High quality gaiwans in NYC?
I’m looking to get a really nice gaiwan set and will be traveling to NYC, was wondering if anyone in the area knows of good stores to get nice tea accessories? As much as I like shopping online I’d like to see them in person before purchasing.
I too have been looking. I thought Chinatown would be a great place to start but only a few shops have gaiwans and most have poor quality. Will go to Flushing sometime soon to see if the options there are better.
Eureka, I hope you’re still here in NYC. New tea-shop called “Tea Drunk” opened on 7th street in the East Village between 1st Ave and Ave A. Lots of beautiful teaware a little pricey but its all well made and hand picked by the shop owner. Bought a tea canister and four oolong cups while there slurping tea. Most sip I slurp, it was that good.
I actually haven’t traveled there yet, so this is exciting. Thank you so much! I’ll have to go check it out!
Oddly enough, I haven’t found that many places in NYC that sell gaiwans, much less nice ones. TenRen Tea, on Roosevelt Ave in Flushing usually has a selection, and I’d imagine their Chinatown store does too, but I haven’t been there in a long time. Sometimes Fang Gourmet, also on Roosevelt Ave in Flushing will have some, but not dependably.
I wish when I had lived around Flushing in college I’d been more serious about tea. There are a lot of places around there with Chinese, Korean, and Japanese goods. They seemed to have more authentic stuff that the stuff you find in Manhattan.
You are so right, Fuzzy_Peachkin, although not really so much Japanese goods or foods. But you’re still close enough to visit on weekends. There are lots of Chinese and Korean places up around Roosevelt Ave and Northern Blvd. And You can sample amazing (and cheap!!) authentic foods in the Flushing Mall or New World Mall Food Courts. Asahi Plaza off College Point Blvd has a huge Korean grocery store with wonderful foods, teas and cooking and brewing wares. They do stock some Japanese foods. And there is even a cafeteria if you want to sample Korean food. If you travel further south down Main Street, it becomes East Indian, with Pakistani, and Indian stores, which also have interesting teas and tea brewing items. It’s harder to find high quality Darjeeling, but you will find cardamom tea and other combinations which are amazing. Whenever I head down that way I go for lunch to Buddah Bodai, a great vegetarian (and kosher) Chinese restaurant.
Thanks for the tips! If I ever find myself around my alma mater, Queens College, I’ll have to do a little more tea exploring in that direction. :-)
Went last week to flushing and found a nice ru kiln gaiwan 180ml in the Flushing Mall on 39th for $25. Used it for Tie Guan Yin and was very satisfied. The shop is on the second floor on the right side. He has an open shop with a counter and Yixing pots and bric a brac in cabinets. I also spent some time in the New World mall on the second floor to the back right drinking tea in a shop owned by Susan. She has an extensive supply of Taiwanese teas and some nice tea-ware as well. The food was beyond, best Xiao Long Bao I ever had.
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