Very helpful staff. Excellent teas. What else is there? I guess you just need to jabber.

Located in SF's Chinatown, Red Blossom Tea specializes in artisanal teas from China and Taiwan. I found it thanks to a travel blog and Yelp, and since I'm a tea drinker, I wanted to see what the buzz was all about. Plus, my matcha stash back home needed restocking. I was able to taste one of the two matcha options they offered; and the tea rep explained the differences between the Chinese matcha they sell and Japanese matcha. I'm happy with my purchase - it's sweet, floral, and tastes rich. They also ship! read more

Red Blossom Tea - Red Blossom Tea - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

guys they don't serve drinks it's just the tea and equipment! it's very beautiful in here, the staff gives you space to browse and shop which is nice. i personally think the prices are reasonable and i appreciate they have sample sizes of the more pricey teas! they don't just have teas, but things like butterfly pea flowers and winter melon sugar. if you want to try one of their teas they have a list of cafes that carry them! it's a nice spot in SF chinatown ill def be back read more

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The service was impeccable and I appreciate the time the women took time to answer my questions and make suggestions for me.

This review is for the in-store (non-existent) service, not the product. I order their tea on line and have enjoyed almost everything that I've received. The quality of the tea is excellent. My friend and I recently visited the store since we were in San Francisco Chinatown. It was a weekday afternoon, not near closing time, and no other customers were there. The two staff people behind the counter did not greet us until I said hello. They never offered to help us or answer questions. I don't like or need hovering sales people but I felt like they couldn't be bothered to even speak to us even though we were definitely browsing for several minutes. It's not what I would expect from a high-end tea shop. The experienced dampened my enthusiasm for buying more tea from them. read more

For years I have been enjoying Cloud and Mist, an absolutely phenomenal delicate green tea. My most recent purchase of it is so disappointing. When I opened the bag, I immediately noticed the aroma was non existent, and the leaves looked like an oolong, not the dark green narrow leaves I am used to. I brewed a pot like I normally do, and it looked and tasted like an oolong, not fresh and clean as it usually does. I then brewed a second pot with less leaves, a lower temperature and a shorter brewing time. It still tastes like an oolong. The customer service via email informed me that it was a new harvest, and like wine, can vary. This is more than a variance. Maybe a new producer, a different process or perhaps even a different plant produced these leaves. I recommend not purchasing this product. read more

Red Blossom Tea is a nice a little tea shop in Chinatown. It has a decent selection of imported tea from Taiwan and China. The most expensive is the finest dragonwell which comes at a ridiculous $160 for 2 oz. Tea sampling is also available in store for $12 a cup, again outrageous. I bought 2 oz of Qing Xin Red and 2 oz of Dragon Pearl Jasmine Supreme and it's pretty pricy for 2 months worth of tea. read more

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This review is for their glass pitcher product. Buyers beware! Look elsewhere. I bought the pitcher less than a month ago and it has already cracked on its own. When I say on its own I meant it spontaneously crack by itself without handling or adding hot/cold water continuously. I left it on my table and it was fine all morning without being used. Then I heard two loud cracking sounds wondering what it was. I look over and saw there were two large cracks at the bottom. Asked the business for a refund and the response was no because it's the users fault. Very disappointing as I'm a long time customer and do enjoy their tea leaves. Mind you this product is not cheap either! Clearly it is defective. read more

Red Blossom Tea - See bottom crack. Don't buy this product! - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

I came across this tea somewhere else, so I ordered it and drank it. As expected, the packaging was neat and the taste quality of the tea was really good. read more

Red Blossom Tea - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

If you find yourself in Chinatown, tea tasting here can make for a quick, fun, and sophisticated date activity! Enjoyable for both the tea enthusiast and the tea uninitiated who is excited about trying new things. Red Blossom Tea Company offers to walk you through the tasting of a tea of your choice, and offers samples for up to 4 people at once. We had some novices (including me) in our party, and the staff was able to expertly offer suggestions based on our party's flavor preferences. We ended up choosing the Wild Leaf Menghai Sheng Pu-erh, 2003, a strongly earthy tea. We didn't have to wait too long for our turn to taste (20 or so minutes) and it was fun looking through the rest of the tea jars and enjoying the smells and complimentary sips. The actual tasting was about 15 minutes long. It was intriguing to learn about our chosen tea's sourcing and origin, the various ways it's fermentation process can be altered (trading off with flavor or quality), and how the leaves lended an even stronger flavor the second boil around (and got to taste this magic!). Our host was very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, and the tea connoisseurs in our party geeked out with them a bit. Glad we stumbled into this fun adventure! read more

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Pleasant experience. Wide selection of teas ranging from green to white. Knowledgeable host - aromas, brewing techniques. Thorough tea sampling & good value. Warm ambiance. Only critique is tea sampling is done in standing position. With the long sampling experience, this can get tiring. Recommend business owner to set up chairs and tables to make it a 5/5 rating. Overall this place is geared for more tea shopping instead of tea sampling. read more

I love their peppermint rose tea. Aaand I love their covid safe ordering system. You walk up, talk to the cashier from a speaker and mic. Then, you tap your phone and pay all while standing in front of the store. Since you're not setting foot inside, better to look at the products in their website first. They also offer curbside pickup, if you can plan ahead before heading into the city. The peppermint rose tea is flavorful, but not overpowering. It's my go-to night time drink when I'm trying to get fancy from my usual chamomile tea from a Target run. We're talking heart of Chinatown though so parking is pretty rough. Better to park further from Grant and walk over or assign your better half to be designated driver and hop out of the car before traffic gets ya! read more

Red Blossom Tea - Storefront - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

had originally wanted to go to vital tea leaf, but both locations were busy with tour groups. this shop is on the same street just a block down, so it was a natural stopping place to go to instead this tea shop doesn't have as much of an area to sit and drink the tea, but you can still pay for a taste before you purchase and i appreciated the low key, low pressure, very knowledgeable sales person walking us through what to expect from the tea and how to brew it interesting selection of inventory includes pu-erh, silver needle, wenshan baozhong as an example. interesting gaiwan selection read more

Offers a most aromatic and richly flavored Lapsang Souchong, along with dozens of other varieties, in an attractive and welcoming storefront in the heart of SF's Chinatown, where teas are poured as well as sold. Online orders are filled and shipped in airtight container that I wish were recyclable. read more

I honestly think I overspent for what I paid for but whatever. Their customer service was excellent and there was a complementary tote bag with my 5 tea tasting and purchase of some teas. read more

Had a wonderful, educational time learning about and tasting teas with the workers. Would recommend to those who don't mind dropping a bit for such quality. read more

Delicious tea. The offer high quality teas and reasonable prices. Employees are hard working, incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. They are so patient too, taking their time to explain their teas. They sell a variety of teas, teaware, gift sets, etc. This is a great place to find a gift for that tea lover in your life. The tea shop was clean and organized. Their teas are clean, flavorful, and have a smooth finish. Glad we got a chance to visit! read more

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My husband and I had a fantastic tea tasting here. It was about $40 for the two of us but we learned so much and the tea was excellent. It's a nice way to try several different varieties. I can't remember the name of the young man that waited on us but he was extremely nice. When you're done with your tasting you can also buy bulk teas. They will weigh them out for you. They also sell a few tea pots and cups. When you're done with your tea walk around the corner to the Pearl Dragon restaurant and have some dim sum read more

Really wonderful teas. I especially appreciated the help I got from the owner, who jumped in when she heard that I wanted to learn about Taiwanese tea. Her recommendations were spot on, and so was her lunch advice--she sent us off to to the best noodles I have ever eaten. She was generous with her time, knowledge, and tea, and I think of her every time I brew one up. As for the tea, I was knocked out by the Formosa Red 18. It was a real revelation to me (I was a jassid skeptic). The Tung Ting Ma Xiang is lovely too, structured, juicy, and floral. I haven't yet tried the other two I purchased but I am looking forward to doing so later! read more

Very nice tea store in Chinatown in San Francisco. I'm not the most loving person toward tea in general, so it wasn't my idea to do tea tasting at this store, but I went along with it and I'm glad I did. The store is nice, modern with a simple decor, airy. The teas are interesting, I learnt a lot while visiting the store about different kinds of teas, brewing them, etc. I'm still a picky tea drinker but this place did open my taste buds and my mind. Great place to check out, it's a nice respite and everyone in there is kind and very knowledgeable. read more

This is the go-to place in SF for high quality tea. Their staff is knowledgable and friendly, and they have a wide range of teas, ranging from more affordable to the finest of teas. I only buy my loose-leaf teas from here these days! read more

My friends and I visited to try out the tea flights. They carry nearly 100 quality teas sourced directly from China and Taiwan. I definitely recommend trying one of their tasting flights. We purchased (group of 4) the Discovery Tea Flight and tried a range of different teas, including a Black tea, Oolong Tea and cold tea. They also provided snacks (seaweed crackers and candied mandarin slices) The tea tastes amazing and you can taste the difference in quality compared to an average tea you can purchase at the market. @lafoodiegirls read more

Red Blossom Tea - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

Bottom Line: Quality tea and trustworthy service in a clean store that is transparent about their practices and packages. If you want good quality tea and want to purchase it from a knowledgeable and trustworthy source then come to Red Blossom. Having tried tea up and down Grant Ave. in Chinatown I think Red Blossom is the best, by far. Although the store may look new and modern, they have actually been in business for over 30 years. This family owned store is serious about sourcing pure and quality tea and I think their clean and minimalist displays echo that sentiment. Alice, who I presume is the owner, grew up in the tea business as her father was the entrepreneur of this great shop. Alice is very knowledgeable about tea - not just from reading about it, tasting it and growing up in the business but also from traveling to China to visit tea plantations. She visits tea plantations once or twice a year to see the process followed by farmers and to make sure they are not directly using pesticides or getting overspray of pesticides from neighboring farms. Given Red Blossom's attention to detail it is not surprising that their tea is featured in many Michelin-Star restaurants throughout the United States. The many varieties of teas sold at Red Blossom are perfect as is - there is no need to doctor them with milk of sweeteners. Alice is not just an expert in Chinese tea, she is an expert in the tastes and customs of tea served around the world. I really appreciate that her context for tea extends beyond that of China and that her personal ties to England have given her another perspective. read more

Red Blossom Tea - The storefront of Red Blossom may look plain but I am sure this is the best tea store in Chinatown, if not in California. - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

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The prices on the samples are insane if you actually weigh these things out. I bought a bunch if samples last week here and found that the samples are all 1-3 grams short of the stated weight, so you're paying upwards of $3 per gram for the tea. I have tea from many, many vendors (Song Tea, Tong Xin She, Old Ways Tea, Lazy Cat, Tea Habitat, EoT, Taiwan Sourcing, etc.) and of the 100+ teas I have, very few ever go above $2 a gram. Not to mention, when I actually tried the tea I wasn't all that impressed. I'm giving them 3 stars because my friend's family buys all their tea here so there must be something great, but if I wanted 5g of tea for $12, I'll get some great Wuyi Yancha from elsewhere. read more

Red Blossom Tea - a wooden spoon on a scale - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Checked out Red Blossom Tea Company in SF Chinatown. It's a small shop that holds tons of teas from Taiwan & other places I think. I got to try Dong Pian (Winter Sprout), 2012 iced. It's naturally sweet & tasted really good. Some ladies were doing a tea tasting to find out what they wanted to buy next. I tagged along & sat next to them. The water was kept at 195 degrees. We tried a bunch of teas: Monkey Picked Tieguanyin Organic Dragon Pearl Jasmine Sparrow's Beak Huang Zhi Xiang (Orange Blossom) Heritage Beidou (Grand Scarlet Robe) I ended up getting the Dong Pian (Winter Sprout) 2012 a 2oz sample is $33! Charged it. read more

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I was quite shocked at the quality of one of the green teas I bought from this shop, especially since I had previously bought a sample of the same green tea. The sample was excellent. The pouch of the SAME tea I bought was not. There are definitely consistency issues. read more

Finally found parking about 20 minutes. Extremely unhelpful staff. The person at the register seemed annoyed with the two questions I asked. Would not return. read more

There isn't many places where you can get good quality tea but this place is legit and I'm a big fan of their teas, I've tried a few and it never disappoints and really really like the service. It's not cheap but I'm willing to pay for some good quality tea. read more

Alice was extremely knowledgeable about all things tea :) Very genuine. Her store was well supplied and she took time to select the right varieties for our tasting. Did I mention the tasting??!! Wonderful experience. Made our whole trip to Chinatown excellent. I've been back to their store 3 times now, and each time it's great. read more

Feliz was amazing, we literally came in off the street looking for loose leaf teas when we came across this gem. I thought I knew a great deal about tea, but I was sadly mistaken. The demonstration and sampling was a great experience for my daughter, as well, since she loves teas as well. Cannot recommend enough. Feliz was knowledgeable, friendly, and gave us some great tips for cold brewing. Like I stated, she was just amazing. read more

Red Blossom Tea - Love this place!!! - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

Unfortunately, due to the current situation with Covid Red Blossom is not doing tastings. Regardless, my daughter and i had a wonderful time the past Sunday the 6th in the store with a wonderfully knowledgeable and amiable young man who helped us finding teas that we had been looking for, plus a couple of extra items that caught my daughter's eye. Hopefully when the shop is able to have tastings, we will be able to enjoy fully the experience of all that Red Blossom has to offer! As for the teas we purchased, i can say that we are very pleased with the quality as well as the variety. We will definitely be back as well as online shopping! read more

Very good tea; too expensive. The choice is limited. They can do more oz even if they want to keep the same price level to increase sales. If I can find a local Chinese tea store, I will not order from them any more. After the Pandemic period, many local Chinese tea shops are closed. read more

The cold brew starter set has been a hit as a gift and at home. It's on this year's Christmas list of giving, too. You'd be surprised at how delicious oolong tea is, cold. The Takeya pitcher is great. Leak proof both vertically AND horizontally. Winner! Service is excellent. The staff us very knowledgeable. No distributor involvement because they work directly with the tea farmers overseas. Still highly recommend shopping here after so many years. read more

Whenever I'm in San Francisco, I come here. It is so fun to do a tasting and get some really fancy teas. My mom came here once and told me it was fun, now I visit a couple of times a year. It is kind of a unique and secret thing to do in San Fran while the crowds are at Fishermans Warf. read more

We really love tea and wanted to get some new ones... My husband bookmarked this place a while ago and last time we were in Chinatown, we decided to try it. The place is very lovely and the teas smell amazing. We chose to have a tasting and tried three different teas (dragonwell and two different kind of jasmine tea). The person who took care of us was really nice and he explained a lot about the teas we were tasting. It was very interesting and useful too. We bought two of the two teas we tried (dragonwell and a jasmine tea in little pearls) and also got little cups to drink tea. We really appreciate the advice they gave us and we will come back! Thanks for the experience! read more

Red Blossom Tea - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Walking by, the Red Blossum Tea Company can be quite intimidating for the average patron. I had the pleasure of visiting this little educational interactive display courtesy of a Wok Wiz Chinatown tour. Alice proceeded to explain the differences of the tea that the Red Blossum Tea Company offered and presented a wonderful sensory image as she steeped what would be a nice sample of their tea. Explaining that she and her brother took over the family business and gave their store an HGTV remodel, you can see and appreciate the personal service that has made this family business such a success. After enjoying a few cups, you'll feel inclined to want to purchase a few bags of loose tea for your home consumption. And if you're concerned that loose tea from a tea company will be expensive, think again! Sure, they have some very expensive (out of my budget) type tea, but they also offer some moderately priced ones as well as some inexpensive ones. Add one of their tea storing cans to your purchase and it makes an even nicer gift! I would definitely recommend Red Blossum Tea Company as one of those places you must visit as a tourist or local of San Francisco. You'll not only learn a thing or two about tea, but you'll also be embarrassed about all those other boxed tea bags you've been buying at your local grocery store. It's about time one learns to better appreciate how tea should be consumed. (I'm embarrassed that I only discovered this place now!) If you can't visit the store, check out their website. It's quite detailed with descriptions of tea and you can order it all online as well. read more

BREWING THE BAY: Chinese and Taiwanese loose leaf teas, gongfu teaware Red Blossom is tied with Aroma Tea Shop as the best tea shop in the city for Chinese and Taiwanese loose leaf teas. They don't have as overwhelming an amount of selection as Aroma, but the quality is just as high. There is also plenty of free tea sampling to be had. Alice and Ada are very nice and clearly passionate about what they do. Alice, who now runs Red Blossom (it's a family-owned business), is the type of tea connoisseur who could spend hours talking about pu-erh and oolong if you let her. Through consultations with her, I decided to pick up a few ounces of charcoal-roasted oolong from Taiwan and some Lapsang Souchong for tea cooking. Fun fact: Lapsang Souchong really isn't meant for drinking in the world of Chinese teas--it's mainly used for cooking. Who's making Szechuan tea-smoked duck in the near future? Meeeeeeee! :) I've visited pretty much all the tea shops in Chinatown and this one stands miles above the others in terms of service (friendly), knowledge (robust), decor (clean, modern and simple), quality (high) and prices (fair and actually cheaper than Aroma in several instances). Don't be put off by its location. It's anything but a tourist trap. read more

Red Blossom really changed the way I saw tea. No wonder why the tea bags bought at the grocery store (anything in tea bags for that matter) can be so bitter - I am told those leaves are the just bits and pieces leftover from the tea houses! Just look how supple and fresh these tea leaves look after steeping, not like the dry, crackly bits and fragments you normally get: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ZG0CRrkc9i-AGnea3CeWYw?select=RmcjO6uz5YCaKdZpQH5Dgw I did not know that the loose leaf teas carried by stores like this can be steeped several times. I love jasmine tea and I fell in love with their "blossoming" type (also called flowering or blooming teas). Tea leaves wrapped with dried flowers take the form of a bulb for drying and storage, the little bundle of leaves and petals unfurl and "blossoms" and have an amazing aromatic fragrance, looks so pretty and such a joy to sip on! Here's how it looks in my personal steeping vessel, also bought at Red Blossom: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ZG0CRrkc9i-AGnea3CeWYw?select=sRTGEYFm62TGqMmVWQXNGw The folks here are really nice, so well versed and are always happy to give a lesson and tasting. They also have boxed sets that have a sampling of a little bit of everything, great as a starter kits or gifts. Every time we plan a trip to Chinatown, we always have to make a stop here. Whether you are into tea or not, the experience will really resonate with you. I encourage you to drop in! read more

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Coming here made me realize how much of a novice I am in my knowledge of teas. I felt like I was a little kid in a candy store, wide-eyed with the assortment of teas and accessories they offered, and the decor inside matched the mood. You're not going to find your sugar-filled Kool-aid iced teas here; it's nothing but the best and authentic teas in it's most purest form. The staff was very helpful (I think they saw my deer-in-headlights look when I was walking around lol), and I was even offered to join in on a tea sampling with a random newlywed couple. I saw/learned how to properly brew and taste tea for it's hint of flavors. Take my money. Now. read more

Red Blossom Tea - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

I've been coming here since 2005 and it never disappoints with its selection of amazing teas, I especially look forward to the spring oolong teas and I was delighted with the help that Pamela provided in selecting the teas. read more

Red Blossom Tea - Tea Rooms Near Me - San Francisco, California

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