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Category: Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhood: Beverly HillsMon-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
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As far as loose leaf teas (really, the best and only way to drink tea, IMO), Le Palais Des Thes has got it down to a science. The displays, the tastings, the service, the teas themselves - all of it is impeccably executed. The gentleman, Matthew, who helped my husband and I was super professional and very pleasant. He was obviously well-educated about teas and walked us through the different blends they offer. We ended up taking home the Brioche (it's like being transported to a french bakery) and the Immortal Green (like a little piece of zen).
Really the only thing that's not so great is having to decide which of the delectable teas you'll take home with you! (This is Beverly Hills after all and you're going to pay for this kind of quality - c'est naturelement). AND, the fact that this is their only location! Please come up to San Francisco - I promise to be a regular customer! :)
Sole US outlet of a French tea company (the name should have been a dead giveaway, mes amis). If you cant wait for your online tea merchant who will certainly be cheaper OR if you absolutely must have Georgian Tea STAT--go here.
Oooh, the creme de la creme of tea. I've been holding off on my review of this for my tea review list. Here goes:
While sitting at my everyday dining room table, I sip on the green rooibos blend of Saint Tropez and I am suddenly transported to the south of France, with delicate floral scent and a tropical aftertaste - this tea is absolutely PERFECT!
So before we go any further, I'd like to remind readers that Le Palais Gourmet's tea epiphany is a French company in Beverly Hills, only two blocks from Harry Winston and Cartier jewelers. So, don't get your knickers all in a twist over their prices...let me remind you again: France in BEVERLY HILLS - two of the most expensive shopping experiences in the world. Now that that's out of the way... Like any other tea store, their teas are unique to them, though there are some crossovers to compare with others.
Yesterday, I took home over $300 in tea from Le Palais. Included in that was 4 oz of their premier Gyokuro for $160 and premier white for $80.00. You can now think to yourself, 'holy shit, what is wrong with this woman? She's crazy.' No, not crazy, but definitely luxurious. Tea IS like wine collecting and I'm here to point out a few things about Le Palais des Thes. I have several varieties of Gyokuro (Japanese cultivated Jade Dew green tea) to compare to and their Yame Gyokuro is truly exquisite. However, without a very advanced tea palate, or a particular taste for green tea, then that statement is for a select audience. If you are not among the select audience and are looking to get to know excellent Gyokuro without spending $160.00, I can offer two other suggestions in LA (Wing Hop Fung or Lupicia Tea).
Many of Lupicia's teas are similar to those at Le Palais with the slight advantage of not having to find parking in Beverly Hills and the option to buy in smaller quantities which makes it more affordable (in the short term). All that aside, Le Palais has excellent prices on their typical grades of green, black and rooibos, at around $15.00 per 4oz bag. Compared to Lupicia, their prices are lower because you are getting more for your money in the long term. At Le Palais you just have to pay more up front.
Getting to their teas: They have luscious, unique flavors. They have an especially good selection of hard to find green rooibos (red is more common) with tropical, floral and berry tones that are unmatched by any other tea company. There is a close similarity in green rooibos varieties of Lupicia's Jardin Sauvage and Le Palais' Saint Tropez and Cote Azure teas. Le Palais has a better selection and the prices are comparable if not a little bit less. I LOVE their Brioche flavored black tea - so French.
The staff at Le Palais is not as down-to-earth as most other tea shops in LA, but I'm back to reminding the reader that this is Beverly Hills, and you are at the Cartier of tea stores. They know their tea and when you are selling tea at $60 per oz, you can understand why they may be touchy about their tea. This is real luxury trading. Centuries of tea traders risked their lives on ships for a commodity this precious. Given that there is some high-brow pretense, Matthew (the tea genius who helped us) was very sweet and helpful. He had no clue what I would buy when I walked in, especially after I told him "I was cheap" when it came to tea, as I prefer Chinatown any day of the week to Beverly Hills. He still managed to be incredibly attentive, useful and respectful of my total lack of knowledge about certain teas.
Overall, you cannot go wrong with Le Palais des Thes. Their Le Palais Gourmet line of teas is undeniably exquisite. Excellent for gifts of fancy types and stunning quality for everyday drinking.
BAH, HUMBUG! I don't like this place. It's expensive, stuffy, and the people who work there are stuffy, too. They feign like they know a ton about tea, but they don't. Plus, when we were talking about teas from different places, a guy who worked there told me I *couldn't* have gotten high quality tea in Hong Kong, because the tea growers save their *finest* leaves for Le Palais Des Thes! Screw you, man, you ass.
As much as I enjoy a fine jasmine, I'm not into caffeine these days, and I'm a bit of a rooibos connoisseur. I can't tell you how dissappointed I was to take home some their blueberry rooibos blend, only to find its acidity WAY unbalanced.
Yeah, I'm bitter from my bad experience there. But they're the ones who are snobs and a half! For good tea, and better prices, visit Chado (on 3rd or in Pasadena).
This place is a little slice of Heaven on Canon Drive.
Finally stopped in the other day after oh, I don't know, passing by a few dozen times on the way to the hair salon. Well this day happened to be 800 degrees outside and I was dying...yes, dying...I practically crawled on hands and knees into the place in search of something icy and refreshing to quench my cotton mouth and to soothe my beaded forehead.
Alas...not only was I greeted by the most glorious cacophony of scents, but I found that they indeed had tea to drink along with rows and rows of leaves to purchase! I ended up going with the Black Tea with Apricot and was so not disappointed! I even asked to be put on the mailing list and am planning on coming back for a purchase or 20.
The best thing...I commented on the aroma when I was ordering and mentioned that I thought it smelled like blueberries. So what does the lady behind the counter do? She handed me a sample to take home of Blueberry Organic Decaf Tea!! And I can make it hot or cold! BRILLIANT I tell you.
And next time I'm so getting one of those delicious little cookies sitting on the counter. MMMM.
This was the perfect place to blow my money on a girly gift my cousin didn't even like.
But DAAAAMN did it look charming.
And at least he pretended to like it.
Every year during the holidays, I get online or phone down to "the tea palace" (is that what it is in French??) and order up some of their uber delicious, seasonal, holiday tea. It is the best of the best. I also recommend the Thes Des Songes (kinda fruity) and any of their delicious Rooibos teas (my current obsession).
I've been a huge fan of this tea shop for years. When I worked down the street at CAA, I would come here during my very short lunch break to sneak free cups of yummy tea and try to forget that my life revolved around my Napoleon-esque boss.
Quietly perusing the assortment of beautiful tea cups helped me find my Zen in a town that doesn't really know what that word means.
A pot of tea?
-Oui!
With cookies and biscotti?
-More, more, si'l vous plait!
Cool kids will love the modern decor while theophiles will appreciate the variety. A little on the $$$ side but good tea is hard to come by. They have a good selection of white, red, black, mate, wu long and green tea as well as blends. Choose your poison: loose or packaged. The gift sets are wonderful and come with an impressive Theophile guide.
On my last trip I had a pot of a smoky earl grey (reminiscent of lapsang souchong) and came home with Windhuk (red tea or rooibos with a hint of vanilla). I am already contemplating on my next visit and which tea to try. The Thes du Hammam and The des Concubines both sound yummy.
http://www.palaisdesth...
I am in this store at last once a month for stock up on supplies. Brioche & Vanilla Black Tea are a couple of staples. Once you start drinking teas from here, you will never want any other tea.
I was having a lovely Saturday morning roaming the streets of Bev Hills with my fab NY bag, new Marc by Marc Jacob sunglasses, and adorable denim capri pants. After making some savvy investments at the Anthropologie on Beverly Drive, I scooted my always well-attired hiney over to Canon Drive for a quick stop at Edelweiss Chocolates for those dark caramallows and toffeemallows that I recently discovered on a yelp research quest. As I turned onto Canon, I suddenly found myself face to face with a slight obstacle to my chocolatification: A tea shop. My heart started fluttering as I peered in the door at the adorable little tea pots and Japanese-style cups on display. The good Diana (Leslie), said, "No, Diana. You just spent more than your allowance at Anthropologie, and you already have a cupboard that is well-stocked with different varieties of tea. You have no business here. Keep walking!" The bad Diana (Veronica) started whimpering. "Don't listen to her Diana! She's the one who convinced you that vegan chicken curry salad was a good idea!" I nodded in agreement, and Veronica did a little happy dance as I made my way into the wonderfully welcoming, fragrantly pleasing tea shop. Leslie quickly shut her mouth as she took in all the cleverly organized cannisters of tea leaves. (She's a serious Virgo... cleanliness and structure pleases her.)
After a lovely chap quenched my shopping-induced thirst with a delightful peach mango iced tea sample, an adorable lady wearing just about the cutest eye glasses this side of tomorrow, began giving me a sensory tour of their overwhelming selection of green teas. Jasmine! Coco de menthe! Plum Sencha! There was even a chai green tea blend! It was all very perplexing! Cute glasses asked what flavors I liked and was perfectly polite when I said I didn't normally fancy mint, peppermint, cherry, or lavender infused tea blends. I seemed to be contradicting myself, but it really can't be avoided when one has multiple personalities battling it out for supremacy! After some severe hemming and hawing, I finally settled on the first one she showed me, the Immortal Green, a Japanese Sencha blended with peach and passion fruit. At $15 for a bag of 30 servings, it's really a smashing deal! Ok not smashing. But shhh, don't tell Leslie! (She's still bitter that I let Veronica convince me into purchasing the tea infuser ball for a scant $5. It's really quite necessary though. How am I supposed to use loose tea leaves without the help of an infuser ball!?)
While Leslie began ignoring me after the $21 was charged to Debbie Debit card, all was well once Cute Glasses packed up my purchases in a fabulous brown bag with blue tissue paper, and threw in two free samples for the Plum Sencha and River of Heaven (infused with lilac and blood oranges!!!). Leslie's kind of a pushover. I know I can convince her to go back for more of the seriously delightful Immortal Green that went oh so deliciously with my post lunch chocolate macaron from paulette on Charleville. Oh dear, did I forget to mention that detour too?
If you are in Hollywood or B.H it's a great place for tea for two. I love coming hear to write, It has a calm feel about it. I love the Brioche and Vanilla Blackl Tea . Also I highly recommend the creme de la creme of tea.
This is the best tea shop in la. They have an excellent assortment of teas. The only down side is that its also the most expensive tea shop. If you're into premium teas you should definitely go there. My favorite tea there is the Ryokucha Midori. If you like more flavored tea then the Fleur De Geisha which is a nice sencha with cherry blossoms.
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