Share your tea shops!

I wanted to share this but wasn't actually sure where, so I made a space. These guys are local to me and they do ship but I'm not sure entirely where.

Aromatica Fine Teas - Canada, BC, Fraser Valley, Chilliwack
https://myaromatica.com/

The store is part of the larger Minter Country Garden which was in turn, part of the no longer existing (*pout*) Minter Botanical Gardens. I like their Lemon Vanilla Pu'erh which was the first pu'erh tea that I've been able to find in a while. They used to have a blend called "Samovar" that was a smoky blend typical of "Russian" themed teas, but I don't see it right now. I read in another thread just now that banana thing is apparently tasty and they've got one of those! And a couple of estate Assams as well. I'm going to need to check those out. ;). They also make the blend for our local used bookstore, "The Bookman" which is on LibraryThing here.

I'm talking about the store now, in part so I remember it's there! It's in a part of town I don't normally go so I tend to forget about them. What other little local treasure do people know about? We can make a little teashop travel guide here. ;)

I have no local tea shops nearby, so I order teas online. But if I travel to Seattle, I definitely stop in person at the Perennial tearoom in Pike Place. It's wonderful!

https://perennialtearoom.com

I don't think we have any here! I buy standard black teas ("normal" or bog standard, as I call them) from supermarkets, which sell local Kenyan brands as both tea bags and loose leaf. They sometimes have Earl Grey and various fancy herbal teas in tea bags too.

For loose leaf Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong I buy online, have them delivered to a friend or relative in UK, and then wait for an opportunity for someone to bring or send them to me. Whenever I'm in UK (which is not often, and even less so since COVID), I keep my eyes open for tea shops - Whittards is (or was?) a national chain, and there's a nice little tea shop somewhere in the Lanes in in Brighton, if I can ever find it again (if you know the labyrinthine Lanes you'll understand what I mean). When I'm in London I usually buy loose leaf breakfast tea from Morrisons, just round the corner from the friends I stay with.

My local tea shop is in Salem, Massachusetts

https://www.istheteainyou.com/

Right now I'm mostly consuming their Lumberjack Black which is black tea with cedar tips and juniper berries. But I'm also a huge fan of their Bourbon tea. They have some unusual blends without sacrificing the quality of the tea in the tea, if you know what I mean.

I generally buy my tea at the Coffee and Tea Exchange: https://www.coffeeandtea.com/ in Chicago. I used to have a wonderful kitchen supply store in my neighborhood that also sold bulk teas and coffees, but several years ago the owner decided to retire and the shop closed. I bought their entire remaining supply of Lapsang Souchong!

I've used a variety of online retailers over the years. My current goto is https://www.tea-and-coffee.com/ the Kent and Sussex tea (and coffee) company. They have a very wide range of teas from a lot of different countries and styles. Whittards seems to have focused more on coffee over the years, although if you're lucky to find a larger store they do still have a lot of loose leaves. CoventGarden store used to be quite wonderful.

https://theuklooseleafteacompany.co.uk/ is my alternative option if I can't find what I'm looking for above.

Neither are the cheapest, but they quality for the price is very good.

It's not quite local, but a favorite stop when we do the Branson, MO tourist thing: https://www.teamazeshop.com/

My favorites are Chocolate Orange, Dublin Cream, and Coffee--a pu-erh base with cacao and coffee beans. All the coffee goodness without the jittery buzz.

>7 gmathis: a pu-erh base with cacao and coffee beans

Whenever I hear of any mixture of tea and coffee I can't help thinking of a bloke I used to work with in Sudan, a former Glasgow firefighter who was working as a volunteer mechanic and logistician when I knew him. Every morning we'd boil water on a little paraffin stove and we'd pour it onto the teabags and sugar in our mugs - there was no milk available. He would then add a spoonful of instant coffee to his and stir vigorously. Quite disgusting, but it gave him what he needed to face another day.

>8 John5918: My first "cooking" experiences involved getting to stir Mom's instant Sanka. I've always loved coffee scent, but not its caffeine delivery system. This particular tea is a lovely happy medium

>9 gmathis: My feeling about coffee is that is has a wonderful scent, but the taste never quite lives up to the promise.

Tea, on the other hand, has a subtle scent, and the taste is even better. No disappointment with tea.

We still use Red Rose at dinner time, but I've switched to loose tea for other times. Very tired of picking the remains of tea bags out of my compost.

I prefer to shop local. I've already recommended Acquired Taste Tea Company, https://acquiredtastetea.com/ but I also like The Tea Girl, https://theteagirl.com/

There are some Murchies blends that I really like, but I haven't mail-ordered them. I just stop in when I'm in their area, which I hope I will be again some day (sigh. Stupid Covid).

I have an all-black tea subscription box from Tea Runners, https://tearunners.com/ - it comes 4 times a year because that was the frequency I figured I could manage without getting too backlogged. I don't always love the tea they send, but it's fun to try and the quantities are such that I can generally use them up even if they're not my favourites. I think it's possible to swap some flavours before they send them, but I've never tried. Tea Runners is sort of Canadian, in that it's owned by actress Jewel Staite and her husband, who live in Vancouver, but I think their warehouse is in the US.

A shop in Copenhagen, https://www.denfransketehandel.dk/ , is sure to get a visit when I'm there.
They import from: https://www.palaisdesthes.com/

>12 bnielsen:

I might even have been to that same shop in Copenhagen many years ago. A Danish colleague took me to such a shop and I bought loose leaf Earl Grey diluted with a normal black tea.

>11 tardis: I've always wanted to dabble in a Tearunners subscription, primarily because I am a die-hard Firefly fan!

For those of you who like flavored tea blends and quirky fandom references, a friend of mine sells some really tasty stuff at https://cuppageekteas.com/

>14 gmathis: Firefly fan here, too :) That was one of the reasons I signed up, along with loving tea, but it was also an indulgence at a time when I needed a pick-me-up, and especially since the pandemic began, I really look forward to the quarterly packages. Getting real mail is a pleasure.

>15 tardis: Rural mail carrier's daughter here. I have stamp glue in my blood; mail is my love language!

I have the tearunners subscription too. It's fun, but been trying to figure out who the vendors the tea is coming from. Teas that placed in the Global Tea Championships (a few) are possible to figure out. Most of the vendors have websites that sell the tea dramatically cheaper than tearunners, which makes sense, because how else would tearunners make any money.

So far think I see tea from Silk Road Teas, Nepali Tea Traders, Nepal Tea, Garden to Cup Organics, Simpson & Vail, Yunnan Sourcing (?), Rishi Tea, Teasource, and La Creme Coffee and Tea.

I liked both the teas possibly from Nepal Tea.

Back when I lived in Boulder, CO the Dushanbe Tea House (https://www.boulderteahouse.com/) and the Ku Cha House of Tea (https://www.kuchatea.com/) were regular stops, and I still stock up any time I visit! The Dushanbe’s Lady Gray’s Garden and Ku Cha’s Summer Tranquillity are both stash mainstays; highly recommended. Ku Cha also has an impressive tea ware selection.

I mostly buy online these days, with Yunnan Sourcing (https://yunnansourcing.com/) being my most frequented. Massive selection and incredible prices for Chinese tea.

>18 rjbd:

!!!!

Be still, my heart... So. Much. TEA.

That I never even heard of.

Oh my. "Wild Tree Purple Varietal Black tea of Dehong" et al. I want you all...

>19 LolaWalser:
If you like black teas, I’d wholeheartedly recommend any ye sheng varietal (often called “wild tree purple”). I’ve had to order more of their one from Fengqing twice after running out! Aromas of dried cherries and dates, with complex tastes of chocolate, malt, and a “spicy” minerality the region is known for. Simply marvelous.

The world is tea is wonderfully vast!

Fandom tea!!! I must go have a look at that.

I've just sadly learned that another tea store (store with tea, rather) has permanently closed. :(. I'll have to find a new source of stomach helpful tea. They had a really good cream Earl Grey, and I liked their Ginger Citrus Pu'erh for my bad gut days. Just do not sniff directly from the cannister or your nose will set on fire.

I would love to patronise Yunnan Sourcing but it may have to wait a bit... Sigh, the shipping/customs burden! Experimentally I added a CAD 12 value of tea--a mere 50g weight--to the basket, to get the shipping cost... about 27 dollars. It always feels a bit Marie Antoinette to me to spend twice (or more) in shipping than on the item, but there isn't much room to order before the customs duty sets in--which is above CAD 20! I think the US fares better in this regard...

In the meantime, I'll investigate which if any of their teas may be available here and how the cost compares. If, as I suspect, the teas are mostly unavailable or even more expensive, it'll make the extra charges easier to accept.

>22 LolaWalser:

I've had good luck with Camellia Sinensis, the Montreal-based tea store. I've been buying their stuff loosely from cheapest to most expensive and the only one I thought was undrinkable was the Gunpowder Organic. Their Earl Grey Marie-Antoinette is currently sold out though lol.

20 for customs seems criminal. :( ... I don't pay any customs for stuff from Camellia Sinensis.

Edit: Can't direct you to one, but "group buys" of tea are popular, especially when there's a high free shipping limit and the seller is popular, like Yunnan Sourcing. You may be able to find someone who is willing to group buy with you then send along your part of the shipment.

Edit 2: Is YunnanSourcing.us any better?

>23 Settings:

Yes, 20 dollar cutoff for customs is far too low. And the charge can be relatively steep--a used book from the US that cost CAD 25--only 5 bucks over the cutoff--was slapped with a CAD 13 customs duty! It's true that sometimes a package can slip through uncharged, presumably they don't have the resources to bother every single time, but I don't care to play roulette with this...

I don't think ordering from the US would be better. Customs is the same and the exchange rate is unlikely to favour us. And shipping from the US has gotten crazy too--the fees from China could, if anything, be the lower ones. (I should check how it rises with weight, though.)

But as it seems everyone thinks shipping is out of whack due to the pandemic, I'm hoping costs may yet come down again, if we ever get out of this tunnel...

In the meantime, first an exploratory trip to Chinatown next week... :)

>24 LolaWalser:

Wow that's ridiculous. I do hope it gets better.

Hope your Chinatown trip is fruitful.

>11 tardis: Same issue here with the compost. We've started tossing tea bags into the trash now because it's hard to keep ahead of the bags (cutting them open and emptying them all the time). We don't have a proper compost, just a dung heap (farm) that the neighbour picks up on occasion for his pastures. Teabags are probably not good for the cows.

I have ordered from Murchie's since yes, Covid, and I'm no longer living 10 minutes from a store. The shipping charges (free over $50) were more than I really liked, even though I'm in BC and it's the cheapest, but it balanced out with the sale prices I got on my tea at the time. It also arrived in a think 3 days or under. Crazy fast for Christmas and covid, but then I'm pretty local.

My usual go-to online store is Adagio:
https://www.adagio.com

Unfortunately, I haven’t visited a tea shop in person for over a year and I haven’t a clue which ones near me might still be in business. My patience is running thin....

Lincoln Nebraska, theres a place called The Green Gateau. They have a nice selection of Tea, and the sugar is served as cubes! Its been my favorite place to go since I was a child. Im headed towards South Carolina (Myrtle Beach) id love suggestions!

My favorite tea shop in my area is The English Tea Room (https://englishtearoom.com/) in Covington, Louisiana. We used to have a Doctor Who reading group that would read a Doctor Who novel once a month and discuss over a group tea. The English Tea Room was most accommodating of us and we only drained them of their Chocolate Chai once! They do ship (in the States, at least)!
ETA: The group only stopped due to COVID and is itching to get everyone the jab so we can restart the meetups!

>3 John5918: Ah! Lapsong Souchong: the metaphorical telephone pole of teas. It is wonderfully medicinal. Like Islay Scotch, it is a taste which I eventually acquired. Angelina's Tea Shop is a Winston-Salem gem. It is in a back parking lot, framed by NC Highways 421 and 158, near Five Points. It has a superlative shop next door with any flavored oil or vinegar one can imagine. Angelina's has a soft seating area and a selection of books.

Can't wait to be on the road again so I might visit your suggestions. No tea shops in my immediate surround, however, the London Tea Room in St. Louis, MO is a delightful place. https://www.thelondonteamerchant.com/cafe

Favorite online sources and teas these days:
Trail Lodge Tea - Mexican Wedding Cookie. A lightly spiced and nutty scented blend of Benaspathy Estate Organic Black tea and sliced almonds. A portion of the sales from this blend is donated to charity. https://traillodgetea.com
Emilie's French Teas - Vanille. A deep, rich black tea with clear vanilla overtones. Used in baking, the flavor shines through. https://www.emiliesfrenchteas.com/tea-shop
Steven Smith Teamaker - No 95 Chocolate Peppermint Pu-erh Sachets. That deep, complex flavor of a Pu-erh with just a hint of chocolate and peppermint. The box is a sleek, retro creation with Batch number, packed, and best buy dates making it perfect for gifting (yourself). https://www.smithtea.com/collections/all-tea

Full disclosure, in find the links to add here, I found out that neither the Mexican Wedding Cookie nor the Chocolate Peppermint Pu-erh are in the current product lines. Da Gum!

I get in the mood for chocolate tea occasionally, but it's not something I want often. So I really like this sampler:

https://www.englishteastore.com/tea-sampler-ll-chocolate-lovers.html

Enough for several cups or one big pot of each type. Very tasty!

>1 WeeTurtle: We have a wonderful tea shop in Canton, Ohio. The Ohio Tea Company has dozens of usual and unusual loose tea, black, green, white, etc., and lots of tea pots, mugs and utensils. The staff is incredible. They will ship. https://www.ohioteaco.com/

>27 TempleCat:. I have a chestnut flavored black tea that comes from Adagio. It was the only place that I could find one. I don't drink it that frequently, but I crave it around the holidays in particular.

https://subrosatea.com/
I've bought a few varieties from them and enjoyed them.

>34 vwinsloe: Mmmmm .. roasted chestnuts, yum! Great, even without the tea. :-q

>36 TempleCat: Oh, I'd want to try that! Never had roasted chestnuts, but I remember walking past a little cart that was serving some and they smelled really good!

Still need to make that trip up to Aromatica. I just ran out of my Assam. (That means I'm down TWO of my favourite strong, black teas.)

>36 TempleCat: & >37 WeeTurtle:. Exactly. Smells good, tastes good. Took me a while to find this one, and then even longer to make it correctly. Stingy amount of tea, short steep. But when you get it, wow.

Bit quiet in here isn't it!

I get my tea from J Atkinson & Co (aka The Coffeehopper) of China Street, Lancaster, which is a top-class coffee roaster as well as a tea merchant. That's the original Lancaster of course. They do a lot of online and subscription business but it's a nice day out by train from where I live in Edinburgh. The old-fashioned shop itself is worth the trip but Lancaster is a lovely small city.

I like the Russian Caravan blend (keemun, oolong and lapsang souchong, not Russian at all, more a Silk Road thing) for the afternoon pick-me-up, and the Dragonwell Lungjing keeps me going while I'm writing better than coffee can. I can't even begin my day, though, without strong black coffee from the same source.

Rosie's unbeatable iced tea: before going to bed, put two teaspoons Dragonwell in my wee glass teapot for one. Fill teapot with cold water from the tap. Leave teapot in fridge overnight. Strain tea into thermos.

Two of my favorite storefronts also sell online. Both do unique flavored teas well:
Savoy Tea Company in Northwest Arkansas (savoytea.com)
TeaMaze in Branson MO (teamazeshop.com)

Farther away from my home and good go-tos when I'm looking for good single-estate teas:
Upton Tea Imports (uptontea.com)
Culinary Teas (culinaryteas.com)

I enjoy stopping by the local Seattle storefront for https://www.fridaytea.com/ - but she does online shopping too. i like seeing what blends she is experimenting with in the store. And with her fandom blends, i can get presents for geeky tea friends very easily!

A friend who does tea reviews has shared some Friday afternoon samples with me. They are definitely creative and quirky. The one I really liked was Herr Drosselmeyer, a Darjeeling/Assam blend.

My local-ish tea shop is https://www.tumblewoodteas.com/

If I'm not drinking Yorkshire Gold or Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend, then i usually have something from Tumblewood Teas.

>42 gmathis: That sounds intriguing. I would have thought that the Assam would overwhelm the Darjeeling. No?

>44 tealadytoo: It's really nicely balanced--the Assam provides a good smooth bass line and the Darjeeling adds the top notes.

Received some birthday gift teas from Anna Marie's Teas (annateashop.com), and if they're all as good as the Almond Lemon Panna Cotta I've been snarfing up, it bears repeat visits!

Most often the tea we buy is from natural foods stores. In Los Angeles county, California, there is Follow Your Heart in the San Fernando valley, Coopportunity in Santa Monica and Culver City, and Whole Foods market ... which is not always everyone's idea of a natural foods grocer. We also buy some tea from Erewhon natural foods store and from markets in the JapanTown section of downtown Los Angeles. Our online tea purchases are from the Eden Foods website, which is still the family-owned business it started out to be in the 1970s; they say they get at least one offer most weeks from hedge funds to buy their business, but they always turn down those offers. In California's Mendocino county, we buy from the independently owned Mariposa Market, and in the Bay area, we buy from the one and only Berkeley Bowl.

At large grocery stores in Los Angeles county, California, there can be more than one set of tea shelves. Some stores (such as Bristol Farms) have a tea section, but be sure to also check their International section ... I had run out of Yorkshire Gold months ago, but I spotted boxes of it in the Bristol Farms international section ... all good now.

We live in a tea desert, with a couple of very small oases. Mainline grocery/mass market brands only at regular grocery stores; with a few additional options at our Natural Grocers and a local independent health/international food store. All the better not to blow my allowance on tea I have no room for.

Before Christmas, a friend sent me a couple of samples from Whispering Pines Tea Company (https://www.whisperingpinestea.com/). High end and high quality, especially their Earl Gold Reserve--an extremely nice take on an Earl Grey.

Darth-Heather of this group recently recommended a tea to me from Alchemy & Herbs. https://www.alchemyandherbs.com/

The tea that I tried (called Campfire Blend) was really wonderful and their customer service was excellent.

Starbucks gets some hate but their peach tea (pretty sure it's Starbucks) is amazing!

We don't have anything local that I'm aware of. A long time ago, before I did much tea drinking, I had some Tropical Green from Harney & Sons, and just started from there. I've never gotten bored of their selection, so I haven't branched out much beyond that.

When my wife and I stay in Watkins Glen to visit the Finger Lakes, we enjoy the Pangea Global Teahouse. I brought home a blend of theirs that's an Earl Grey with some adjuncts. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of it, or what precisely is in it, but it has some stone fruit and lightly floral notes in addition to the bergamot.

>50 Arson_lover: Peach is like a taste of heaven. Can’t go wrong there.

>52 2wonderY: Bigelow has a nice bagged peach tea (Perfect Peach) that's pretty easy to find at the grocery store. Their Charleston Tea Garden has a version that's one notch nicer (Peachy Peach), but a little trickier to find anywhere but online.

>50 Arson_lover:
Starbucks bought Teavana at some point in the past. I have tried their Peach Tranquility (or is it Tranquili-Tea?) It is good.

If you're in/near Avon, Ohio try Tree House Gallery and Tea Room. https://www.treehouseavon.com/
Avon is in Lorain County, just west of Cuyahoga County (which is where Cleveland is). It's about 30 min. west of Cleveland.

Medina, Ohio (near Cleveland, Ohio so NorthEast Ohio) has Miss Molly's Tea Room and Gift Shop. http://www.missmollys.net/

Columbus, Ohio has at least two:
Cambridge Tea House: cambridgeteahouse.com
Zen Cha Tea Salon on North High Street. (Apparently does not have a website?)

My city does have a tea shop, Appalachian Tea (Charleston, WV), but the selection is quite limited and doesn't stretch most of my interests.

I rely on Adagio.com, and I've been particularly enthused about their revamped and expanded Masters Teas program. If you're into green teas it's a particular treasure trove, and the sample sizes from previous years' harvests are quite affordable. A lot of the ones I've tried I easily get three steepings out of, all delicious. Adagio also has a points system, which actually adds up fairly quickly to give you gift certificates.