Valley Tea & Coffee

I’ve been a tea drinker for over 30 years. This is one of the very few places I trust to purchase. I find the teas here carry the original untamed quality. Some teas give out a hint of aroma and aftertaste even after you drink it… totally different from coffee aftertaste or the ‘flavored tea’ taste. Good tea is to be enjoyed during and after the consumption, and this place do carry some very good teas. If you are a serious tea drinker, this is the place. Good luck.

If you’re looking for fresh, delicious tea… look no further. In a city where it’s nearly impossible to find good loose leaf tea amongst the coffee giants and mediocre tea chains WELL this is the answer to your prayers.
Although as some people mentioned, Ms. Lin only carries a small variety, her tea is quality. It’s worth the trek to Alhambra for sure!
FYI: She’s cash only.

Ms. Lin is a gracious and smart lady! And she’s been selling tea for 30 years. We bought some jasmine (the less expensive one) and we love it. Not a lot of teas here but I imagine they are all top quality. I am not a tea connoisseur, but I know great customer service and this smiling lady has it in spades. Will come back here for sure!
One note — the building is a little odd — you wouldn’t expect a tea shop to be there. I think there’s an accountant’s office and maybe a bank in that corner-​plex she is located in, and it kind of looks half-​empty, especially on a Sunday when everything else is closed. Just round the corner onto Valley and pull into the parking lot.

Ms. Lin’s teas are few in number, but what they lack in variety they make up in quality. The oolong teas are a good value as far as Taiwan teas are concerned. I can’t speak to the quality of the green tea, which I don’t drink.
Ms. Lin is friendly and boisterous and very happy to talk about her teas and answer questions.
I just wish you could try the teas brewed before you buy them, and that she sold Sun Moon Lake Taiwan black tea!

Few people realize that this… IS… the place to get real Chinese tea.
Valley Tea and Coffee imports their tea directly from Taiwan’s famous Lin Hua Tai Tea Co., which has been in operation since 1842. This is real green tea, not the stuff you get in tea bags or the american flavored tea.
People come here to buy real loose leaf tea. There are tea bags available. In case people don’t know, tea bags tea are usually made from leftover tea dust or tea crumbs. Lipton buys whole leaf tea, and cuts it up into tiny bits and puts it into tea bags, so do other producers like France’s Mariage Frères tea.
Chinese people believe tea should be left whole and in loose leaf form. This way, you get the true flavors of tea. Also when you learn how to brew loose leaf tea correctly, the tea you get here is meant to be brewed for 3 times minimum. Depending on the quality of the tea, you can get up to 5 brews per tea. Enjoying the different strengths of the brew, you also get different aromas and tastes out of your tea.
The tea bags are just good for 2 brews, and the brews are rather uneven and people who drink real tea don’t use tea bags. The English actually got the tea brewing directions correctly when they first imported tea from China, and have kept the tradition up.
All true tea connoisseurs know that the best varieties of green tea comes from Taiwan, because a large majority of the best tea masters moved here in the late 1800s, bringing with them special tea cuttings, and many more came after 1949 because of the communists.
Nowadays, tea masters from Taiwan are being hired by Chinese tea companies in China, because there are very few tea masters left in China that knew how to produce quality tea.
Mrs. Lin is part of the extended Lin family — so you are getting tea that is grown from the Lin Hua Tai tea farm, and shipped by air, directly to you. You can’t get better or fresher tea. You are buying directly from source.
Do not be fooled by the plain store. They are interested in selling tea, not interior decorations.
Mrs. Lin is very knowledgeable about tea. If you have any questions, she’d be happy to answer you and help you out.
Another plus is that Lin Hua Tai tea farm … DOES NOT USE PESTICIDES. That is another reason why their tea tastes great. You get ALL the health benefits of green tea, without pesticides killing your body.
Yes, their tea is not cheap. But you are paying for real tea produced by tea masters with real experience. In order to produce high quality tea, you need the strains /​varieties of tea trees, excellent soil (Taiwan is volcanic), excellent growing conditions, and the highly skilled craft of tea processing. The same type of tea leaves, processed differently, produces different aromas and tastes. Old tea masters know by sight and smell how to process the tea. Excellent quality comes about from years of experience.
The only downside is they do not have the beautiful tea sets that Lin Hua Tai Tea Co. sells in Japan. The tea is the same, just different packaging.
Once you know the type and kind of tea you like, you can just call in your order and they will ship it to you (you have to pay for S&H).

If you know anything about Taiwanese Oolong tea, then know this: This is the shop where you can get the real thing in LA. Tung Ting, Ari San High Mountain etc. No mainland teas, only Taiwan. Excellent, friendly service too.

place is awesome. get good green tea from taiwan. mrs. lin is very knowledgeable and will walk you through the different teas. they store the tea in metal canisters. don’t get green tea from a place that keeps it in clear glass jars. sunlight degrades the quality of tea.