King's Teagarden on the Kufürstendamm in Berlin

There are many way I can write about this shop and this tea seller's philosophies, but I've decided to make this about how one sells tea. It's easy enough to say, 'the customer is king' or 'the customer's always right', but what if said customer isn't knowledgeable? What if part of having a tea shop is educating your clientele?

But let's start with the shop where my thoughts on this began. If you search for tea online in Berlin, one of the first results you'll find is King's Teagarden on Kurfürstendamm. This shop has been here since before the Berlin Wall came down. Herr Werner F J Schmitt has been at this for more than thirty years and I'm sure he could tell you some stories about tea trends.

Actually, he told one story about a local tea place who'd been celebrated in the media for the brilliant idea to sell tea in to go containers. Tea isn't something to be hurried, he insisted, and of course I had to agree with him. There were a lot of things I agreed with. I'd looked at the King's Teagarden website before my visit, and he has some very strong beliefs when it comes to the preparation of tea.

I considered reprinting his Ten Golden Rules, but then I carefully reconsidered this. I'm trying to be as nice and polite as possible about this, but I don't want to attract his ire. So instead of posting his clever Ten Golden Rules, I'll simply link to them here.

He's very proud of his packaging, and from what I saw it looked like he had every reason to be. He told me another account of the history of the development of his 'special compound foil bag', and the high praise he'd gotten for how fresh his tea stays as a result of this state of the art technology. I've seen tea sold, as well as delivered, in some questionable packaging, so I was pleased to hear of this gift to the world of tea.

Let me be clear at this point: I was excited to come to Berlin partly because I wanted to see what sorts of tea shops and tearooms the German capital had to offer. I looked at the King's Teagarden website, and chuckled at the 'No Teabags Please' on the homepage. I thought to myself, 'This is going to be nice. This guy is passionate about tea. He's one of us.' Really, I did.

I hadn't read his website carefully enough. Some of the surprises that were in store for me would've been avoided had I really paid attention to his Provokation, which is exactly what it sounds like. If you scroll to the bottom of that list, and click on fordern Sie sie! then you can see his argument for all of these things. They're very meticulously and carefully thought out. I heard him quote some of these things verbatim while I was in his shop, and quite honestly I didn't know where to start.

So I went to this shop very excited, was not prepared for what happened next and really tried to be polite while I was on the premises. As I'm being right now. I think a lot of passionate tea lovers could get overly emotional about something like this and lose their composure. I have no intention of letting that happen.

A very brief recounting of the story is that I went into the shop, ordered both an Oolong and one of his tea blends that included mostly Ceylon and a bit of Darjeeling.

I must divulge that I respect good blends immensely. As he was making the tea, I perused the different varieties on offer and was really curious about them. Positively curious. I wanted to know what many of them tasted like, but especially the one he named 'Kanzlerin' after Chancellor Angela Merkel, which is described as 'black and white leaf tea, first and second flush Darjeeling with leaf buds and Oolong from China'. There were others...there were plenty others that struck my fancy. I couldn't even begin to name them all.

The tea arrived, and it was poured very nicely. Just so. And I sat down to savour it, and took the first sip. There was something about it...I'd never had such sweet Oolong. I really wondered if my taste buds were deceiving me. It was a delicious Dong Ding Oolong, but the sweetness was really doing my head in. After finishing the first cup, I turned to the black tea blend and had a sip of it. At that moment I was absolutely certain that there was sugar in the tea.

I've got nothing against sugar. Really. Later in the conversation, he mentioned something about the irrational opposition to sugar that many people have, and I wondered how often he'd had the argument where a customer insisted, 'I didn't ask for sugar in my tea.' But like I say, I'm not necessarily against it. And I'll try most things at least once. I finished the Oolong, and then asked if I could have a second infusion.

Here's where things took a turn for the worse. The feigned look of surprise on Herr Schmitt's face was probably well practised. As if no-one's ever asked him for a second infusion. He politely smiled and insisted that once tea has steeped in 100°C water (for exactly 3 minutes, as it states on his website) that all the best part of the tea was gone. The leaves were now useless.

I was a bit taken aback, but it was his shop. I had no intention of being rude. At this point I asked him about all the Chinese who infuse tea multiple times. He informed me that the people in China are very poor. As a rhetorical device he asked me if I was very poor.

This is the point I think some of you would just pay for the tea you'd drunk and leave the shop. Not in a huff. You might smile and nod and wish him a good day. Then step out of his shop, shake your head and think to yourself, 'Well, I need never go there again.'

Although that was my first inclination, I was really curious about some of his ideas. I asked about whether there was sugar in the tea and he not only said that he'd added sugar, but then made an analogy to the culinary world that still has me baffled (You can see this in his fordern Sie sie! section that I mentioned above). He posited that  no-one questions a chef when he enhances a dish with sugar. The logical corollary of this was that someone brewing tea should be given the same latitude.

This is where we had the spirited discussion about the above-mentioned irrational opposition to sugar, and I wondered about Diabetics who stumble into his shop unaware that they're getting sugar they hadn't expected. But that's just irrational, right?

Because I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, I'll say that I believe Herr Schmitt really sees himself as a serious tea expert. And like I said at the outset, he's been doing this for decades now. There's a guy on Steepster who says nice things about the Claudius blend from King's Teagarden. His long-term customers, in all likelihood, love his expertise and appreciate the authority that he has when talking about matters of tea.

Most importantly, he's not rooted his ideas on feelings. He mentioned a professor with whom he'd done significant research, and he wrote a book that's prominently displayed both in his shop and on his website which purportedly details and supports his philosophies of tea. He proudly stated that the book has had multiple printings and nothing he wrote had ever been disproven. Like I say, I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Although I don't have thirty years in the tea business, I've learned a bit about tea. I wonder how many people who know something about tea have smiled and nodded as they were backing out of the King's Teagarden door.

Which brings me back to my original thoughts on all of this. How much of tea selling is educating your customer? Can one afford to disregard the conventional wisdom on tea preparation? What about if you've done a lot of research and have written a book about it? One than no-one has disproved?

It's a bit sad that I'll never get to try all those delicious tea blends that were on display in King's Teagarden. I suppose I just can't handle the sweet aftertaste. 

Teai Boynoy? Huh?

Teai Boynoy? What's that?

First of all, it's been just a bit hectic here. There was a time when I posted something on the teablog everyday because I read somewhere that if you want to build readership, you should consistently have new content. Although I enjoyed doing it, the result was that I wrote a lot about tea, but I incorporated things going on in my life and how they (often tangentially) related to tea. If at all.

Then there was a time when I posted every second or third day, and that's actually more my goal. The last post about predicting someone's taste in tea based upon their other tastes is going to be a recurring theme. It's something that interesting to a lot of people and that hopefully will create a bit of dialogue.

After writing it, I realised that tea sellers must do this sort of thing all the time. Someone wanders into the shop, says that he's curious about tea, and the tea seller has to decide what might be the best option for this stranger. What does one do in that situation?

So because I write quite a bit about luring people over to the leaf-side here, and because I talk with quite a few non-tea people over on twitter, I get a lot of questions. For example, at the weekend there was an urgent message from a blogger I know called Jim. It read, 'quick! At the store...Name a couple of good commercially available teas for a tea virgin to try.'

I asked him my questions about how he took his coffee and whether he liked spicy food, and he responded with, 'coffee bold/rich cream and a bit of sugar, food spicy'. Now we were getting somewhere. He gave me a list of what was available, and I told him the brand I knew best.

But in the process I mentioned it on twitter, and of course there were people who responded to my query with pleas that Jim not go the way of teabags. That he wouldn't get the full experience and that it'd turn him off of tea entirely.

But there was Jim, standing in the aisle, not knowing where the tea filters were, or if there even were any, and not much more time to bother with hunting for tea. I'd gone to the website of the brand I knew best, and recommended the nicest loose-leaf teas I could imagine from their selection, but ultimately it was just too much. A package of English Breakfast blend was chosen, and I think it was the right choice.

My position on all of this is that the less fussy we are at the outset, the more an individual can develop his own tastes. I've suggested Jim try a sip or two of the tea before he adds any cream or sugar, but I actually think that drinking his English Breakfast blend with a bit of cream and sugar will slowly get him used to the taste of tea.

Why do I think that? Well, that's how I got into tea. I didn't start out by walking into a specialty tea shop and walk straight over to the High Mountain Oolong. Not sure how I would've responded to all that in the early days, anyway.

So the photo up above is something I've written about briefly in you needn't climb a mountain. It's not Teai Boynoy in English...that's actually Greek Mountain Tea. I'm rarely ever ill, but I've had a light cold and held onto this package for just such a situation. Unlike Geoff Norman (@lazy_literatus), who drinks his with proper Greek honey, I've had to settle for good old German honey. With a bit of Vitamin C powder for good measure.

Here's the package turned round to display the script you can likely more easily read:

La Via del Te

La Via del Te

It's not in the city centre where the tourists pack the tiny streets. Even in late November, Florence is overflowing with packs of Asian tourists and even those loud American teenagers (or recent teenagers) that you encounter in any popular European city. As I expected when I first looked at this shop on the map, it's a bit of a hike to La Via del Te. Dare I say...it was well worth it.

You round a corner, see an outdoor semi-covered market with stands selling fresh vegetables, cheeses and meat, as well as cheaply-made designer knockoffs. Next to this market is a very unassuming tea shop sign that I doubt I'd see were I not looking for it.

the sign

There's been quite a lot of walking and standing looking at paintings. As much as I'm ready for tea, my feet are even more ready for a break.

beautiful tea cannisters

A charming little shop and tearoom greets me as I push through the door. I already read that they've been in business for decades, and it's obvious that this is a place serious about tea.

For a moment after I order a King of Pu-erh, whatever that is, I worry that she thinks I want two cups of the same tea. Yet as soon as I land on the words 'due infusioni', the tea server's eyes light up with understanding. Infusion is a universal term in the world of tea.

One of the things I like most about good tea: the first infusion only has a hint of how nice this tea will actually become.

Before I leave I decide to take small portions of what they call Oolong Fleur d'Orient and a simple Keemun. Am glad I remember this, because I like to carry a memory of a nice tea shop home with me.

My body is warm and content. My feet are grateful for the rest, and I'm back on my way into the welcoming streets of Florence.  Via the Way of Tea.

one last glimpse of the shop

tea drinking in Weimar

What Goethe & Schiller need is a nice cup of tea

Spent several days in Weimar this week, and if you know anything about me and this blog, you know that my first question was, 'What sort of tea shops are there in this historically/artistically rich city?'


Well, I have good news for you.  For a city its size, there's quite a tea presence.  Nothing tea-related made the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but that certainly shouldn't keep you away.

Weimars Teehaus

The first place I found was Weimar Teehaus Jürgen Teuner.  Here's their site.  It's a shop filled with tea from Ronnefeldt among a few other tea brands, and it reminded me of my trip to Stuttgart last year where I wrote more about this brand: In defence of a brand of teabags

I've been positive about this brand, and I'd like to repeat that I've been impressed with the reliability of this company's tea.  They offer it in many hotels here in Germany, and I can see why it's so popular.  If you find one of their teas that you like, you can be rather certain that when you buy it again, it'll taste nearly or exactly the same.

If you're fascinated with the unique taste of a tea from a specific estate and how subtle the taste changes from year to year, then you're probably better off going to a specialty shop. Which is exactly where I went next.

Tee Boutique

Around the corner from the Schiller Haus is just such a shop.  It's called Tee Boutique, and I had a really enjoyable conversation with its owner Frank Krebs.  He's actually who I was referring to in my last post when I mentioned passionate tea sellers.  He's exactly that and more.

The selection of tea at the Tee Boutique was quite good (especially for a city this size) and his answers to tea questions I heard put to him while I was there were both succinct and comprehendible.  Not always the case in tea shops.  You can see more about this shop here.

But please dig a bit deeper...you'll be glad you did.  If you look at the Fotogalerie and scroll all the way the down to the bottom, you'll see his mobile teapot.  He's added a handle and a spout to his car, and voila...an art car I'd happily drive.  I must say I was quite envious when I saw the photos.

Although I've mostly talked about these two tea shops, I was also pleasantly surprised at how nicely tea was served in numerous cafes I visited.  

Both the Frauentor and the ACC Cafe-Restaurant served loose-leaf tea in beautiful Japanese cast iron teapots with Kandis and plenty of water for multiple infusions.  Doesn't sound like something worth mentioning, does it?  But that's just the point.  There was thought put into the presentation.  As a tea drinker, I felt like these cafes had made a special effort.  As a result, in the few days I was in Weimar, I went back to them again and again.

There was an anecdote in a book I leafed through about whether Goethe preferred coffee or tea, but I'll leave that for another time.  Something for you to look forward to.  

proof that I sometimes put milk in my Ceylon

tea obsessives handling the leaves

arriving in Weimar

Things are afoot hereabouts.  I mentioned that I was talking to a tea review website a few weeks ago and considering writing for them.  After telling you about it, I really should've mentioned that I decided to do it.  I'll link to them when I write proper reviews there, and give you more stories and whimsy here.  It's certainly what you've come to expect, isn't it?

Here's a link to The Tea Review Blog.  You'll be seeing plenty from me over there soon enough.

Another thing I've decided to start doing here is something a bit like the interviews I read on other blogs.  Rather than it always being in a question and answer format, I might ask someone to write a guest blogpost or even print out a conversation I have with a tea seller or fellow tea obsessive.

Got to thinking about it after a very interesting chat I had with a guy who happened to be both.  We were  in his tea shop in Weimar this week, and afterwards I began to marvel at how many incredibly passionate people there are in tea.

When I travel to places both here in Germany and farther afield, I make a point of searching out both tea shops and nice places to actually have a cup of tea.  More often than not, I find myself deep in conversation with astoundingly passionate tea people.

Think about it.   You have a shop where you greet people throughout the day with wildly different levels of experience regarding tea.  Many have stumbled in off the street curious how a whole shop could be dedicated to something they associate with a simple bag of leaves.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have tea snobs who saunter into your store and assume that they know more about tea than you ever will. Then there's an entire range of people between those two poles.

Peter (at Tea Trade) and I have talked about the incredible novelty of this whole loose-leaf tea endeavour several times.  The fact that the customer is not only able to interact manually with the product, but that it's actually an integral part of the whole process.  Handling the leaves, I mean.

So that's what I've been thinking about recently.  The remarkable nature of what we're doing here.  I'm sure model railroad enthusiasts and stamp collectors and Magic: The Gathering World Champions are all very passionate, as far as it goes.  But I'm not into those things, so I don't get remotely interested in their passion.

Oh, one last thing.  Alex Zorach wrote something funny (and mentioned this blog in the process), so I thought I'd send you all over there.  Tea, Like a G6.

Enjoy!

you pay more for appearance

I'm imagining someone shopping for tea in an excellent tea shop.  The customer is relatively new to tea, and has only recently gotten up the nerve to actually ask to smell the tea leaves before he decides which tea he'll take home.


Although he has a selection of quite a few different sorts of tea, he's been on a bit of an Assam kick lately.  He even forces himself to drink the other tea in his tea cabinet, but he's a bit concerned that he'd actually reach for the Assam every single time (day and night) if he thought it would be ok.  He's not at all sure it's ok.  


This customer's still quite uncertain when it comes to all of this tea and its paraphernalia. He loves so much about what he's learned about loose-leaf tea, but he has to force himself not to bolt out of the tea shop when there are too many other customers present or even worse when the tea seller asks him even the simplest questions.  


So he goes into the shop at times when he hopes no-one else is there.  Today's just such a day, and the nice thing is that the tea seller is the only other person in the shop.  He asks for 100g of his latest favourite Assam, and asks about several others.  The guy behind the counter happily opens each canister for the tea to be smelled.  And then the question.  This question comes eventually.  Every tea seller knows it'll appear sooner or later.


'Why's this tea more expensive than the others?'


Well, the easiest answer is that this tea demanded more at the tea auction.


Really?  Is that it?  That's the only reason?

Actually, no.  There're so many things that go into the pricing of tea, and it's quite byzantine all the rules and machinations that are involved.  When it comes to this Assam, people seem willing to pay more if there are little golden tips on the leaves.


Don't the little golden tips on the leaves make the tea taste better?


Not necessarily.  Interestingly, how they process the tea to create the golden colour might not even be the best way to process tea for the best taste.


Hm, that's a bit odd.  This tea that's entirely black might actually taste better than the more expensive one that's black with little golden-tipped leaves.  Is that right?


It might.  It's not as if all golden tea tastes bad.  And some tea with golden-tipped leaves can be really quite exquisite.


Well for the time being, I intend to buy my tea based upon how it smells and tastes not how it looks.


sidenote


This blogpost began when I considered a conversation I overheard on twitter between Geoff Norman (@lazy_literatus) & Michael J Coffey (@michaeljcoffey) about this very topic of whether the golden colour in the leaves actually made the tea taste better.  Here's exactly what Michael said over on twitter:


'Short answer: "best" flavor may require wide range of processing req's, gold color req very specific processes....Therefore, if you process for gold color, you limit what you can do with flavor...BUT people pay $$$ for color.'


Wanted to bring up the topic partially because I'm fascinated with the way tea is priced and also because I like explanations that are quirky and counter intuitive.  This one has plenty of both of these things.

what tea do I start with?

(photo: a new morning-a new tea drinker)

Someone's been interacting with me on twitter or even in the real world. They've politely tolerated my blathering on about tea. How no matter what the topic of conversation is that it somehow veers back to tea drinking.

Finally, the question comes up, 'Ok, enough already. Go ahead and tell me. What tea should I start with?''

What an exciting prospect, but then I freeze up. Hm? What next?

Well, the first thing I ask is, 'How do you take your coffee?' Cream or milk? Sugar or not? What on earth does that tell me? Well, if you drink black coffee, then a delicate subtle tea just won't do. Not at all.

The next question, 'Do you like spicy foods?' does the same thing.

I used to think that a decent Earl Grey was a nice gateway tea. That one might like the Bergamot oil early on and over time want to taste more of the tea and less of the flavouring. I'm not sure if I'd always go that direction anymore. If someone's already enjoying Earl Grey then I won't discourage it, but I'm not so thrilled about pushing someone in that direction. Not when there's so much delicious tea out there.

If someone tends to eat spicier food, I think I'd recommend a malty Assam. If not, a subtle Ceylon. Yes, ok. But which one?

Go to your local tea seller and ask what sorts of Assam they have. Or what about their selection of Ceylon?

Ask to smell the tea leaves. Any decent tea seller will be thrilled that you're interested. Don't be shy asking how much a tea costs and definitely don't assume that a higher price means better tea. It simply doesn't.

I know this answer is very simple. Maybe too simple. But if you're new to tea (or good tea), you'll likely appreciate the simplest of answers. Please let me know how it goes.

What about you other tea obsessives? How do you answer the question posed above? Someone shows even a hint of curiosity about trying decent tea. Which direction do you send them?