I am not sure why a review has not been written in a couple of years for Dream About Tea. After returning to the States from China I have been in search for an authentic Chinese tea place and Dream About Tea comes pretty close for the Chicagoland area. It is run by a Chinese guy from Shenzhen, China and his family also owns a shop in Mainland China. We spoke Chinese for a bit and he shared his personal yixing teapot collection with me. He has a pretty good collection of tea ware for sale: gongfu tea tables, yixing ware, gongfu accessories, etc. (although a bit pricey). Ambiance was good and somewhat reminded of Chinese teahouses which is extremely rare…
His loose leaf teas are pretty good too. I had a 1997 aged Sheng Pu’er that was fantastic! Not too bitter, smooth earthy and well balanced flavors. I also tried his 2007 Shou Pu’er from Menghai Tea Factory of Xishuangbana, Yunnan Province China. I have a 2011 from the same company and they were really different. It was interesting to try these side by side and see the difference. The 2007 had the same barnyard aroma and flavor but at first sip was very mellow and mild and then slowly increased in flavor. The 2011 was strong and bold in flavor from the start and the aftertaste stayed with you. Color was intense for both teas with an almost dark red wine color!
I also tried the Monkey Picked Oolong, Osmanthus Oolong, Feng Huang Dan Cong Oolong and his Silver Needle White Tea. All were good and pricing was fair to purchase and bring home to add to my collection. I recommend this place if you enjoy tea and are looking for a unique experience.
