Loose green tea in Chinatown

While a friend and I were browsing the Chinatown shops, we noticed that many of them sell loose tea leaves. They all had tons of varieties, all stored in huge glass jars, all priced around $80 per pound and up.

How can I make an informed decision on purchasing a fresh, high quality loose green tea? The language barrier was too great to inquire on freshness.

did you make it to Ten Ren Tea by any chance?

This seems to be the tea shop in Chinatown... I'm sure there are other places selling tea and perhaps they have better stuff or are cheaper, but this place has a huge selection... and the staff was easy to talk to here.



Ten Ren Tea
2247 S Wentworth Ave

dddane wrote:did you make it to Ten Ren Tea by any chance?

This seems to be the tea shop in Chinatown... I'm sure there are other places selling tea and perhaps they have better stuff or are cheaper, but this place has a huge selection... and the staff was easy to talk to here.

Just to add on to dddane's advice--I agree that Ten Ren is an excellent first stop. I have encountered some communication problems with staff there, but they are happy to open the canisters and show you the tea, so you can also resort to just pointing and smelling different varieties.

brwctymn wrote:While a friend and I were browsing the Chinatown shops, we noticed that many of them sell loose tea leaves. They all had tons of varieties, all stored in huge glass jars, all priced around $80 per pound and up.

As a general rule, you're going to want to look for tea that's stored optimally, in airtight containers away from light--so not in glass jars.

I tried Ten Ren with fabulous results. Thank you!