Ten Ren Tea & Ginseng Company

Ten Ren is a great choice when looking for generally authentic tea, whether it be green or a very expensive black. The atmosphere here is nice and it is good to know the history of the store and the overall brand. That makes it easier to jump in and put a little more money into a better tea. Overall, it isn’t overrated to come here, you just have to know what to expect.

I think at this location, if you spoke Chinese, it’d be eaiser to get what you thought you were looking for.
Here it that time, it was for a tea set. The kind you would get for doing ceremonies, like… weddings and stuff.
I remember having a demonstration years ago at the one in Toronto and I was amazed.
We didn’t quite get what we were looking for here, but we did come away with some nice teas. The kind that comes in a round disk and the leaves are pretty much whole leaves. Meaning, better quality.
If you are planning on visiting Chinatown, then this should be one of the locations to hit up. Just be prepared, cause tea can be pretty pricey!

A proper tea store that sells Chinese tea! Good tea can cost a lot. Some good tea can cost several tens to hundreds of dollars per pound so I don’ see why it is ridiculous to pay that amount for tea. After all, there is very expensive tea just like there is very expensive wine. By the way, I am also Chinese.

Times like this I really appreciated being Chinese! I came here before and paid a rediculous amount of money for couple bags of tea. I was advised to bargain with these people which I did and I got a really good deal on my tea leaves, went from $ 59/​pound down to $ 40/​pound. Pretty good yeah?

Ten Ren Tea & Ginger shop carries much of the same products as a few of the other tea and ginger shops in Chinatown, but none other has the style and atmosphere that exudes from Ten Ren. While obviously being a business and selling things, Ten Ren understands that an inviting atmosphere is a key feature of any good and successful shop.
Interesting and exotic tea tables and chairs, carved from wood and stone adorn opposite corners of the store. Mirrored walls reflect the extraordinary selection and variety of teas and ginger from all over the world. The scent of ginger permeates the air (strongly!) and the friendly staff are at the ready to answer any questions you may have, which for me, is many!

I visited this shop in Chinatown based on a newspaper recommendation but no word of mouth advice. All of my previous experiences with Asian tea shops were from the International District in Seattle. Since people were constantly saying how much better Vancouver’s Chinatown was, I had some expectation of being wowed.
As far as the feel of the shop and the «posh» level of the tea tables go; this place was a little nicer than what you can find in Seattle. The addition of more light and entrances meant some loss in the soothing atmosphere I’ve enjoyed from my local shops. Though the tables were, well, nicer, I couldn’t help but miss the more rundown places I was used to back home. Ten Ren Tea just felt like a shiny storefront. For me tea discussion, sampling and purchasing should be treated a little bit differently than buying cell phones.
There was a nice selection and I did end up buying myself a nice tea tin for home, but overall I’d say the experience of the shop isn’t something that would bring me back. I would do just as well to order my 20 year old Pu-​erh offline for all that Ten Ren adds to the process.