Tea things to do in New York!
I’ll be traveling to New York to the first time next week and would love it if anyone has any suggestions on places they think I should definitely check out! Tea Houses, Tea Shops, or even general tourist attractions and/or restaurants you would recommend, any advice is appreciated!
Thanks!
jealous… i really want to go by bellocq in person some day. Shipping to Canada is so expensive. Harney’s is there as well. Central park is great for getting out of the “city” heh
There are two Ladurée shops in New York. I’ve heard often about their teas but never tried it myself so I don’t know if it’s worth it.
There’s also a great gelato shop that I discovered in Europe called Amorino, they have one shop in New York
T Shop is, hands down, the best tea place in the city. The owner is so incredibly nice and the tea is amazing. :)
http://www.tshopny.com/
The Met has a lot of tea items in its collections and is a great place to just sit and relax.
If you like bubble tea, Come Buy is really good.
If you can make it out to Flushing, Fang Gourmet Tea is a must.
If you are looking for cheap teaware, Elite Health Products in Chinatown is fun.
The Bean (a cafe with a few locations in the city) has a phenomenal chai latte. (I typically get the sugar free one with almond milk and it’s marvelous!)
Kinokuniya and Radiance Tea House and Books both have a fair selection books on tea and teaware.
There is a very old traditional Japanese tea house on the upper east side called Urasenke Chanoyu Center. They give classes and do presentations.
Alice’s Tea Cup is fun for a slightly whimsical tea time. The tea, however, is not the highest quality.
Dim sum in Chinatown is probably my favorite activity down there. All you can drink po lei and an almost endless variety of dishes.
Quintessence makes the best hot cocoa I have ever had. I swear they put something illegal in it. XD They also do herbal coffees, amazing smoothies, and great raw food.
Fang Gourmet Tea is quite good. They have an amazing sampling, a true gongfu service for $5 a person at last count.
This is a great list, and I second Radience Tea House. Delightful place, lovely fresh food, comprehensive and interesting tea menu. They always brew tea perfectly. Lots of the tea is available in different-sized packets for you to take home. Nifty tea pots and tea-related books, too. And just across the street from New York City Center if you want to take in a dance performance!
The Harney and Sons store is really nice. They sell great iced tea on a hot NYC day as well as have an excellent loose leaf selection.
i should add Kusmi. the only shop in US.
Davids tea
Le Palais des Thes . i believe 2 locations.
Dean & Deluca for Mariage Freres
I don’t recall samples being available at either. I spent a whole lot at both places because they seemed to only have the big tins.
yes, if you ask for the samples they will give it to you. both places. Kusmi offers tiny tins but you cannot buy them separately. its in sets. you can smell all the teas. also if you have a empty tin you can refill with the same tea. minus $2. ;)
Doh! If I’d only known that the shameful shopping trip would have been considerably less shameful. :) And I forgot about the tin refill – which was cool.
Dean & Deluca was awesome! Just make sure you go to the actual store, not the market locations that only sell lunch items. They also have some TWG. TWG’s NYbreakfast is really quite good!
OOo I might be going to NY in June this year! This thread is rather helpful. My main places I wanted to go was H&S store, DavidsTea (even though I’m finding that their tea blends arent much better than Teavana’s XD) And maybe Kusmi. Haven’t tried much from them but they seem so popular….
Wander through Chinatown and check out the tea there. There are lots of little hole in the wall places that sell tea. I can’t say it is the highest quality everywhere, but it’s fun. Take the water taxi across to the Brooklyn side, visit Jacques Torres Chocolate under the bridge and then walk back across the bridge. Totally touristy but inexpensive (except for the chocolate – the frozen chocolate drink is awesome) and great views. :)
The Kusmi store is great, you can get the tea in sacks instead of tins so you save a few bucks. Still have to get 100g at a time though. There are a bunch of David’s Tea shops. The Harney & Sons store is great, and I like Argo Tea as well. If you’re in the Village, McNulty’s and the Sullivan Street Tea and Spice Company are worth a stop. And don’t miss Pearl River Mart, they have tasty, very cheap loose teas in awesome tins.
If you’re into higher end teas, Bergdorf Goodman has a very good selection of Mariages Freres. You can also find MF at Dean & Deluca. Laduree also has excellent loose teas, I think they source from one of the French tea houses – Dammann Freres maybe?
Thank you everyone! I won’t be able to hit all the these locations, but they all sound great!
We also recently got a T2 in Soho, though I haven’t been there yet. And there’s Bosie Tea House in the Village.
The tea wasn’t much different than Teavana but I got a fantastic thermos there. Keeps the tea hot for hours :)
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