Vendor: Dream About Tea, Evanston, IL (site visit)

Vendor: Dream About Tea  

Right now I am drinking a gorgeous Dragonwell tea at room temperature.  Starting last night, I used about three grams of tea to make a bit more than a liter of delicious, delicate green tea.  When the infusions started getting thin, I left it overnight in another liter of room-temperature water and am still enjoying it today.  Completely devoid of bitterness, full of character, and with a lovely green, vegetative, creamy/buttery taste with a hint of wood…I’m going to treasure the ounce I bought until I can return for more.

I am delighted to say that I got to choose this tea myself from the most amazing teashop I’ve ever had the priviledge to visit.  This tea, along with about a zillion other fresh, gorgeous, well-labeled teas of clear provenance…along with an incredible assortment of teaware…can be found at “Dream About Tea” on Davis Street in Evanston, Illinois.  While not exactly “right next door” for me, it’s awfully darn close when it comes to tea and teawares of this quality, and I will definitely be a repeat visitor.

When we looked into the window of the store, I was already floored.  There were cakes upon cakes of puerh, many still wrapped in their bamboo sets, along with *countless* beautiful, tiny Yixing teapots, delicate gaiwans, cup sets, tea trays…on and on and on.

We entered and were greeted right away by the proprietors.  When the woman behind the counter saw how thrilled I was about everything, she immediately asked if I was the person from Wisconsin she had e-mail corresponded with the day before–and I was!  It was super to be remembered and greeted so intuitively, and I had her full attention and help during my entire visit.

There were *at least* a hundred and fifty different, unique, handmade Yixing teapots to look at and choose from.  I was *beyond* excited.  My every question was answered–they showed me beautiful shu and sheng puerh, gave suggestions for which pot would go best with which kind of tea, showed me their new stock, etc.

I’ll level with you–I wanted *everything*.  I fell madly in love with no less than five different teapots and with almost *all* of the puerh, but budget forces choices, and I absolutely couldn’t say no to one of the lovely bamboo tea trays.  (They had a great selection of these as well–at least *seven* different models of varying sizes, types of decoration, and prices…more than I’ve ever seen in one place before, just like the teapots.)

I wound up getting a tiny Yixing teapot that I’m planning to use for young sheng, a white porcelain gaiwan to replace the evil, clumsy one I’m using at work, a pretty reserve pitcher and one of those cunning fine-mesh funnel-filters, the ounce of Dragonwell tea, and the bamboo tea tray.  I’ll certainly be posting pictures of all of this soon–you won’t *believe* how gorgeous it all is.

Other things I wanted–more tea!  They have *so* many jars of tea on their counter, and when it matters, they can tell you the region, year, etc. of the teas.  Their knowledge and ability to recommend teas is super.  I also wanted more teapots!  These were all just amazing.  The quality of the one I chose is great, and it was a low-end teapot, $40, cheaper than my more disappointing Ten Ren teapot–it has a perfect pour, the cover fits superbly, etc.  The majority of the teapots they had were handmade and unique–the exception to this is their *very own line* of Yixing pots in various types of the appropriate clay.  These they contract with a shop in China to mold for them, and are just darling, in a very practical shape with a detailed dragon relief in the bottom of the pot.  The result is inexpensive, well-made Yixing pots of various types of clay with predictable results and a handsome design.  I will *definitely* be picking up at least one of these proprietary pots for some type of oolong in the future.  Aside from those, though, the range of Yixing pots was jaw-dropping.  All sizes, all clay types, all price ranges, all styles (from simple and graceful brewing pots to incredibly detailed and sculpted “whimsy” pots)…

I clearly just can’t say enough about this teashop, my visit, the owners…wow!  I absolutely cannot wait to visit again, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this place to anyone.

We were there for about an hour, but I could’ve been there all day.  Pete and his stepmother kept themselves busy at the counter with two green teas.  One, their house tea and about $70 a pound, was a more-than-serviceable everyday green that they (or so they say) contract with an entire plantation to corner the supply of.  The other was a Dragontop and one of their highest-end teas, at $200/lb, and was absolutely amazing.  It was green, deep, buttery, infinitely smooth, and just phenomenal to drink.  We compared the two under both favourable and less-than-favourable conditions and went through lots and lots of hot water with the samples we’d purchased.  I ended up hoarding the Dragontop, but we were able to squeeze even a bit more out of the teas when we got back to the house, using my new gaiwan. 

Why hadn’t I heard about this place before?  Why aren’t its praises sung to the rafters when someone asks for tea recommendations in the Chicago area?  I can only thank my luck that a random Google search turned this place up before our Chicago visit, and I can only assume that word of this place just hasn’t gotten out yet.  I can’t imagine that it has been deliberately overlooked for complaints of quality of lack of knowledge–again, I just couldn’t have been more pleased. They had *everything* one could possibly desire when beginning one’s journey with Eastern teas, and plenty of stuff for even experts, I would hazard.

In short: if you live anywhere *near* the Chicago area, drop whatever you’re doing right now and head to Dream About Tea.  It is an amazing place run by incredibly helpful, kind people, and you will be *floored* by the selection of teaware and tea. 

Go now! Their website is also amazing, with mail-order functionality, lots of great details, contact info, etc.  Also not that they are offering *Tea Classes* coming up soon, where they’ll cover various types of teas and brewing methods.  I would give my eyeteeth to attend these classes; I’m sure they’ll be great–definitely worth a look! http://www.dreamabouttea.com/comersus6f/store/index.asp