Ajiri Tea - Product Review

Ajiri Tea was brought to us en route from Virginia as a gift.  The packaging was cute and apparently hand made.

Inside of the box was a clear plastic bag with the tea in the foil bag. The plastic bag was sealed and loosely tied with the Ajiri Tea tag.  On the twine holding the tag were glass beads that were apparently also hand made.

 

As you can see, instead of whole or partial leaves, this was very fine or "dust" grade tea, so the little specks were a little messy to handle.  We used 1 teaspoon for an 8 oz brew.

Our cloth tea bags seemed appropriate as the fine tea particles would fall through our tea strainer. This particular tea bag also folds down and over in order to contain the tea leaves within.

The tea brewed quickly and the aroma of vanilla filled the air.  We steeped the tea for about 3 minutes.

The brewed liquid was a rich auburn color.  This was a typical black tea flavor much reminiscent of Lipton, but slightly more full-bodied.  The directions on the box called for steeping the tea in warm milk, so this would make a great milk tea.  

A bottle of Bulleit Rye Whisky was nearby.  Notice a similarity? :-D

Tea Cafe Review - Samovar (San Francisco - Yerba Buena location)

We were excited to try Samovar when visiting San Francisco in April.  The Yerba Buena Gardens location was convenient for us as we were shopping in downtown.

Photo: Interior

Photo: Menu with engraved metal cover

Photo: Menu on tea descriptions page. I got the Bai Hao (Taiwan) Oolong Tea

Photo: Ice water in metal tumblers, tea tasting set with my Oolong tea in the covered server, and hot water in the cast iron teapot. The iced tea is the Schizandra Berry "chilled" tea, which was very tart and indeed tasted like an "elixir" as mentioned in the menu descriptions

Photo: first brew of Bai Hao (Taiwan) Oolong Tea & brewed tea leaves. I enjoyed at least 5 brews of these tea leaves.  The tea tasting set was a nice touch, but would splatter and spill on the tray and table.

Photo: Platter of Tea Sweets.  $17 was steep (unintentional pun worked in to the post, yay!), but we enjoyed the sampler of the sweets.  

When we first arrived we were confused as we were not greeted promptly.  Our server was attentive during the first half of the visit and refilled my teapot with water several times.  It seemed as if we visited during a staff shift change as there was lots of exchange between staff.  Also, an employee lingered at the tea bar on a lunch break when we first arrived (see photo 1).  

This location seemed popular, but not too packed and had a sunny & tranquil patio seating.  However, we opted for indoors as it was very windy this Spring day. Otherwise, patio seating would be ideal.

Overall, we were pleased with our experience as we were out-of-towners looking for an indulgent afternoon tea.  However, the pricey food and drink would deter from frequent visits.  The service and atmosphere were comparable to Chado Tea in Los Angeles, which is where we're based.