Teance is the premier East Bay shop for artisanal tea products, tastings, and culture. Teance’s tea sommeliers help to cultivate an appreciation for their collection of white, green, oolong, pu-erh, and red/black teas. The best and easiest way to appreciate fine tea is by tasting a cross-section of Teance’s rich tea offerings. The Around Dublin Team recommends Jasmine Silver Needle (福鼎茉莉銀針) from the white tea selection, Bi Luo Chun (碧螺春) from the green tea selection, Phoenix Single Grove Honey Fragrance (鳳凰單叢花蜜香型) from the oolong selection, and Lychee Red Premium cold tea (荔枝冰紅茶) from the red/black tea selection.

Every detail inside Teance’s retail store was thoughtfully designed by owners Fu-Tung Cheng and Winnie Yu. Cheng founded Cheng Design and is a respected leader in the field of architectural and interior design. His work in design and architecture is best showcased in Teance’s heated, one pour round concrete tea tasting bar. Water showers from Teance’s high ceiling and into the finely crafted stone basin, creating an airy and outdoor-like setting that goes perfectly with the premium tea collection curated by Yu. Yu’s passion for tea began at a young age in Hong Kong. This passion motivated her to create not just an infrastructure and operation that imports the finest teas from Asia but also a community resource committed to educating the American public about fine teas. The outcome of Yu’s vision was Teance.

I wonder how many of us tea merchants ever bother to trek all the way to all these tea estates to taste the teas at their source, to see and connect with the people and mountains, to understand all the minutiae behind the agriculture and processing. We survive another month-long trek to the many fantastic mountains and places that these teas come from, against mosquitos, malaria, poverty, long journeys, impossible schedules, and tremendous changes of climates and cultures.”

— Winnie Yu, Director of Teance

In addition to using traditional media like magazines, newspapers, and blogs to promote its brand, Teance has also invested in trailblazing promotional services like Groupon to reach new customers. Teance’s July 30th Groupon was purchased by 783 curious future tea enthusiasts. Teance’s retail store is located at 1780 Fourth Street in Berkeley. Its warehouse is just a few streets away at 2531 Ninth Street, where buyers can visit by appointment. Teance regularly schedules events like seminars on teas and special tastings for the community on Friday nights. Teance also offers a tea subscription service that rivals the finest wine clubs throughout California. As part of its effort to make authentic premium teas more accessible, Teance is offering a special coupon code for Around Dublin readers. With the coupon code ‘DUBLIN’, readers will receive an automatic 10% discount on everything from Teance online or at the shop. The coupon will expire on October 1, 2010.