Why it belongs in ORBIS
Single-origin Chinese and Taiwanese teas sourced directly from growers, sold by the sample or the tin from the Luong family's Grant Avenue showroom since 1985.
Red Blossom's story starts in the 1930s, when founder Chiem Luong fled the Japanese invasion of China for Vietnam; after the Vietnam War he brought his family to San Francisco, and three years later opened a tea and herb shop on Chinatown's Jackson Street under the name Yau Hing — "to flourish again." The shop moved to its current Grant Avenue address in 1985, and the Luong family has run it in Chinatown for four decades since.
Red Blossom now works directly with farmers and craftspeople across China and Taiwan, and its showroom carries more than a hundred single-origin teas alongside an extensive teaware collection. The house also supplies fine-dining kitchens, including several Michelin three-starred restaurants, and sells sample sizes of every tea so customers can taste before committing to a larger amount.
An immigrant family's herb shop, named for a fresh start, that grew into one of San Francisco Chinatown's most established tea sources without ever leaving Grant Avenue.