New wave of shops respond to growing appreciation of beverage’s finer qualities

By CLAUDIA PERRY
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Tea is hot.
Tea is also white, green, black, red and everywhere as more people discover its health benefits, intriguing flavors and soothing qualities.

Knowledgeable tea drinkers avoid bags — they are usually made up of ancient tea dust and fannings (crumbled leaves) — to seek out loose leaf teas, electric tea kettles (they cut preparation time) and fancy pots. And those tea drinkers are flocking to a new generation of tea rooms to sip, sample and savor the world’s second most popular beverage.

What’s on the boil? Try oolong, a smoky black tea, or rooibos, which is red,
 mostly African, and caffeine-free. Some green tea lovers favor gunpowder, a smoky tea that’s pellet-shaped — hence the name. There’s also bubble tea, a cold drink popular in Asia that mixes tea with pearls of tapioca.

For every frilly, cozy space serving up English-style tea with scones, crustless sandwiches on four-tiered trays and tasteful china, there are sleek, artsy
 nouveau salons that specialize in rare teas from all over the world. (If you’re looking for chamomile, lavender and peppermint beverages, they’re actually herbal infusions, not teas.)

Robert Scott is in the technology business, but his world travels led to tea shops around the world. In December, he opened Cha Ma Gu Dao in Montclair. The
shop and cafe is Asian-influenced, has clientele as diverse as the town it’s in,
and carries more than 200 loose leaf teas. The name translates from Chinese
 as “ancient tea and horse trail,” in honor of an early trade route.

“I’ve felt for the last four years that there’s been a slow but groing movement toward tea and the appreciation of tea,” Scott says. “It used to be that you could find great tea houses only in the big cities. But it’s moving out of major metro areas.”

Susan Peterson’s operation is a good example. She opened Teaberry’s Tea Room in downtown Flemington in 2005. She serves tea in the afternoon and sells loose tea and accessories in her adjoining shop. Her clientele also comes for lunch and a limited Saturday dinner menu. On Sundays and Mondays, she welcomes private groups of 10 or more, but Teaberry’s is closed to the general public.

“I knew enough to know that what I was doing was creating an ambience,” Peterson says. “People cannot be rushed. I tell people Starbucks helped me a lot because I wanted to be everything they aren’t. I just wanted the place to be a refuge.”

There are no paper cups, biscotti or tie-in marketing of CDs at Teaberry’s. Peterson’s place is cozy and welcoming, but she knows it’s not too frilly to scare away male customers.

“I have a group of attorneys who come here regularly for lunch,” Peterson says. “Men are coming, usually with a girlfriend, or mother or sister.”

Peterson also has tea parties for children 10 and younger.
“We do a lot of birthday parties,” Peterson says. “I also see a lot grandparents bringing grandchildren. I was puttering around and I heard Grandma telling a grandchild, ‘Now you put your napkin in your lap. Then put your teaspoon behind your cup.’ She was teaching her. I love it when we get in four generations at once.”

Peterson says white tea is her biggest seller. The tea has the lowest caffeine content and the highest amount of antioxidants.

At Cha Ma Gu Dao, Scott holds regularly monthly tastings, and they have been selling out.

“We’ve had to turn people away,” Scott says. “There’s a huge interest and quest for knowledge. We get some really great questions about how tea is produced.”

Scott also sends customers home with brewing instructions. For example, green tea should be brewed with hot water that hasn’t quite come to a boil. “We want to educate everyone as to this is how you make the optimum cup of tea,” he said.

Scott also says there are parallels between tea and wine.
“You’re talking about something that primarily comes from one plant, but there are different varieties of that one plant. Where it’s grown, how it’s handled after it’s picked; it’s very similar to wine.”

For David Kleinbard of Jersey City, the potential health benefits of tea are fine, but he was raised a loose tea drinker by a mother who hated tea bags and never touched coffee. “The taste is enough for me,” Kleinbard says. “Even if it would kill me in two years, I would still drink it.”

Kleinbard, a neighbor of Janam Tea Shop owner Amy Dubin, was one of six men who had gathered at the downtown Jersey City shop for a Sunday evening green tea tasting. March was green tea month at the shop, Dubin says, because of St. Patrick’s Day.
Dubin’s tasting was a combination travelogue, science lecture and a lesson in the properties of loose tea. The tasters sampled five varieties of green tea, including one infused with fresh peppermint while snacking on fruit, celery, Brie and crackers. Dubin says those foods pair well with green tea’s astringency.

Her shop sells loose tea, fresh dried herbs and tea pots and cups. She has traditional tea supplies like lemon curd and less traditional items like agave nectar, a sweetener that’s vegan-friendly. Each participant received a 13-page booklet with information about food-tea pairings, recipes using green tea, the health benefits of tea and the intricacies of different teas from China and India.

“No two cups of tea are the same,” Dubin says as James Phal scribbled notes. “You have to ask yourself, ‘What is your tea lifestyle?’”
Dubin’s lifestyle led her to start Janam in 2005 after a career as a video editor. Before she started the store, she had more than 70 varieties of tea in her home. There was no way she could enjoy all of those teas at their peak, but she knew she wanted variety. So Janam was born.

“Loose tea has a year shelf life maximum,” Dubin says. “You shouldn’t handle it too much and you should keep it away from strong smells.”

While Dubin can extol the virtues of a single-estate Darjeeling green tea (Darjeeling is a place, not a type of tea, similar to Bordeaux in French wine), she doesn’t want to make people think that enjoying tea is a bourgeois thing.

“Tea is for everybody,” Dubin says. “You can enjoy it for not a lot of money. I don’t want people to feel like they have to be a super-sophisticated person to come to the shop.”

Janam’s decor is sort of chic rumpus room with upholstered chairs, cayenne and blue walls, velvet pillows and a glossy silver pressed-tin ceiling. Dubin has a basket of yarn under one table for knitters, and wireless Internet access. “I don’t like people to feel uncomfortable,” Dubin says.

For Kathy La Corte, owner of Kathy’s Kove Antiques in Hackettstown, adding a tea room was just an extension of her hospitality. The shop has been open for nine years, and La Corte added Kathy’s Kafe six years ago.

“I always had a pot of coffee or tea going in the store, and people were looking for a little more than that,” La Corte says. “The place is more country antique than Victorian. I serve on vintage dishes and antique vintage tables. Most everything in the cafe is for sale. Some people want to take home the silverware. It’s nice (but not encouraged).”

La Corte says one of her biggest sellers is honeybush tea, which is naturally sweet. She also has held a workshop on herbal mixtures with Tara Langella, who makes teas, lotions and tinctures from herbs.

Perhaps Peterson of Teaberry’s may have hit on a key reason that more people are seeking out tea and the places it’s served.
“I think a lot of people are trying to find their third place — the place that’s not home or work where they can relax without distractions. I want to stress that my place is not stuffy, but relaxed and comfortable. People feel at home.”


Side bar: Billions of sips

• According to the Tea Association of the USA, Americans consumed more than 50 billion servings of tea in 2005, which adds up to more than 2.25 billion gallons. About 12.5 percent was green tea.

•  After water, tea is the most commonly consumed beverage in the world.

• Black, green or red (oolong) tea all contain polyphenols, which give tea its antioxidant properties. Antioxidants may help protect the body from free radical damage. Indeed, tea ranks as high as or higher than many fruits and vegetables in the ORAC score, which measures the antioxidant potential of plant-based foods.

• Numerous studies have demonstrated the anti-cancer properties of polyphenols. Some studies suggest tea’s polyphenols may reduce risk of gastric, esophageal and skin cancers if one consumes four to six cups daily. Other laboratory studies have found that polyphenols help prevent blood clotting and lower cholesterol levels. A recent study published in December 2005 showed that two cups of tea daily may lower the risk of ovarian cancer by 46 percent.

Side bar: Three for tea

Teaberry’s, 134 Main St., Flemington, (908) 788-1010, www.teaberrys. com is offering an 18th-century-style French menu tea April 15 complete with an actress portraying of one of Marie Antoinette’s ladies in waiting. On April 26 at 2 p.m., tea will include a lecture by Judith Crowell Russo on the relationship between tea and roses. The restaurant and shop will celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday on May 30. Reservations are recommended.

Janam Indian Tea, 353 Grove St., Jersey City, (201) 432-4832, www.janamtea.com, holds a tea tasting the second Sunday of the month. In May, the tasting will be a Mother’s Day event by reservation only.

Cha Ma Gu Dao, 212 Glen Ridge Ave., Montclair, (973) 746-0975, is holding a tasting of the teas of India from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. The $12 fee includes samples and snacks. Tuesday is nearly booked. Call to reserve.


Celebri-teas

Yankees manager Joe Torre endorses Bigelow Green Tea, and it’s become a popular beverage in the Yankee clubhouse. Other Yankee tea fiends include infielder Jason Giambi, outfielder Hideki Matsui, and pitchers Ron Villone and Chien-Ming Wang.
Torre, a prostate cancer survivor, started drinking green tea when his physician recommended he consume more antioxidants.

Musician Moby is such a tea lover that he opened TeaNY at 90 Rivington St. in Lower Manhattan. For store hours and online orders, visit www.teany.com.

Before she was famous, Susan Sarandon — a Jersey belle — drawled her way through an ad for Red Rose tea.

   copyright the Star-Ledger March 23, 2007. Reprinted with permission.