NYC Tea Shops
I am looking to do a little tour of some good NYC tea shops and hopefully pick up some new tea. Does any one have any good suggestions? Japanese greens are my favorite but I also like Chinese greens and oolongs. Im not really into flavors though.
Harney & Sons, DAVIDsTEA, Kusmi, Sanctuary T, & Ten Ren are all great places to visit, and if you wander around Chinatown there are tons of stores that sell all sorts of teas for really decent prices!
For unflavored tea of dependable quality, try Harney. For good prices and an adventurous spirit, try Chinatown. There’s a large market on Canal St. called “Kam” something… I forget. Go down stairs to the back and you’ll find lots of tea, both loose and packaged. On the way to the back you may pass lots of pretty tea paraphernalia. Then go upstairs and find the candy aisle. You’ll find a chewy green tea candy hanging on a display. It’s delicious. You’re welcome.
If you like bubble tea, try Ten Ren on Mott St. They also have a fancy tea shop next door specializing in Chinese teas, though they also carry some Japanese stuff.
Radiance Tea at 158 W 55th st. has the kinds of tea you are looking for. There is a woman there is who travels regularly to China to study with a tea master.
Cha An Japanese Tea House at 230 E 9th st. is great. They do a Japanese tea ceremony if you’re into that. There’s also a great sake bar just down the block and few excellent ramen places in the area. I’m not sure if Tsampa is still in business, but it’s a great Tibetan momo place that’s only a few doors away.
I love Tsampa! I’ve never actually had their momos though. There’s also a tasty hole-in-the-wall place for takoyaki on the same block across the street! and Panya makes great green tea buns and baked goods. Their green tea tiramisu is soooo good! They’re on the same block as well, but around a bend.
I got the impression that the OP was looking for tea to purchase and then take home to brew, but if you’re looking for a great place to sit down and drink tea, try Franchia. They have delicious teas there and very tasty food. It’s a vegan Korean tea restaurant around 34th St. and Park Ave. How fabulously crazy is that!
Thanks for the suggestions. I had a great time going around the city yesterday and I picked up a lot of great tea. I was only able to get to four places so I’ll definitely have to make a return trip.
First I went to McNultys. I loved being able to go around the store opening up jars and examining the teas. I thought proces were very reasonable. I ended up picking up a 1/4 lb. of Tikuanyin China oolong for $9.
Then I went to DavidsTea. Definitely a much different feel than McNultys. They have a lot of great teaware there. I also liked the 3 for $5 sample packages since there are always so many things I want to try. The real success was the banana oolong. I was skeptical but very pleasantly surprised.
From there I started towards Harney and Sons and on the way found another place very similar to McNultys called Porto Rico. They were a little more coffee focused than McNultys but still had a great selection of reasonably priced teas. Again I liked the samples. I got two 1 oz. samples: formosa oolong and gyokuro (my all time favorite tea).
Finally I made it to Harney and Sons. Overall I’d say that this was the nicest of the four (although I was fond of the earthy feel of McNultys and Porto Rico). I had tapped out my budget on teas, but I did sit down to a pot of Wuyi oolong with my girlfriend. I liked the cafe part of it a lot.
I think next time I will tackle Chinatown and maybe make a trip to Queens to check out the place that Ricky had posted.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.