Who is (currently) your favorite tea retalier?
My favourite right now is Davidstea. I am constantly looking at their webpage. I’ve had wonderful customer service with them. The one time that I got a tea that I didn’t like, I was able to get a replacement tea no problem. I also find the quality of their teas is amazing. I haven’t had teas that are so fresh and tasty before. And I love the variety they have. Every time I turn around they have something new and wonderful for me to try.
I have also kinda started to enjoy The Tea Haus. They have a few that are good.
I’m kind of excited to try more Teavana teas also. They seem to have a nice variety. I’ve had two of their teas before and I thought they were pretty good, so I’m hoping I like more of theirs as they just took over Teaopia.
Davidstea: “The one time that I got a tea that I didn’t like, I was able to get a replacement tea no problem.” Impressive.
The Tea Haus: Not much in the ‘Who we are’ webpage, but I like all of the detail in their Social Responsibility section http://www.theteahaus.com/t-SocialResponsibility.aspx
Good luck with Teavana. I find their teas to be very hit-or-miss, but they do have some good ones.
It’s been mentioned before but Upton Tea is a favorite of mine for darjeelings, green tea and black tea.
Mandala is also becoming a favorite for black teas and pu-erh.
Harney & Sons is a good one for black teas as well.
Upton Tea: It is amazing how many different darjeelings they offer.
I like Den’s tea as well.
I am still a big fan of Harney & Sons as well as Upton Tea Imports. Many of the other places I shop seem to only have one or two favorites, where the two places I mentioned I have many. I do have quite a bit of tea from Teavivre in my cupboard, too. I just wish they had a few more black tea offerings since I mostly drink black tea (I am hoping they will one day carry some Tanyangs).
I’ve never heard of Tan yang black tea, so I looked it up, and here is one of the first descriptions I found:
http://www.teaspring.com/Tan-Yang-Te-Ji.asp
It certainly does sound like it has an interesting history.
I’ve had some good black teas from Tea Trekker and Jing Tea Shop, and they both have reasonable selections of black teas.
Lots of faves, but I’d pick Tea Source in Minnesota, David’s Tea, Harney & Sons and Townshends as the ones I go to most often. Tea Source is probably the one I have the most of at the moment, but I just got an order from David’s and Canton Tea Company.
I have run into these guys before on the web:
http://www.teasource.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TeaSource&Category_Code=Bill
Good information about who he is.
Fortunately for me TeaSource is local – they have $3.50 tasting Tuesdays where you can try 5 select teas. It’s great to try them. Their prices are good too.
I would have to say DAVIDsTEA since this was my first experience of good tea. Their flavoured blends are great.
Of course, I also enjoy my locally owned and run shop Cuppa T.
I am just getting into the habit of ordering tea online, spurred by samples from Teavivre, which, by the way, is definitely becoming one of my fav tea suppliers for sure.
Drink the leaf and the Golden Moon
Drink the leaf: nice blog http://www.wifeofateadrinker.blogspot.com/
Golden Moon Tea http://www.goldenmoontea.com/ This is nice: “15% off Your First Order”
Upton Tea
Personal service, very fast/flat rate shipping, selection selection selection for all price/taste ranges.
I’ve heard of their great service and fast shipping, and am also impressed at their selection within a wide price range in about every class of tea.
Only choosing one…Verdant for so many reasons, most, if not all, of which were already listed: fast shipping, free shipping after $25, handwritten note with every package, a nice sized sample that’s picked out based on your order(s), excellent customer service, excellent teas (I’ve tried all the green and whites).
I like on the setup of the website, the videos to show you how to brew the teas, where the teas are from including the family, the year and season of picking. I like how responsive David is to questions asked on the site here about why prices are a little higher this go around or why it’s taking a while for a shipment to come in, just look at the thread http://steepster.com/discuss/2551-the-new-2012-spring-green-teas-are-here
I really like that the blended teas are not overly done, that flavors and pieces added are to bring out certain qualities in the base tea and that you don’t lose the flavor of the base tea in all the additions.
I like that there aren’t a ton of everyday types of teas. I like, that while there is a limited selection of teas, that the best quality is found and brought to the table for us. Also, that strange teas are shared with us, like the Yabao tea.
I didn’t mean to write a book, I just meant to type to say “yeah, I like Verdant for all reasons already mentioned” and call it a day.
I love your detailed answer!
I’ve only had one blended tea, but other than what you state about them (I don’t personally have enough experience with his blended teas) what you state here is how I feel about them (for example, I also really appreciate the information he provides about where the teas come from). And, he has a great blog.
I think that conversation you are referencing is on the second page of that thread http://steepster.com/discuss/2551-the-new-2012-spring-green-teas-are-here?page=2 then search for “No problem asking about cost.”
Thanks!
I have only had a few of the blended teas, but they all follow that pattern of not being over done. The conversation between you two on that second page is the one I was referencing.
No discounts, no samples, no free shipping, and their prices are higher than most other retailers. Yet Mariage Freres is my favorite retailer. Both their online services from Paris, and their tea salon in Ginza, Tokyo.
Online sales is very efficient and never takes over 7 days from the time of order to delivery. France to California. Their customer service department is always prompt in replying to any inquiries. The staff at the Ginza store is extremely knowledgeable about teas, especially the personable manager.
Above anything else are the qualities, the selection, the taste of their teas. For me, mainly the Darjeelings. They have over 50 different Darjeeling teas and their FF Darjeelings are always outstanding. The 2012 FF Ambootia has a taste very unlike the other estates, with taste reminiscent of a Japanese Green Tea. The 2012 FF Namring has all the classic flavor of a Classic Spring Darjeeling tea.
I have purchased their teas for over 23 years now and they never disappoint. There are numerous good retailers out there but Mariage Freres remains as my favorite.
As for High Mountain Taiwanese Oolongs, Japanese Green Teas, South African Red and Green Rooibos, I purchase these teas from various retailers and don’t have a favorite at the moment.
Good to hear from you!
http://www.mariagefreres.com/boutique/uk/welcome.html
I’ve never had any of their teas, but they have some of the most stylish tea tins and jars I have eyes set eyes on.
Buying from Mariage Freres for 23 years?! Wow. I think it’s great that you know what you want and you honor that by sticking by Mariage Freres.
I keep hearing about Green Rooibos. Who do you buy that from?
I’ve purchased Green Rooibos from Upton, Arbor Teas, and Enjoying Tea.
During one of my business trips, a South African woman sat next to me on the plane. We started talking about tea and she asked if I had ever tried Green Rooibos. I told her I had not and two weeks later, a package of Green Rooibos Tea arrived in the mail. There was a note with the world “Enjoy!” enclosed in the package.
What a great story the of generosity that even a ‘stranger’ is capable of.
Thanks for the references on the Green Rooibos. I happen to know all three of the tea retailers you listed.
I have thought long and hard about this. I also am STILL buying from new vendors and have much to discover however at this point in time I have it figured out.
I want to say that there are retailers who have more selection yes, some who have inexpensive samples, free shipping, etc and so on and all of them did get a good consideration. Then there are a few close to my heart that offer boutique teas and are very small business that are just amazing and I LOVE them too, and their teas. Still – only picking ONE I have to say Verdant.
I enjoy the free GENEROUS sample, and that if I really want to try a specific sample David is always happy to oblige. He is responsive to emails on the occasion I have emailed him. The website is VERY easy to navigate with all the info I need! The blog is excellent. A great personality with the new cat blog addition. Active on Facebook. Personal hand written notes with order. The addition of the Alchemy blends which are excellent although not all to my taste TOP quality. The BEST of the best in quality teas of all types. FAIR pricing for the quality provided. Reasonable shipping.
Now granted some tea retailers have several of these characteristics as well but the total package can be found in Verdant.
I think the one thing I do NOT like about Verdant is that you can’t log in and save your cart. That would be my one main suggestion. Loyalty points would be nice too the way Teavivre offers which would be another of my top retailer considerations. Those are the ONLY two minuses I can think of.
So Verdant is my Verdict!
Thank you Azzrian for such a detailed response; I leaned at least one new thing from what you mentioned here; I don’t ‘do’ Facebook, but it’s good to know he is active there as well.
Good suggestions. My guess is (having a background in software) that adding technology that would allow you to log in and save your ‘cart’ would be more costly, but I don’t know for certain (you could always mention your suggestion to him directly).
I love that last line; its always fun to play with words, isn’t it?
Login or sign up to leave a comment.