TenRen Tea Chicago Edit

I’ve been in this shop once before, years ago, but never got up the nerve to ask to buy any of the tea from the imposing wall of canisters. It was at the beginning on my tea journey and aside from going in and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the teapots on display (mainly the prices. Yikes), I hightailed it out of there relatively quickly since it was rather imposing with all those giant tins of tea on the wall. (I wonder what the turnaround for the tea inside is?)
Today when I went to Chinatown, I went in with the intent to buy tea. Alot of it was just generically labeled like Puerh and Jasmine, and the clerk spoke very little English. When I asked her if I was able to buy smaller amounts than the pound price listed, I got the equivalent of a confused head tilt where someone’s listening, but not comprehending what you’re saying. She was still very nice and I understand that their clientele is majorly Chinese, so the need for knowing English likely isn’t that necessary. But it still would’ve been nice to have some understanding. I had to repeat myself a few times and finally she understood when I made the ‘little’ gesture of putting your fingers close together before gesturing to the tea. Then as we were figuring it out an older Chinese lady came out from the back to get into the mix. Thankfully she spoke better English and was able to clarify that they sell in 2oz/4oz/6oz amounts and that it’s cash up to $10, but then she left and I was stuck with the original clerk. Oh well.
I ended up choosing the Keemun (2ozish for about $4ish) and the Yunnan (2ozish for about $3ish) that they had on the wall since I figured that would be the safest bet to try. I was considering an oolong, but they all had the generic names and nothing sounded familiar to me. I would’ve liked to smell/look at the tea first, especially the oolongs so I could figure out which was green and which not, but with the language barrier there I wasn’t comfortable trying to explain that.
I can say that I was pretty disappointed in the packaging that I got. I know, I’m probly spoiled with the nifty zip lock type pouches that most tea companies use. But the tea was put in rather thin white paper bags, then in an equally thin plastic bag that was then heat sealed, which seemed like a joke to me since that’s not going to do anything for the tea overall. I got the feeling that it was a ‘We have this machine, better make sure we use it’ sort of thing. I ended up rebagging both into zip locks then putting them into tins for the time being.
There was a gong fu setup in the back which was neat, but I’d bet was for special occasions/maybe specific appointments. And the displays of tins/opposite wall of herbals were interesting to look at. There was also a small counter area where I guess you could have a cup of tea made, but since I didn’t take more than a cursory glance at it, I couldn’t say more about it other than it was there.
Next time I’m in Chinatown, if the two teas I got turn out good enough that I’d want more, I’ll definitely stop and pick some more up, since the price was pretty good. Otherwise, loose tea is all I’d likely ever stop for since the teapots/teaware were far too pricey for me and I really have no interest in the ginseng/herbal part of the store.

Great selection, but very hard to communicate with the service staff. They are always willing to recommend a favorite or try to help however they can but its difficult to get any insight into the collection without doing a little research on their website prior to going to the shop. So if you don’t mind using trial and error to weed through a HUGE selection, plenty of great cups await you. Their selection of Taiwanese teas are second to none in Chicago and they have many things that the other shops do not and will not ever have.

Building off of what Rob said, this place is (to my knowledge) the best place to buy high-quality teas in the downtown area. It’s selection is definitely wide enough for the common tea enthusiast, and thus far, I haven’t been disappointed with any of the teas I’ve tried from them.

So far, I’ve tried some Bi Lo Chun, a loose Pu Er, and a selection known as Kings Tea (a jade oolong with a ginseng glaze).

The Bi Lo Chun is top quality, though it can be temperamental. If brewed correctly, it gives a lovely sweet green-tea taste that’s strong, but not too astringent. The Pu Er was decent—a solid tea, but nothing to write home about.

I bought the kings tea off of a recommendation from the manager (an older, polite chinese lady whom I assume is also the owner or part-owner), and was pleasantly surprised. This tea, I found, is a great after-dinner tea. It gives all the satisfaction of a good oxidized oolong (nice and roasty), but the ginseng glaze leaves a film of sugary sweetness on your tongue and throat, which will stay long after you’re done drinking.

TenRen is a small shop that has a wide variety of teas ranging from boxes of their top sellers to giant tins of bulk loose-leaf. The large tins of tea (seen in the photo) appealed to me most, and when I stopped by, I purchased small samples of a few kinds. You can also purchase tea by the cup to drink right there if you can’t wait to take it home or want to try something before you buy 14 pounds of it. In addition to tea, they have a wide variety of ginseng and other traditional herbal remedy type stuff.

I plan on stopping by again in the future to try some others, but so far I can say that I tried a roasted “Ti kuan yin” as well as a roasted “Tung ting” and a cooked pu-erh. The pu-erh was so-so but both of the oolongs had that great roasted/fruity flavor that is characteristic of good roasted oolongs. For each type of tea, they had several different versions in different canisters. Mostly differences in quality and uniformity of the leaves I would guess, but I am looking forward to sampling a few of the different Ti Kuan Yins side by side. If you ever find yourself in or around Chinatown, make sure to stop by TenRen!