The Chinese Tea Shop

I was in Vancouver recently and paid a visit to The Chinese Tea Shop in Chinatown downtown Vancouver, BC, Canada.  Daniel Liu is the proprietor and the visit I had with him in his tea shop was extraordinary.  He only sells Chinese tea.  Week one of the tea sommelier course covered tea tastings and history of Chinese tea.

We were there for 2 hours.  And in those two hours Daniel sampled us 3 types of Chinese Tea.  A Green tea, an Oolong Tea and a Pu-Ehr Tea.

We sat in his shop

 and he served us tea using the Gongfu Cha tea way.  He used authentic yixing tea pots.  All the while he explained to us how the yixing pots was a superior clay to use for making tea.  He had a gentle way about him as he relayed that the clay came from the province of Jiangsu, in the region of Yixing.  He explained that the clay allows for oxygen to pass thru the pot, thereby not allowing the leaves to 'cook' in the pot.  The oxygen also allows for the best of the tea flavours to come thru and not become bitter.  Here is a collection of tea pots that Daniel uses for his tea tastings:

We sampled a green tea (Dongting  Pi Lo Chun (Bi Lo Chun)).  This tea was not pan fired, and it was very grassy and a touch kelpy in flavour.  We also sampled two types of Pu-erh (Lao Ban Zhang and  Ye Lu Xiang  - Green/Sheng) and a Phoenix oolong tea Mi LN Xiang (honey orchid flavour) Wu Dong Mountain.  I was in love!!  This tea was light in flavour and truly had the sweetness of honey with a light flowery taste!!

The Lao Ban Zhang was dark in color and had a very earthy flavour to it.  The Ye Lu Xiang was light in color and had a bitterness to it, that was not overpowering. He steeped each tea in multiple steeps.

After he was done I purchased a few things that I am VERY excited about.  I purchased my first Yixing teapot, and bamboo brewing set complete with a tray, tongs, and tea scoop.  I also purchased 4 Gunfu Cha tea cups, a justice jar, and a strainer and strainer stand.  I'm excited, but will likely go hungry for a while ;)

Daniel Liu was great, and his tea shop is well stocked with tons of selections.  He is hugely knowledgeable in what he does, and it was a pleasure to be in his shop and learn so much about tea.  He mentioned that the Vancouver Community College also runs the tea sommelier course and he has often had students in the shop asking for demonstrations etc.  I would recommend anybody who is in the Vancouver are to go and give Daniel Lui a visit.  Tell him I sent you!!