June 27, 2008 at 6:54 pm (Jade Chocolates Retailers)
Tags: chocolate.and.tea, chocolate.pairings, leland.tea, will.otero's.picks
The regulars at Leland Tea Company, located at the corner of Polk and Bush Streets in San Francisco, have confirmed my suspicions. Drinking a soothing cup of tea with chocolate is a definite must. Here are some of Will Otero’s, the owner of Leland Tea, top picks of Leland Tea and Jade Chocolate pairings:
- DRAGON’S BREATH paired with 1. LAPSANG SOUCHANG (black tea smoked over pinewood). 2. RUSSIAN COUNTRY (a blending of four teas-assam, ceylon, darjeeling, china black, and a touch of lapsang souchang) 3. GILDA’S SECRET GARDEN (white tea blended with bergamot and lavender blossoms). 4. RHUMBA ROOIBOS CHAI (red tea with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and anise)
- GENMAI paired paired with 1. BOGART (black tea accented with cinnamon and buttery hazelnuts) 2. JASMINE FANCY ( green tea scented with jasmine flowers) 3. GEIKO GREEN (green tea with ginseng, lemongrass and popped brown rice)
- ORIENT ESPRESSO paired with 1. LAPSANG SOUCHANG/BOGART BLEND. That’s right, when you go to Leland Tea, you can expect to mix teas to create your own special blend.
If you don’t know about this tea company, stop by. You can take a sniff of the tea offerings at the tea bar before you purchase a pot.
1 Comment
June 22, 2008 at 1:12 am (Jade Chocolates Retailers)
Tags: chocolate.road.trip, Far.West.Trading.Company, north.bay
I learned early on that in a small business, marketing takes the great majority of time. The number of retail shops carrying Jade Chocolates is increasing every week, and it was time that I hit the unchartered territory in the San Francisco Bay Area–the North Bay. I’ve pretty much lived in San Francisco all my life, living just 8 minutes away from the Golden Gate Bridge. When we have visitors, we’d drive over, stop at the first exit to snap photos of the bridge with the city as the backdrop, then head straight on back over the bridge. Other than some awesome hiking trails and Napa valley wineries, there hasn’t been any other reason to travel any farther north than that, until now. 
Researching potential stores, I’ve come across many unknown cities which I don’t recognize. Ross and Kentfield? Must be in the North Bay. My reluctance to drive into the suburban countryside soon waned as more and more potential stores kept popping up in my online quest for Jade Chocolate retailers. Danna and I hopped into the car, and set off for Mill Valley, Tiburon, Petaluma, and Santa Rosa. One store in particular located in a tiny town of Graton was the whole reasoning for the day long trip. Graton is home to about 2,000 residents which have the luxury of claiming the Far West Trading Company as it’s own. Don’t sneeze when driving through the town, you just might pass up one of the most treasured stores I’ve encountered. The store houses exquisite Asian furnishings from hand craved jewelry boxes to large armoires, a loose leaf tea bar, tea accessories and chocolate. Sip on perfectly steeped tea amidst museum quality furishings. A feast for your eyes and senses.
We met Gary, one of the proprietors of the shop. He tasted a sampling of our chocolate bars, including our newest bar, the Orient Espresso. We tried a pot of green tea. Very grassy and fresh. I don’t remember the name, but it was a tea quite like no other I’ve tried. If you’re on your way to Santa Rosa, Sebastopol or Bodega Bay, stop by at Far West and pair one of Jade Chocolate’s bar with a tea from their TeaBar.
The trip conquering the North Bay lasted the entire day. We clocked in a good 150 miles on the odometer. I’ll definately drive over the bridge soon and hopefully I’ll discover more great finds.
1 Comment
June 10, 2008 at 2:24 am (Shows and Samplings)
Tags: chocolate.sampling, festivals, menlo.park, sunset.celebration
I love getting out and sampling Jade Chocolate products to the public and had been anticipating the Sunset Celebration weekend for some time now. The weather was about 78 degrees and keeping the samples from being melted was a challenge. We were in the Savor California booth with about 8 other of our marketing partners. Luckily, we were right next to Kenneth and Dominique Alary, owners of Russian River Fine Foods. They were pleasant to have as weekend neighbors and Ken even took over sampling out chocolate products to the festival attendees while I took a break and got garlic fries.
The response to the chocolate was great. Most of the attendees were local and unfortunately, Jade Chocolates doesn’t have any retail stores carrying our products in the peninsula or south bay yet. But I guarantee a drive up to San Francisco for a Genmai bar is worth the trek.
I even had a chance to take a break and snap a quick photo in the Sunset Magazine booth. Here’s me in the big shades posing with some great chocolate and a volunteer at the event.
Leave a Comment
June 10, 2008 at 1:52 am (Jade Chocolates Retailers, Product Information)
Tags: chocolate.offer, free.chocolate, free.shipping
Summer is fast approaching, a time when chocolate may be ignored for colder treats. As an incentive to anyone living or working in San Francisco, Jade Chocolates is offering free shipping on all orders over $30 or more. Any orders below $30 will cost a mere $5. What could be better? Don’t live or work in the city? Then get creative and send it to your neighbor’s best friend who lives in the Castro. Or send it to your cousin’s girlfriend who works in the Ferry Building. Just be sure that they save you some chocolate.
This offer is for a limited time.
Leave a Comment
