tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8235699030038570274.post3127585918021386624..comments2024-03-12T19:47:47.440-04:00Comments on Tea Happiness- A blog on tea drinking, tea history, tea industry interviews, NYC tea experiences!: A Lighter Shade of FailSara Shackethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07443916832400751717noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8235699030038570274.post-54135375568775773232011-10-09T16:51:28.989-04:002011-10-09T16:51:28.989-04:00I've visited one of their (The Coffee Bean &am...I've visited one of their (The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf) locations in Austin, and it was eerily similar to your experience. My suspicion is that such a small number of their clientele care about tea that it doesn't hurt for the people behind the counter to focus on other things. <br /><br />It's not difficult to understand the many possible reasons: relatively low wages for their workers, higher numbers of devoted coffee drinkers, a bad day for the guy you happened to come into contact with...<br /><br />I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope that they normally take tea more seriously, but to what end? That a few of us tea enthusiasts give them our seal of approval? And then what? <br /><br />Don't get me wrong. I'd love to have more places to be able to recommend to people. Places that don't simply see tea as another revenue stream. Maybe that's simply idealistic. <br /><br />Probably.<br /><br />Nice to see you talking about it, though.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15691055489477622428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8235699030038570274.post-91998948408114770452011-10-01T16:10:12.702-04:002011-10-01T16:10:12.702-04:00Just noticed your blog and looking forward to read...Just noticed your blog and looking forward to reading more... finally, some who drinks tea *and* writes about it! It will be good to hear the musings another tea fanatic.<br /><br />RE: the Coffee Bean, they should be worth a visit when the line is down. Here in CA they were actually my first introduction to quality loose tea. They've tended to hide the tea display in recent years, and most have been sold as bags only for a while. The bags are roomy and designed to brew a 16oz cup, so not a bad choice. <br /><br />I'd rec the limited edition Irish or Scottish Breakfast for plain black, if they have any. Keemun and Yunnan combined is tastier that you'd think. Not too Irish, but tasty if you are not expecting Assam. The English Breakfast has never worked for me, flat and flavorless. Ceylon is good if you like Ceylons, I find them a bit gutless but that's all Ceylons for me, not necessarily CB. Some of the flavors are excellent, Apricot Black or Strawberry Green are good starting points.<br /><br />Haven't tried many of the teas on their website, these look new. The line had gotten small and unimpressive compared to 10 years ago, and now I see this huge selection. I hope they're back in the tea game, especially when I am out of Upton's offerings and have not had time to order. <br /><br />Looking forward to your review when you finally get there.CKhttp://www.cknighton.comnoreply@blogger.com