Tea in California

This is the first "tea bar" I’ve been to.  It is a bar where you order tea.  No food - just tea which you drink at the bar while reading or talking to your bar mates or the very charming women that tend the bar.  This is a small establishment in Old Town Salinas.  They have one of the largest tea menus I have ever seen.  It’s made of teas and tisanes with a large good collection of oolongs and pu-erh's as well as greens, blacks and whites.  A good place for the tea purist looking to try "deeper cuts" as well as someone who wants something fruity and/or fun.  Seems to have a pretty stable and knowledgeable wait staff who have quite a bit of knowledge about tea and can serve as guides to building more tea experience and knowledge. Gold Leaf Spice & Teas 8 1/2 West Gabilan Street Salinas, CA  933901 831-753-7700 https://goldleafspiceandteas.com/

Okay.  This is not actually California, but it's too good to not mention and it's only a few hours from where I live.  An elegant tea service in a lounge next to the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.  A European style of tea service, in a casual atmosphere.  Limited selection of teas and food, but they use that to perfect what they do.  A prix-fixe collection of gourmet sandwiches and desserts to match your chose pot of tea.  They cover the types of tea pretty well (white, green, oolong, black) but there is only one choice for each.  They seem to mainly use Tealeaves as their source for tea.  This is a pretty good brand with a focus on specialty blends.  The other big draw for the Tea Lounge is the amazing view, which you can see above.  My biggest complaint, is, as a tall and large person, their furniture does not provide a lot of leg room or back support. Tea Lounge at the Waldorf Astoria, Las Vegas 3752 Las Vegas Boulevard South Las Vegas, NV 891158 702-590-8888