StoneLadle

Nice!.... Looking forward to more... hahahaha.... Maybe we can go teashop hopping when situation allows and document a series... hhhmmmmm........

that would be scary muahahaha

[StoneLadle]

StoneLadle
Awesome sharing. This was my experience shopping for tea in China. Go in to a shop, owner would engage you in a conversation on the type of tea you drink, and provide recommendations as you are having a tea session. Really missed those days...

I'm totally interested in your tea buying experience in China. Apart from some tea shops I've been brought to by business friends in Xiamen and Shanghai, I've never spent much time at all in Chinese tea stores. Hong Kong tea stores yes, and Taiwan as well, but China... errrm... nope...

The thing is, the Chinese diaspora tend to be from the Southern regions, namely Fujian and further down. Northern diaspora didn't really emerge until over the last decade or so. Consequently, in SE Asia, we have developed our own styles of tea drinking (aged raw PE, LB etc, traditional TGY and high fire Yancha) so our stores tend to centre around these things. But we are seeing the greater influences now such as young raw tea and the greener oolongs etc...

Also, the fact that my Mandarin skills totally suck and no one in Mainland China seems to speak Cantonese anymore let alone English in a tea store, I'd be kinda screwed in China

[StoneLadle]

I would say yes and no...at least for shops in the California Bay Area. If you speak Chinese, if you know what you are looking for, they will invite you for a cup of tea and exchange tea info and knowledge. The good teas typically are not displayed outside, so you need to ask the right questions.

Ahhh... which kinda Chinese speaking are we talking about?

[StoneLadle]

i really enjoyed that. thanks, StoneLadle.

looking forward to future installments

I'm a creature of habit especially when it comes to tea so I guess I'll try to show snippets of a typical day out at a tea store... did I say day out? yeah, i guess i did... yup... sometimes, just at one store...

[enjoi]

@StoneLadle thanks for the nice idea and pictures!
I was in KL five years ago, but missed all the teastores at that time...

[vuanguyen]

Very nice sir! I have to visit Malaysia when the Covid thing is over.

One of the pictures showed cakes wrapped in plastic. Why did they do that? Is this "dry Malaysian" storage"?

[OCTO]

Very nice sir! I have to visit Malaysia when the Covid thing is over.

One of the pictures showed cakes wrapped in plastic. Why did they do that? Is this "dry Malaysian" storage"?

Dry Malaysian storage refers to the natural condition where the tea is stored... it's largely due to our weather and environment. The plastic wrap is mainly to keep dust out of the tea and also away from human contact.... it's common for walk in customers to pick up the tea and examine it.

Cheers!