I love tea!! My preference is for herbal tea, from fresh or dried plants. I am less familiar with Chinese tea so it was such a wonderful experience to spend a couple of hours learning about and sampling tea with Steep N' Clay proprietor, Tom Hill. My partner and I were treated to a Gong Fu Cha, which is a particular way of brewing Chinese green tea. It's also called Kung Fu Tea, as Kung Fu refers to the effort, skill, and art of this tea ceremony. It has nothing to do with martial art - Make teas, not war!

We watched as Mr. Hill ceremoniously prepared the teas, telling us about the region from which the leaves originate, what the teas are known for, his familiarity with the growers, and of course the process of preparing and serving the tea. He imports the teas himself instead of purchasing wholesale in the U.S. so his teas are free from fillers and only the best parts of the plants are used. It's all about quality control.

He has a wide variety of teas for every taste. There are numerous green teas with surprisingly different flavor notes, as well as a wonderful assortment of herbal teas.

We sampled different green teas, some with notes of citrus, some with a stronger "green" flavor, all delightful and so very warm and comforting. It was really neat to watch him prepare the teas and was so interesting to learn about the processes of drying and packing tea as well as the tea ceremony itself.

I was quite impressed to learn that he also makes tea pots and his unique pots can be found in stores like Teavana. One can also find other tea related items for sale in the store, so I left with a few new items and a few new teas. I truly was like a kid in a candy store.

There are a couple of herbal teas he sells that blossom! Possibly through magic, various flowers are rolled into a little ball and when steeped, they bloom into complete flower combinations that slowly unfurl before your eyes! (photos below) I've only sampled one of the three varieties of blooming teas and found it to be quite subtle and soothing. I left with a few different teas and am feeling ready to face the coming Chicago winter.

Mr. Hill can be found at the store on Sundays, serving Gong Fu Cha from 10 - noon and if you like tea, or have a friend who likes tea, it's a wonderful way to start a Sunday.

I hope he has gift certificates for sale for the holiday season. tea lovers (like me!) will enjoy the experience of Gong Fu Cha and they'll be captivated by the deliciously fragrant teas sold at this store.