Tea is hot

For a long time, it was listed on menus just by color. Then, suddenly, there were tastings and classes, talk of varietals, origin, terroir. Like wine 20 years ago, tea has become the drink to know.

Any beverage that's been around for 3,000 years can hardly be called an overnight success. But even those who have been in the tea business for decades acknowledge a recent spurt of interest.

The reason? Part of it is a perception that tea has health benefits, particularly when compared with coffee. Part is a desire to be soothed in rocky times. And part of it is an appreciation of the increasing quality and variety of hand-crafted teas — what Gary Shinner of Marin County's Mighty Leaf Tea calls "an upgrade in sensory experience."

Jesse Jacobs, who last week opened his third Samovar Tea Lounge in San Francisco, cites the farmers market effect: an interest in seasonal, artisanal products from family growers. "The quality of the tea we're getting now is unprecedented. Partly, that's because we're getting it faster, so it's fresher. But the new demand is also making it possible for a farmer to produce and sell some wonderful teas in small quantities."

Descriptions of these high-end teas read like a rhapsody on a Bordeaux: thundering, nutty, silky, hauntingly ambrosial, "warm apricot marmalade on toasted English muffin." It's a lot like wine, Jacobs agrees — "except, with tea, you can always have one more for the road."