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Peter Luong<\/p>\n
Peter Luong is not a tea mystic. The founder of San Francisco\u2019s Song Tea & Ceramics knows and values the subtle, complex characteristics of tea, but displays a polite skepticism about the many claims for its physical and mental health-enhancing abilities. \u201cI don\u2019t like the \u2018fetishing\u2019 of tea,\u201d he says. \u201cTea should just taste good.\u201d<\/p>\n
This attitude is both surprising and unsurprising considering Luong\u2019s background. His immigrant parents opened a Chinese apothecary, Yau Hing, in San Francisco\u2019s Chinatown more than 30 years ago. This shop carried, but did not specialize in, tea. But Luong resisted following in the path of the family business. He became a techie in, as he says, \u201cthe first wave of dot.coms.\u201d But when the start-up he was consulting with could not create a workable business model, his father advised him: \u201cYou need to be in control of your own destiny.\u201d He joined the business in 2003, and began slowly re-branding it. Eventually, the apothecary side of the business was closed, and Red Blossom Tea Company emerged. Luong became the tea buyer, traveling with his father to China and Taiwan, assimilating key knowledge about tea growing and processing.<\/p>\n
In 2010, his parents retired, leaving Luong and his sister to run Red Blossom. By 2012, Luong had decided to strike out on his own, with a different, more contemporary aesthetic. A retail space, tucked away on a quiet block of Sutter Street, up from busier Fillmore Street, became available. He moved in, created a simple, welcoming interior, and bought the first \u201ccollection\u201d of Song teas in 2013.<\/p>\n
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Song Tea<\/p>\n
When he first began buying tea, Luong wondered why it was necessary to go overseas personally each spring. He quickly learned that establishing relationships was vital to getting the best product, as well as to discovering new sources. Song Tea carries approximately 30 teas at a time, that year\u2019s collection. Luong emphasizes there is a \u201c50-60 percent change\u201d in this group each year, depending on what he finds on his buying trips. \u201cWe don\u2019t necessarily \u2018re-up,\u2019 each year,\u201d he says. \u201cWe refresh the collection each time.\u201d Proper freshness, especially with green tea, and proper processing are essential. Luong mentions, for example, the precision with which Chinese fu ding<\/em> certified organic white teas are prepared. \u201cThere is a perceptible difference,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n During our interview, he first brews Song\u2019s White Dragonwell (2 oz. $88). This organic green tea from Zhejiang, China has a delicate color and aroma of, as Song\u2019s website notes, \u201cchrysanthemum, rice milk and marshmallow.\u201d<\/p>\n The website, , is a banquet of information about each tea carried, including any special preparation in Song\u2019s own \u201ctea studio.\u201d For example, the second tea tasted, Dragon Phoenix Clear Heart, a Taiwanese oolong (2 ounces, $34), is listed as having been \u201clightly baked at our tea studio\u2026to further concentrate the tea\u2019s innate fruit and floral notes.\u201d<\/p>\n Sipping flavors of cherimoya, buttercream and edamame, Luong answers questions about the ceramics side of the business.<\/p>\n Song Ceramics and Teas<\/p>\n Song Tea & Ceramics features teapots, bowls, cups, gaiwan<\/em>s (lidded bowls), servers, and trays for gai pao<\/em> (\u201cdry brew\u201d). All of the pieces are wood-fired and commissioned from ceramic artists in China, Taiwan, and, in two cases, the U.S. \u201cA lot of them reflect a great deal of time and study,\u201d says Luong. Of his four staff people (called \u201ctea members\u201d), \u201cone has a solid ceramics background,\u201d he explains, allowing sophisticated choices. He mentions the purple clay tea pots, such as the \u201cTambour\u201d ($280), made by Taiwanese potters who work only in purple clay. \u201cThe pots are very simple forms,\u201d he notes, but directly reflect a connection to the culture of tea.<\/p>\n However, Luong discounts over-obsession with preparation. \u201cTea is not coffee. Coffee [brewing] is about precision. [Brewing] tea is like cooking, where a different outcome is not necessarily bad,\u201d he says. At Song Teas, he continues, experimentation in brewing certain green teas \u201chas amped up the water temperature by nearly 10 degrees.\u201d Tea dogma, Luong says, \u201cremoves the fun of playing around. Just relax and brew!\u201d<\/p>\n He brews Taiwanese oolong Four Seasons Gold (2 ounces, $60), a small-batch, organic picked in the third week of April 2018 and purchased from one of only 14 tea producers in a specific high elevation. Scents of gardenia, orange blossom and \u201cpeach tarte tatin\u201d waft up from the cups. \u201cI don\u2019t always work with new people the first year I see them,\u201d he says. \u201cOften the batches are pre-allocated, so we may order for the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n Song Teas exterior<\/p>\n Asked about the culinary trend of pairing teas with foods, Luong describes a \u201cpop-up\u201d dinner with Los Angeles\u2019s Triniti restaurant that served 40 people, in which each course was served with a specific tea. Again, however, he warned against too much ritual and rules, preferring to focus on enjoyment.<\/p>\n On the other hand, the company does supply teas to a select group of restaurant and hotel \u201cpartners,\u201d places Luong has personally chosen because of shared aesthetics. Similarly, the company wholesales sparingly to a group of coffeehouses across the country, ones that he feels best showcase the teas. \u201cIf they call and ask about tea bags or what is our least expensive tea, they are likely not a good fit,\u201d he says drily.<\/p>\n But as he brews the final tea, luscious Taiwanese Winter Sprout Red (2 ounces, $58), Luong is careful to note that the shop offers $10, three-tea tastings each retail day, and that all customers, whether steeped in tea knowledge or not, are welcome. \u201cIt\u2019s completely OK if you don\u2019t buy our most expensive teas,\u201d he says, as delicious notes of rose, honeycomb and cinnamon bark are enjoyed. \u201cI trust that people have decent palates,\u201d he says. \u201cFor some customers, this is a destination, for others, this is their neighborhood place. We welcome all.\u201d<\/p>\n Song Tea & Ceramics, 2120 Sutter St., San Francisco. (415) 885-2118, songtea.com<\/em><\/p>\n Peter Luong Peter Luong is not a tea mystic. The founder of San Francisco\u2019s Song Tea & Ceramics knows and values the subtle, complex characteristics of tea, but displays a polite skepticism about the many claims for its physical and mental health-enhancing abilities. \u201cI don\u2019t like the \u2018fetishing\u2019 of tea,\u201d he says. \u201cTea should just<\/p>\nPresentation and preparation<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nPairings and Partners<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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