A Tale of Two Tea Shops: Part One

“Do you want me to recommend a tea shop?” The taxi driver said on the way from Fu Ding to Dian Tou. “I sure” I said “Why not?” as I looked out the window at the passing scenery.

The taxi driver began talking up this shop he was going to take me to. From the front seat he told me about how the boss was a tea master and held many awards. I smiled and responded with a few “oh wow” but I wasn’t going to let myself get excited yet. Shops will sometimes give drivers money if they bring the shop customers who end up buying something. This wasn't my first taxi driver who brought me to a “famous tea maker”. But I figured it couldn't hurt and I could always just leave.

We entered Dian Tou and passed by street after street of tea shops. I was surprised Dian Tou had so many shops. The only other place to have this many shops as Wuyi Shan and I began to suspect Dian Tou had more.

We pulled up to a street with two big tea shops. They were both well decorated and full of boxes of tea. They were separated by a small white building with a thick wooden door.  I was wondering which of the two shops we would enter when to my surprise, the door in between the two opened. A man with a clean hair cut and pressed clothes smiled and invited us in. When I entered he shook my hand which in china is usually done in more formal business settings.

The tea shop was simple and clean. There were no tea boxes in sight, just white walls with photos of tea awards. There was a single table next to the window where we sat and began to have tea.

His wife was pouring the tea. She had four gong dao beis in front of her. She would do three pours one after the other, one into each gong dao bei. This allowed us to taste the different pours side by side. The fourth gong dao bei was used for mixing the pours which we then compared. When I first sat I was excited by this type of flavor focused tasting. As she poured the boss and I talked tea.

We talked about many things, mostly the differences in locations within Fu Ding. He, unlike other sellers I had met, did not regard one area as better than others. He saw all areas in Fu Ding as capable of making good tea. I enjoyed this attitude even if I did think some areas were better than others.

We talked about differences in making between the areas and from maker to maker. White tea is mostly dried but how it's dried is up to the maker. Is it dried outside then inside, or inside then outside. White tea has a piling phase and how long it is piled will also affect the flavor and is different from maker to maker.

 As we talked his wife brewed a Bai Mu Dan. With each steep we would break from the conversation to appreciate the flavor and aroma of the tea.  Unfortunately this Bai Mu Dan wasnt so flavorful and I didnt care for it. Still I found ways to compliment the tea.

Shops will often start with a mid level tea then bring out the better teas. We finished the Bai Mu Dan and the boss smiled at me and said “Now I will show you the Fu Ding specialty, Silver Needle.” While I anticipated this Silver Needle would be something special I found the way he described it weird. “Fu Ding speciality” was a very strange way to describe Silver Needle, as all white tea was a Fu Ding speciality. So say that this was Fu Ding’s speciality seemed a little strange.

He went to the single tea shelf in the room and brought back an individual serving of a tea. He pointed to the writing on it which said 2022 champion.  “This is a very special tea and I don’t usually drink it. Only for special occasions.” He said smiling. While this seemed friendly and I responded with a few “oh wow” a suspicion entered my mind. He opened the pack and poured the tea onto a small serving tray. I let out a small sigh.

The silver needle was pure needles and had not a single small leaf on it. While to some this may sound like the highest grade of white tea, it’s not. To understand this we must go back to my first tea shop experience in Zhe Rong (tea area of Fu Ding where I live).

Back in August I walked into a tea shop, chatted with the boss a bit, told them I was looking for a high quality silver needle. They too brought out a pure bud silver needle, also award winning. We drank it and while it was bright and fresh with a bit of a body, the flavors were very simple and almost bland. After finishing, I asked him about his favorite silver needle. He smiled and brought out a silver needle with some of the small leaves on it. This silver needle was much better, with much more flavor. With a laugh he told me that they were actually the same silver needle, only one had had the small leaves removed. 

The leaves had been removed  in order for it to look prettier. In competitions appearance matters. He told me that while the pure bud silver needle was much more expensive and award winning, the flavor is better on teas with the side leaves. The pure bud tea is made more for competitions and gift giving, while a silver needle with some side leaves was for those looking for flavor.  This shop would become the source of the Vanilla Aroma Silver Needle and the Fu Ding Tie guan Yin Black.

When I saw that this much hyped tea in the Dian Tou shop was a pure bud silver needle, my suspicion was grew. I felt boss was only showing me this tea because it was expensive and not because he really thought it was good. He took the time to point out the uniformity of the tea. The color and the size. He also talked about how this tea had no black tips and how black tips were a sign of flaws in making. I didnt mentioned the black tips I saw.

Sure enough we tasted the tea and while it had good notes it was lacking. Every steep tasted like a first. Light bright and sweet, it never developed any deeper notes. With each steep though, the boss talked up the tea about all the wonderful notes that it supposedly had. With each steep I politely smiled and gave more “oh wow”s. We no longer talked about tea making, just about how good this tea was and how special it was that we were drinking it. 

 We drank the tea for a bit and then after the 9th steep or so the wife stopped brewing and there was a moment of pause. The tea was clearly done but they did not reach for the next tea. The feeling was that we had finished the tea and they were waiting for me to buy something. “Well I’m going to walk around” I said, packing my camera away. This set them both back a bit. They smiled though and kindly told me to come back whenever I was free. I thanked him politely and went on my way.

As I walked away I reflected on my experience at that shop. As I looked back I realized the whole time I had felt slightly uncomfortable. I never really felt comfortable sitting there. While polite it was slightly impersonal and especially toward the end the pressure to buy was felt. While there isn't anything wrong with a shop trying to make sales, this sort of vibe was a stark difference to the next shop I walked into. In this next shop I had one of the most enjoyable tea experiences I’ve had  in a while.

Part Two Coming Soon