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White Crane Tea Company
Rating Details »
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Cards & Stationery [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Pacific Heights, Japantown1737 Post St
Ste 337
(between Buchanan St & Webster St)
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 922-5505
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
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11 reviews for White Crane Tea Company
This place is CLOSED! This is the best place for tea in San Francisco. David, the owner, chooses the tea for us, lets us sample it, and tells us how to steep it. The first time we were there he told us which tea pot to get for maximum flavor (a handmade clay teapot so that the teapot wouldn't interfere with the tea, like a stainless steel steeper does). I found out we can eat the tea leaves both before and after steeping. The tea is fine; the taste is superb.
If you go with the priciest, it's about $20/month. We buy the best quality at $68 per pack. My boyfriend is a big guy and I am very petite, and it lasts for 3 months, at 3-4 steeps per pot, drinking it almost daily. The tea is cheaper than a good bottle of wine, so it's well worth it because of the benefits.
There is nothing like this tea. It clears your mind and helps you focus. Antioxidants, calcium, good for your gums, the works. We don't spend on vitamins- we buy tea instead.
David's store will close after May 2009, but he told us he'd still have an online site. He might to tea tastings at select locations. I hope so, because he truly has a niche. He wraps up your purchase beautifully, and adds a personal touch by writing something in Japanese calligraphy. You're gonna love it. Great gift for a tea lover & for your lover.
Five stars for first rate service & generosity of information.
Five stars for flavor and high quality.
Five stars for excellent presentation.
Enjoy!
I was wandering down Japantown today checking out all the cute little stores. I was looking for a tetsubin since I recently fell in love with Japanese tea. Out of the corner of my eye hidden in a corner I saw there tea store so I quickly rushed over there with my fiancée. It is a very tiny place which adds more to the character of a store in my opinion. I walked in and my fiancée poked her head through the door and decided to not come in since it was to small. She was heading to the Japanese book store in any case.
There was one other couple in there. A very nicely dressed couple in business suit attire. The Owner/Merchant was teaching them about the different types of Tea's and how fresh his Tea's are compared to other stores. I understand he was busy so I waited and just listened and in the mean time enhancing my knowledge about Tea. Well they were sampling a tea. I saw the pot on the counter so I took a quick smell since I love the aroma of Tea as much if not more than the taste.
I continued to wait and finally when I told the couple you can steep the Tea more than once and the flavor changes a little the Owner/merchant finally acknowledged me and said in a a confirming voice the Flavor changes a lot. Fine fine I am sure he is right. I am the apprentice and he is the tea expert and he finally acknowledged my presence. So I started to ask him a few questions and told him I am just learning about tea and that I have Shimizu, Genmaicha and Gyokuro at home. He recommended a Sencha so I though he was going to let me sample a tea and at least recommended a Sencha that he has there but he went back to talk to the couple.
I finally asked them what they were drinking and he finally said oh I suppose you can try what they are having as he gave them there second steeping. He handed me a Styrofoam cup and let me try the tea... Now we are getting some where. I thought it was a little strange to serve tea in a Styrofoam cup specially considering how high quality it is suppose to be. Well I continued to drink the tea and he went back to talk to this couple again. He never told me what it was. Perhaps I was not worthy since I should have known after I tasted it =)
I waited for another 5 minutes as they start to talk about how much caffeine is in the tea and can they drink it before bedtime etc being ignored again. I finally felt so awkward that I left. I had the intent of buying some of his Tea but I felt like I was almost beneath him to be served. Perhaps it was the way I was dressed. I had on Jeans, Sweatshirt with Hoody and a baseball Cap not that this should matter.
After reading the other reviews such as he has fresh matcha powder makes me even more disappointed that I was not able to buy any tea to bring home with me. I do go down there every few weeks since I am Addicted to Ino Sushi there so I will attempt to stop by again and see if how I am treated and I will update my review to hopefully something more favorable. I just wanted to buy some tea... /cry
Please take my review with a Grain of Salt. Perhaps he was having a bad day or he did not think I was a serious customer. I am going to give the place a 2 stars in till I can go back and figure out it was a fluke or not. I really hope my 2 star review will turn into the standard 5 star as everyone else has posted.
The best Jappanese green tea I can anywhere near San Francisco and the most knowledgeable staff.
Some of the teas are pricy but they are worth every penny!
Potent. Fresh. Matcha!
Japanese Espresso!
I think this might be the only spot in J-Town where they sell fresh matcha powder (they keep the matcha in the fridge.) The one you find in the grocery store are not fresh, not tasty....
I have been a long-time customer of White Crane Tea Company (ever since it was called Shifuku) and for good reason. In all of my worldly travel, never have I come across Japanese green teas of such consistently great taste. I HIGHLY recommend his sencha, both Uji and Shizuoka , as well as his matcha (of which include various grades of usucha and koicha). I speak so highly of them since I've had them ALL!
Additionally, David is a wealth of knowledge, from his Chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony) knowhow, to a wide variety of arts and approaches to a better, richer life. He is a definite reason to return.
If there need be anything said about this tiny shop is that within it lie limitless possibilities to tea and life. It is a MUST when going to San Francisco and Japantown!
Big things come in tiny packages, the same may certainly said for White Crane Tea Company. Where else can you actually buy good, real, fresh green tea in all of the United States of America? This teeny place is THE place for tea.
Robert S. doesn't know what to do with a tetsubin... It's nice he wants to please his finace, but patience is a virtue. Go wander around for a minute while White Crane is busy, I'm sure once all is clear, all your narcissistic needs will be met, I know mine are.
Love to White Crane and Co.!
Whoever said size doesn't matter was 100% right!
This tiny tea shop in japan town has the best Japanese green teas available to suit a variety of budgets.
I met David, the owner a few years ago while buying a gift for a friend in his shop, we have remained good friends ever since. He is as good as they come, and it turns out David is a renaissance man or sorts and is an amazing healer among other things. I had a chronic Olympic sized knot in my shoulder he fixed on the spot! He might open his schedule for a healing session if he likes you. He also has his own amazing calligraphy & artwork on display. Lots of great tea wares and many thoughtful and unique gift items around the store.
A great little business, with great products, run by a great person.It's well worth a visit to Japan town.
David is great! His tea is first rate and the personalized attention he gives each and every one of his customers is unbeatable. If you're looking for some incredible tea, you need to stop in and see him. He's open Tuesday thru Sunday, right next to Andersen Bakery in the Kintetsu Mall.
White Crane Tea Co. is a tiny, unassuming place stashed into one end of the Japantown mall. It is owned and staffed by a single guy, David, who imports a wide variety of high quality Japanese green tea. He is a very gentle guy who also has training in healing and massage (qi gong, shiatsu), and will probably be willing to help you with your breathing or perform some acupressure on you if he deems it necessary! I am told the storefront is not going to be around for much longer and will soon become a purely online venture, so take advantage of it while you still can.
"Good things come in small packages," they say. That maxim certainly holds true with the White Crane Tea Company. Although the store itself is physically small, it carries some excellent high-end green teas from Japan. My first time there, David, the owner, took the time to generally educate me about teas and taught me how to distinguish higher quality teas from lower quality teas. That day, I ended up spending something like $75 for a large package of green tea imported from Kyoto. (I also spent another $35 or so on another package of tea from Shizuoka.) David wrapped the tea in special paper and then, with a brush and ink, inscribed the entire package with some beautiful Japanese calligraphic writing. Admittedly, at first, I was a bit skeptical of the $75 tea. I feared that I was being duped. How good can green tea be? It was delicious. In fact, it was the best green tea I've ever had. It had an aromatic bouquet and a smooth finish. There was no funky aftertaste at all. I've since left San Francisco, but I still think about the White Crane Tea Company.
Over 100 years ago, my family sailed to the United States from a tiny prefecture nestled behind the venerable Mt. Fuji. Shizuoka not only happens to be the "sister state" of California, but is one of the finest tea growing areas in the world. The hills of Shizuoka are covered with neatly groomed dome-shape tea "bushes". Much like being led through a tasting by a wine afficionado, I remember local shop owners helping me distinguish between the green of lesser teas and the deep blue green tea leaves of Shizuoka. Shizuoka tea is coveted in Japan. Tea is to Shizuoka as, well, sex is to a nymphomaniac. But Shizuoka tea is almost impossible to find outside of Japan. Over the years, I have visited tea shop after tea shop in search of my ancestral tea. Nada. Until I visited the tiny but enchanting White Crane Tea Company in Japantown. Not only do they carry high quality Shizuoka tea, but have a wonderful selection of green teas from other Japanese tea-growing prefectures. Just stepping in the shop is an experience. David has created a lot of atmosphere in a small space. He is tea savant, gracious host and guide to his aromatic world. When he found out that my tea purchase was a gift for my mother, he wrapped the tea for presentation as only a true artist can. Muah!
