Tea at Hojo

Many years back, probably more than 6 years ago, I started the habit of drinking tea but ever so lightly only. Japanese tea were all the rage then but they seem to give me "angin" so I stopped for awhile. I usually buy good tea from them because the packaging was perfect as gift for faraway friends. Then, I discovered drinking Pu-erh, which has basically become the most fashionable tea in the market at the moment. Not because it is popular but because it is for me the most gentle tea for the body - and also the fact that tea is always a good drink after a hearty meal in Chinese restaurants. We were brought up drinking tea after meals to help digest "fats"...

The shop is quite tiny at the edge of Gardens Mall Mid Valley next to Robinson on the second floor

Back to Hojo - in my opinion sells the most honest tea in town because they sell you what you taste and see. The decision rest in the hands of the buyer and for this reason no one is felt compelled to purchase anything unbeknown to him (or her), what more subjective items like expensive teas. So the buying stays with the tasting, bit like wine at the sommelier. Personally, tea need not be expensive: they only need to fulfill 2 criteria - no adverse after effect on the body and taste smooth and pleasing to the tongue. Pu-erh is my preferred choice because of the light smoky taste imparted from the freshly brewed tea. Hojo used to be a specialist in Japanese tea (which was the first reason why I went to them) but soon they turn to a wide range of Chinese tea from China and they now feature many types of very good Pu-erh on their card. Their moto "a gift from the mountain" was surely the main stay of their sales as many of the teas offered are of highland varieties from Yunnan which are personally selected by the owner from small holders.

Range of Pu-erh and other teas on their shelf once filled with Japanese tea. Liked all the artisanal tea paraphenalias too (but very pricey...)

 Samples are labelled meticulously - good for those uninitiated to drinking tea...

close-up of the tea drinking utensils (mixture of Japanese and Chinese)

 Crystal serving tea - the salespersons are very friendly and approachable. I learned a thing or two from them about drinking tea and it is always interesting to go there for a cup or two and sometimes meet other customers who are themselves tea drinkers to learn something... one can always walk into the shop and ask for a little demo sans frais.

 Lovely individually signed wood boxes that contain delicate clay tea pots from Japan...

Hojo's website: http://hojotea.com/indexe.html

Read about Pu-erh teas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu-erh_tea