Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/724773
7 2 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t by Kayci Weaver / photos by Joe Weaver IT ONCE SEEMED THAT THE SHOPS of Chinatown had a monopoly on tea in San Francisco. But now, tucked away on a quiet block of Sutter Street in lower Pacific Heights, tea mavens will find Peter Luong and his shop: Song Tea & Ceramics. Luong is as passionate about the leaves of the Camel- lia sinensis shrub as any sommelier may be about the grapes of their most valued Bourgogne, and he can tell you how their different vintages vary from one another in flavor, history, aroma and terroir. Here is the study of a man driven by the quest for perfection and the desire to elevate the tea drinker's experience. There was no "aha moment" for Luong in his journey with tea, which began when he started working with his dad at their family apothecary, which at the time Peter Luong's Song Tea shop is in San Francisco. to tea TAKING THE LUONG APPROACH budding boutique PETER LUONG'S SONG TEA IS A