Teahouses’ Unique Blends Are Not Just in the Cup
By GREGORY DICUM
Published: January 1, 2010

“…Samovar, in the Castro, makes tea drinking a stylish affair. Teas from around the world are served as they are in their home countries: Japanese maki bowls of rice and seaweed with ryokucha brown rice tea, English tea service with scones and Devonshire cream, Chinese tea with dumplings, and masala chai with curry. Russian tea is poured from a gleaming samovar.

‘We bring the world’s tea traditions under one roof,” said Jesse Jacobs, who opened Samovar in 2001. “It’s contemporary and hip but also respecting tradition.’

…Though many occupy spaces that used to be coffeehouses, it’s too early to call tea drinking a trend that will replace espresso anytime soon. Instead, it’s a parallel, calmer universe.

When people double-park outside Samovar and run in for a cup to go, the way many are accustomed to grab lattes with one nervous eye out for a parking ticket, ‘we give them a free chai sample,’ Mr. Jacobs said, ‘and they go park and come back.’

‘That’s the philosophy of tea,’ he said. ‘It’s about stopping for one moment and taking assessment of your surroundings.’

The original Samovar was so distinctive and enjoyable that the city invited Mr. Jacobs to open a branch in Yerba Buena Gardens to replace a Starbucks in 2006, and the San Francisco Zen Center asked him this year to open a teahouse in a space it owns across the street.”

Veiw The Entire Article as a PDF

Media Contact:
Jesse Cutler, Samovar: (415) 655-3431 / publicity@jpcutlermedia.com

Click here to view the video on CNN

Media Contact:
Jesse Cutler, Samovar: (415) 655-3431 / publicity@jpcutlermedia.com

(Fortune Small Business) –At Samovar Tea Lounge, a chain of three teahouses in San Francisco, you’ll find no wireless Internet or bulletin board littered with local news and advertisements.

“The goal is to create relationships with customers where they become guests — or friends,” says CEO Jesse Jacobs, a dot-com veteran who opened the first Samovar, in the Castro/Mission district during the 2001 tech crash. “Our design reflects that. We try to provide a cocoon from the outside world, so we need more than just a few chairs and a Formica countertop.”

Seating space at the teahouse’s bamboo tables is intentionally tight. Jacobs, who built his shops without consulting professional designers, says the setup encourages patrons to mingle and try menu items that beckon from neighbors’ plates.

“It’s easy to overhear conversations, but that’s good,” says copywriter Paul Tootalian, 42, a regular customer. “There’s a real community feel.”

Jesse at Samovar Zen Valley

Jacobs, 38, wanted to re-create the physical closeness he experienced as a child when his family gathered around his great-grandmother’s samovar, a traditional tea vessel that looms large in Eastern European social life.

Jacobs hosts Friday tea tastings at his Yerba Buena and Hayes Valley locations. In Hayes Valley they’re held at the bar, a 20-foot-long slice of wind-fallen redwood installed by woodworker and friend Michael Deakin.

The craftsman gave Jacobs a 40% discount in exchange for $1,000 worth of Samovar gift cards, which he distributed to his VIP customers — generating marketing for both businesses. And the inexpensive repurposed wood fits with Samovar’s aesthetic, which is based on wabi-sabi, a Japanese concept that finds beauty in simplicity, age and imperfection.

Resisting chain-store uniformity, Jacobs tries to match each Samovar to its neighborhood. When city officials asked him to help revitalize a dreary business district by setting up shop in Yerba Buena Gardens, he turned a failed Starbucks into a clean, modern space for business lunches, eliminating the candles, flowers and menu cards that typically clutter caf tables.

The independent design route spared Samovar from a cookie-cutter look, Jacobs says. And bartering with friends like Deakin helped him shave hundreds of thousands of dollars off construction costs, which totaled $1.2 million.

Revenues have doubled every year since Samovar launched and are expected to hit $3 million in 2009, all with no paid advertising. Jacobs estimates that word of mouth accounts for 95% of sales. When a restaurant conglomerate approached him recently to discuss franchising the Samovar concept, Jacobs passed.

“We don’t think like a franchise,” he says.

Media Contact:
Jesse Cutler, Samovar: (415) 655-3431 / publicity@jpcutlermedia.com

Inc. Magazine Fastest Growing Companies – We Made the List!

Samovar Tea Lounge joins an elite group of companies across America as they have made the 2009 Inc. Magazine 5000 list of fastest-growing companies. Over the last six years, Samovar has grown its staff to over 60 employees and to three San Francisco locations.

We’d like to thank all of our customers for contributing to our rapid and prosperous growth!

Check out KTVU San Francisco’s 37 image slide show of the beautiful Samovar Zen Valley.
Time for Some Zen at Samovar Tea Lounge!

American Express Small Business Rules
Video
Feb 17, 2010

“Tea is more than just a drink, it’s a chance to slow down the present moment. At least, that’s how Jesse Jacobs sees it, who was looking for a place to relax, hang out with friends, drink something healthy, and that was an alternative to the bar scene. Jesse created Samovar, a tea lounge that serves artisan whole leaf tea sourced from family farms all over the world. Samovar now includes three San Francisco locations and an online store.”

Watch the video at http://bit.ly/9u5zj0

Media Contact:
Jesse Cutler, Samovar: (415) 655-3431 / publicity@jpcutlermedia.com

Watch ~

ABC News Channel 7′s The View from the Bay tastes, talks, and pairs tea and food with Samovar Tea Lounge founder Jesse Jacobs.

Tea & Food Pairings featured in the segment:

White Tea: Poached eggs, buttered sour dough toast with honey, sauted greens, steamed veggies, and desserts like vanilla ice cream and flan all help to bring out the subtle floral sweetness of this beautiful Chinese White tea.

Puerh Tea: Quiche, omelettes, nutella on toast, bittersweet chocolate, robust red wine and cheese, and spicy foods all pair really well with this earthy, espresso-like aged Chinese tea.

Green Tea: The succulent, floral, aromatic quality of jasmine flowers blended with organic, fair trade Chinese green tea pairs really well with rich, robust, smoky, heavy foods. Brioche French Toast, bacon, smoked fish, huevos rancheros, red meat, baked swordfish, sauteed onions and garlic are all ingredients and flavors that pair greatly with this tea.

Tea & Health:
• Seasonal, whole leaf Tea is healthy, as it’s got less caffeine than coffee, loads of antioxidants, and a natural, fresh delicious taste that comes only with artisanal whole leaf leaves sourced from small family farms around the globe.

• It’s soothing, and simultaneously uplifting, actually known to stimulate the same brain waves that yoga and meditation do!

• And, organic, Fair Trade tea is good for the environment as it is sustainably harvested from small scale family farms.

• Tea is romantic, and perfect for valentine’s day. Bring health and clarity to life and your loved one by giving them artisanal tea.

• Tea is easy. Brewing whole leaf tea is simple and fun, just add a pinch of fresh tea leaves to hot water, steep, and enjoy.

• Tea is about connecting: Living today in our modern world people have the need to connect, slow down, and take time for appreciating life. Tea delivers that.

Romance Tea Set featured in segment, $79

About Samovar Tea Lounge:

•    It raises the bar as the first tea company to launch an unprecedented eco-friendly packaging design consisting of 100% compostable materials. Recognized for its award-winning tea menu and leading role in the burgeoning American tea movement, Samovar develops innovative eco-conscious solutions for everyday small business needs.

•    Samovar’s ingenious packaging utilizes 100% post-consumer cardboard for its exterior shell and a wood pulp fiber liner to retain maximum freshness of their handcrafted teas.

•    A pioneering Bay Area green business, Samovar proudly introduces a sustainable container that, if composted, would turn to soil within a couple of months. The new container will be available in 2010.

•    Samovar holds an exclusive partnership with Eva Lee and Chiu Leng of the Hawaii Tea Society as they will supply artisan tea made in America.

•    Samovar’s goal is to further put America on the map for the production of premium artisan tea. After eight years of continual farming in Volcano Village on the Big Island, Samovar is the first mainland outlet to feature the limited edition Hawaii-Grown Oolong and Hawaii-Grown Black Tea, which was released on September 1, 2009.

•    Samovar recently prepared a custom tea blend for His Holiness The Dalai Lama. The tea is named after The Dalai Lama himself, its titled Ocean of Wisdom. The tea accompanied The Dalai Lama as he presented “The Missing Peace” project at various art institutions across the U.S. Ocean of Wisdom is available for purchase at Samovar’s three Bay Area locations and online.

•    Samovar is the exclusive retailer of “Gyokuro Inoka Hill,” which took 1st Place in the All Japanese Gyokuro Tea Competition last year. No one else in the world sells this tea, not even any retailers in Japan. It’s for only politicians and dignitaries in Japan, and Samovar customers.

•    Almost all Samovar teas are organic and fair trade certified.

•    Samovar utilizes many eco-friendly sustainability practices in their design and building efforts. They use many reclaimed and renewable resources as they design new locations. Their latest locale features a 1200 year-old, 20-foot naturally wind fallen redwood tree from Marin, CA serving as the tea bar.

•    All tables are from wind fallen old growth trees, and the FSC certified wood flooring comes from sustainably managed US forests. All the metal work utilizes materials from turn of the century food processing facilities.

•    Samovar allocates 1% of their profits to an education budget for standout employees to travel to other countries to research new teas firsthand, attend national industry and restaurant conventions, and take tea education classes.

Watch the entire ABC News Channel 7 The View from the Bay Video.

Media Contact:
Jesse Cutler, Samovar: (415) 655-3431 / publicity@jpcutlermedia.com

Unisex Valentine’s Gifts for Every Sense.

“Valentine’s Day may have roots in a Hallmark campaign, but what harm is there in setting aside a day that motivates you to make a point of celebrating the one you love? Man or woman — here is a list of five genderless gifts which will appeal to the object of your affection…

(Taste) Samovar Tea Lounge Romance Tea Set: Packaged in a scarlet gift box, this unique tea set by San Francisco Company Samovar features three 40z. boxes of teas known for their seductive qualities: Wild Rose Bai Mudan (crushed rose petals and wild field grasses), Jasmine Pearl (jasmine blossoms and hints of cocoa powder) and Maiden’s Ecstasy (dark flavors of rich earth and wildflower honey). It also comes with a mesh infuser.$79 at Samovar.”

Check out the entire post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/margaret-ryan/unisex-valentines-gifts-f_b_444732.html_b_444732.html

Media Contact:
Jesse Cutler, Samovar: (415) 655-3431 / publicity@jpcutlermedia.com

“New generation teahouses share a vision of tea for the broad audience, say Samovar Tea Lounge founder Jesse Jacobs (featured on this month’s cover)….
‘What all these teahouses have in common is an experience that is based on the foundations of tea: relaxation, social intimacy, and health — and delivered via food and teas with integrity.’”

Tea Party Politics at Samovar Tea Lounge

By Katy St. Clair

Sometimes it’s nice to see how the other half lives. And by the other half, I mean those folks who go out and enjoy themselves without imbibing liquor. You know, weirdos. I suppose many of them go to the movies or Starbucks or something. But a segment of the sober population seems to be partaking in this whole “tea lounge” phenomenon.

A tea lounge is like a bar but without the fun, as near as I can tell. No one drinks too many lapsang souchongs and goes home with the busboy, there is no such thing as “green-tea goggles,” and you don’t get a T-shirt for “drinking the wall of pekoe.” However, tea rooms and barrooms do have one thing in common — a busy toilet. I must’ve peed 12 times during my visit to Samovar Tea Lounge on 18th Street.

Tea drinkers, god bless ‘em, are a precious sort. They take the time to smell the roses. Then they delicately steep the petals in mountain spring water from Ankara. Local tea drinkers create infusions of all of their favorite things — organics, ethnic diversity, detoxification, sustainability, and zero calories. The real question is: What the hell took these tea houses so long to show up in San Francisco?

Samovar is warm and inviting in a Zen kind of way, just what you would hope and expect from such an establishment. The waiters are mellow and nice, and bend down to meet you at eye level when you’re ordering to better channel the chi.

The tables are all set close to one another to further inspire unity, but also to ensure that I could hear every conversation around me, which was awesome. It was raining outside and I felt quite cozy.

I perused the menu and felt just as lost as I would if I were looking at a wine list. Did I want loose tea or bagged? Black or herbal? And those were just the basics. I could also choose region, zestiness, level of tranquillity, and number of yogi eunuchs used in brewing. Jesus, I just wanted iced tea. I ended up going with a chilled black variety. It came to me in a stout little glass pot on a tray, presented like a sacrament.

I was smack-dab betwixt two tables with barely room for my handbag and newspaper. To my left was a woman in her early 30s with a guy, both twiddling on their laptops. To my right were two retired women, seemingly old friends, sharing a pot and some salad. Their conversation was your general catch-up stuff, with some movie reviews thrown in and comparisons of Christmas lists. Not too juicy.

The couple on my left, though, was actually having a conversation about alcohol. I had intended on seeing how nondrinkers get their mojo workin’, and here were two right next to me. Neither of them drank, and they were kvetching about their lonely existences as teetotalers.
“Christmas parties are the worst,” the gal said. “If you don’t have a drink in your hand, everyone looks at you like you’re some sort of alien life form.”

“Yep,” the guy said. “I can take, like, a sip of champagne, but then I just carry the glass around. I don’t want to deal with that mad push to get fucked up.”
The conversation went down this path for a while, and then they invariably veered into territory that generally starts to piss me off. They began the litany of “Why do some people drink so much? I don’t need to drink that much.”

I wanted to interrupt with a big ol’ “Duuuhhhhh. Some people are alcoholics.” But I sat on my hands and just listened.

“I can get having a beer here and there, but c’mon,” she continued.

Why do such people annoy me? I suppose it’s the same as people who are born naturally thin and talk about how their body is a gift and they don’t understand how some people can just “let themselves go.”

“Yes,” her partner agreed. “My body is a temple.” (Reader, I can’t make this shit up!) “I don’t want to put poisons in it.” He sipped his tea. I almost barfed. Unfortunately, they started to notice my undue attention and began to shoot me “Excuse us?” looks. I smiled politely.

So, these two have to deal with people being judgmental about what drinks they do or do not put in their bodies, but they, in turn, judge people who put things in their bodies they don’t approve of, and I was judging them for that. What’s with all the judgment? Strange. Why is it such a big deal which liquids people want to ingest?

As the Samovar menu says, ”Practice peace” and “Drink tea.” Well, peaceful is in the cup of the beholder, apparently. There are douchebags who drink tea, and douchebags who drink rye whiskey. Beverages are mere symptoms of far deeper problems.

Then there are two people who just want to enjoy a hot pot of English Breakfast and chat, like the women on my right.

A baby was crawling around the lounge, going up to tables with a big gummy smile. His mom was shadowing him, but he was on his own journey with his own agenda. He was rad. I finished my refreshment and began the long layering process of sweater, coat, and scarf. The uppity nondrinkers had moved on to other topics — getting a condo in Potrero Hill. I did, in fact, feel a bit peaceful, so I shut off my internal critic. Besides, who am I to judge? I pulled my hat down over my eyes and waddled out into the street, a woolen cocoon.

Check out original  article at: http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-30/music/tea-party-politics-at-samovar-tea-lounge

Story & photos by Jodet Ghougassian

On the first day of our tea journey in Taiwan, my friend Lorraine and I found ourselves on a seemingly endless drive along unpaved roads that snaked dangerously through a hulking mountain range. I found myself having the same thought I did when we staggered onto our flight out of San Francisco at 2 a.m. the day before: “What are we doing?”

But as we came across those mountains and into the majestic region known as Puli, all the hours of traveling and uncertainty melted away. We had been transported into tea-cultivation heaven. Fog-covered tea gardens—picturesque and perfect—dotted the landscape. It was the kind of world you think only exists in books. What’s more, we were in this wonderland to spend time with KC Chen, a farmer and tea master who would be teaching us the intricacies of growing top-quality leaves. This was a priceless opportunity.

It was early last year that the roots of my Taiwan trip took hold. I had been studying tea for nearly four years as an employee at San Francisco’s Samovar Tea Lounge (Lorraine was my colleague there), and I found myself wanting to better understand what it took to process tea from beginning to end. What did all those dizzying words about oxidation really mean? I was fortunate enough to meet David B. Campbell of the Tillerman Tea Company in Napa, Calif., and through him I found out that the opportunity to explore and understand the processing of oolong and black tea was possible. However, it was locked thousands of miles away.

Campbell is a lifelong tea drinker and has loads of experience traveling to rural areas to learn about the cultures of Taiwan, China and Japan. He spent more than 25 years in the wine business and eventually got involved in tea out of frustration; he says he couldn’t find good teas at fine restaurants and was sick of the peppermint and chamomile varieties waiters kept putting in front of him in restaurants. We instantly had a tea connection, and he organized my itinerary to meet his friend and tea master KC Chen in Taiwan. I had never met Chen and knew almost nothing about him.

When we arrived in Taiwan, we anticipated our names would be written on cardboard signs in the arrivals area of the airport. With no telephone or any idea of who or what to expect, we waited for someone—anyone—to greet us and welcome us to Taiwan. We eventually found our translator, Tinja, who led us to a soft-spoken and well-mannered man. KC Chen was much younger than we expected, a far cry from the stereotype of a tea master.

Chen, a ninth-generation tea grower who has tradition seemingly bred into his bones, drove us from Taipei across those treacherous mountain roads and into Puli. Located near the geographic center of Taiwan, the area around the bustling township is marked by stoic tea gardens and high peaks that surround it on all sides. Chen runs two organic gardens as well as his own tea company called Bih-Lu. Bih-Lu’s small tea factory lies in a quiet area outside of Puli’s busy section.

During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan (1895-1945), the Puli hillsides were covered with tea gardens, according to Chen. The local climate favors the growing and making of tea, and Bih-Lu is now into its third generation of ownership and has been in existence for more than 70 years. “I love being in the tea garden, managing and caring for it,” says Chen. “Having our tea plants in harmony with nature is what gives the very best tea.”

According to Chen, the majority of tea masters in Taiwan only produce oolongs. Chen, however, also produces traditional black tea as well as green and white varieties. He’s had Taiwanese organic certification for several years and plans to apply for international certification next year. “We not only make tea, but we remain connected to the cultivation of the bushes; that’s a vital relationship that is necessary to understand the processes involved in manufacturing the leaf,” says Chen. “It is important to understand the climate, the year’s weather and the interrelationship of these to the final product.”

Campbell says the majority of tea farmers he deals with in Taiwan grow organically, but not necessarily by choice: They often can’t afford the chemicals they would put on the plants if given the opportunity. At the same time, though, they can’t afford to pay for any official certification. “The official organic designation is more important to those who do not deal directly with growers or to consumers looking for reassurance,” Campbell says.

Chen grows leaves for oolong tea in a high-elevation garden near Puli, while most of his black tea production takes place in the other garden, located in the nearby Sun Moon Lake region. “It is an area of extraordinary beauty with high peaks and deep valleys,” says Campbell in regards to Puli. He says it’s this landscape and geographical position that make the area such a good one for growing tea: It’s semi-tropical and provides the necessary humidity, but it also has high elevations that yield the cool temperatures key to quality. “As with apples and grapes or any plant really, it is those that grow at the limits of climatic possibilities that give the best quality,” Campbell says.

The week before we arrived, Puli had been ravaged by a particularly powerful typhoon (called Typhoon Jangmi), and the storm had done damage to the harvest we were there to witness and participate in. The high levels of precipitation caused some of the leaves to become overgrown, and the bridge leading to Chen’s garden was destroyed, making it a difficult and dangerous ride in on the first morning we planned to work.

According to Campbell, typhoons are part of the climate that overall makes Taiwan such a fine production area. However, when they reach the level of Typhoon Jangmi, the damage can be catastrophic, resulting in loss of life and destruction of tea areas and other agricultural enterprises. (Tillerman Tea is currently donating 10 percent of gross sales revenue from its retail, wholesale and online business to the Tzu Chi Foundation to aid with typhoon relief.)

When we finally arrived at the gardens, we were glad to see plants that were still intact, making it possible for us to find some suitable leaves even among those bushes that had become overgrown. Already at work were 20 or so women in extremely bright floral-printed outfits and similar hats; it was almost as if it was a strategically planned wardrobe. This was certainly something I had never experienced or seen before, and it made me smile as I entered the tea gardens to join them for the day. I wanted to soak all the excitement in, and I felt as though I had just entered a new museum and was determined to learn everything about a particular exhibit.

As we entered the gardens, we received hats and baskets. “You have a long day ahead,” Rebecca, our second translator, said with a laugh as she pointed us to the bushes. The floral-attired ladies—with small razors attached to the tips of their index fingers—surrounded us, quickly picking the best leaves possible in their designated sections. These ladies were quick at identifying healthy leaves and picking them. I made my way into the bushes and started picking, but was quickly scolded by one of the only men in the circle, who mentioned to me in Cantonese or Mandarin (Rebecca had to translate) that I was picking them incorrectly.

According to Chen, the proper way to harvest leaves is to pull at the edge, where the stem meets the leaf and to trim them. In the wake of the typhoon, many of the leaves were overgrown, and it was challenging to find those that were still healthy. And even those that were prime had to be handled delicately. If the stem is pressed and crushed when picked, the flavor will be affected. The two leaves and bud are snapped back, not crushed, and the withering of the leaf starts to take place almost immediately.

We spent an entire afternoon picking leaves with these women, stopping from time to time to click pictures and wipe away the sweat rolling down our faces. Once the picking was finished, we went to Chen’s small factory by the gardens, where the rest of the processing takes place. We set the leaves out on the floor near a mesh-netted area where they were left to wither and dry. Ah, the smell of fresh tea leaves. It reminded me of ripe apples. After the leaves dried, we transported them inside the factory, where we sorted them and put them on bamboo racks to dry for another eight to 10 hours. There was much to be done from this point forward: drying, kneading, bruising, rolling, shaping and roasting. But for us, all that mattered was sleep. We decided to call it a day.

Yoshi Murai, one of our most avid tea educators at Samovar Tea, has talked to me about how the oxidation of tea is often brought up in marketing and selling situations, but it’s actually not well understood. He thinks the lack of understanding of this rare process is partially due to the fact most tea drinkers don’t really know what goes into oolong tea production as a whole. “We are making headway into it,” he says, “although the task of just describing the tea is so enormous no one has tackled it yet.”

Oolong tea processing is indeed complex. Babette Donaldson, founder of the International Tea Sippers Society, notes that very few people have ever watched a freshly picked tea leaf wither and gradually turn brown. “Understanding oolong is a meditation on the transformation of the leaf,” she says.

Each farm has its own production method—there are different styles of plucking, rolling and roasting. And then, of course, there’s also each tea master’s sense of tradition. Campbell says the biggest challenge in oolong processing is maintaining strict quality standards in the face of increasing demand. “It is important to me that tea gardens are run with traditional care that focuses on quality as opposed to volume,” says Campbell. “The proof is always in the cup.”

The day after we picked the leaves, we got to see first-hand how Chen’s operation maintains that sense of quality during processing. First, we learned more about what the purpose was for putting the leaves on bamboo racks for eight to 10 hours, and the mysteries of oxidation started to reveal themselves. While on the racks, the leaves continued the wilting process that began right after they were picked. This is step one of oxidation. The wilting removes the water from the leaves and pulls the moisture out of them so they are strong for shaping.

From that point, machines took over. After putting the leaves in a drying machine (yes, the drying of tea leaves is a multifaceted process, to say the least), the factory workers would roll the leaves into round balls within fabric, and another machine would wrap the balls tighter and tighter. These steps were repeated more than 50 times as Chen’s staff made sure the proper amount of oxidation and rolling took place. All these processes that damaged the surface of the leaves are what allow oxidation to occur—that is, they allowed oxygen to be absorbed by the leaf. The key to creating “semi-oxidized” oolong tea is making sure the perfect amount of heat is added to leaves so that the oxidation process stays within the tea master’s control.

Watching Chen’s factory men ravel and unravel these balls of tightly packed pellets was fascinating. To eliminate the dust from the leaves, another machine was employed, and the product went through yet another round of drying after that. During the 48 hours that followed, we watched the final stage: the roasting and charcoal roasting of our leaves. I felt like a chemist in the jungles of Puli by the time the whole process came to an end.

I’ve spent much of the year since my trip reflecting on what I experienced and what it means for the actual consumption of tea. Tea culture in the West is growing, and those of us who provide tea for the growing number of aficionados should be developing as well.

Oshan Anand, owner of Om Shan Tea in San Francisco, says the general public has an increased interest in the healing properties of tea and the social and spiritual elements that go along with tea drinking. “The trends in ethical consumerism, healthy lifestyle and desire for authenticity have inspired social consciousness around tea,” Anand says. Those values were evident in the tea gardens of Taiwan as well. Anand says the emphasis on environmental sustainability, purity, gourmet quality and the fusion of ancient techniques with modern innovations is evident in almost every one of Chen’s production methods.

Read the entire Taiwan Teachings article and see Jodet’s stunning photographs in PDF format.

Restaurant Review: Samovar Tea Lounge

By Eliza Sarasohn
December 07, 2009

“At its three locations around the city, Samovar Tea Lounge has mastered what many restaurants aspire to but which few achieve. More than just a business, it’s a lifestyle. Denizens here aren’t just cooks, waiters, baristas, and regulars — they’re  ‘Ambassadors’ on a ‘mission to create peace through tea.’

“Samovar’s approach involves sourcing small batch, organic teas at fair trade prices from artisan family farmers, educating the public on the benefits of tea, and promoting traditional tea culture through the restaurants, events, and extensive Web site, Samovarlife.com. While the globally-inspired menu offers choices from dinner to brunch, small plates to dessert, the star is the tea, which Samovar implores you “sip slowly, filling you with calm and vitality.”

Read More: http://sanfrancisco.jetblue.com/2009/12/restaurant-review-samovar-tea-lounge.html

Media Contact:
Jesse Cutler, Samovar: (415) 655-3431 / publicity@jpcutlermedia.com

December 4, 2009

In a year when luxuries have to come with small price tags, the San Francisco Chronicle gives Samovar Teas a nod in their affordable gift guide:

Give the Gift of Samovar Russian Blend! (Photo by Mike Kepka, SF Chronicle)

“No gifts, no glory — yes, it’s that time of year. The quest for lasting value made our holiday shopping different this year. Quality trumped quantity, an old-fashioned notion that’s new again and, when we did the math, affordable. We took our Champagne-tastes and found indulgences, treats and all kinds of surprises on a ginger ale budget. The challenge made us creative. We’re delighted with the high-low mix. And as you wrap your selections, we know you’ll be basking in the giver’s happy glow.”

The Hawaii-Grown Tea Collection as Featured in the New York Times Gift Guide

Florence Fabricant of the New York Times picks Samovar’s Hawaii- Grown Teas for the Times’ holiday gift guide!

“Hawaiian Tea -  Hawaii is known for its Kona coffee, but now serious commercial growers are cultivating high-quality teas. Tea Hawaii’s black tea has a winy richness, and its oolong is layered with subtle earthiness. Neither is bitter. Hawaii teas can be ordered from samovarlife.com in San Francisco, for $25 an ounce.”

Read more at The New York Times or check out the exquisite Hawaii- Grown Teas.

San Francisco: Top 10 Eggs Not for Breakfast
by Katie Robbins
October 6, 2009

Samovar Tea Lounge (The Castro)

“This bastion of relaxation pays homage to the tea rituals of many great chai-centric societies, including a classic English service, a Moorish medley, and a Chinese tea tasting. If your hot beverage mood is steering you to Russia with love, then the house-blend black tea goes brilliantly with Samovar’s devilled eggs, which takes the traditional Ruskie whole wheat blini topped with caviar and egg yolk and inverts it, instead stuffing the egg with caviar and serving alongside wheat crackers.”

http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/san-francisco-top-10-eggs-not-for-breakfast/11510

Media Contact:
Jesse Cutler, Samovar: (415) 655-3431 / publicity@jpcutlermedia.com