Chado has an amazing variety of teas, and I this was the first tea shop I went to when I arrived in LA and was ready to explore finer quality teas. I’ve been to a couple of their shops, and the counter people are helpful and knowledgeable. When I mentioned my black tea phobia, I was given a sample of the yunnan gold black tea that opened my eyes to the possibilities. I got a 10 year old loose puerh that was another wonderful revelation.
I have taken friends there to enjoy tea, and it’s been a lot of fun. And they were happy with the teas they bought too.
But while most of what I’ve bought from them has been quite good, getting to them & parking is not as easy as my usual chinatown shops, and while they have several of almost any class of tea you can imagine (herbals, darjeelings, chinese, taiwanes, rooibos, and more) their selection is perhaps broader than deep (except maybe the single-estate indian/sri lankan/african black teas), and I mostly go the the chinatown stores these days.
But as I am now getting curious about the white, oolong and green teas from India and Sri Lanka, I feel another trip to Chado coming on.