Off the beaten path companies?
I noticed a new company when they liked something I posted on Instagram. There are probably lots of hidden gems out there that we don’t really know about. I thought it might be nice to have a place to put them so we can check them out!
I found a few when I was on vacation on Vancouver Island:
TeaFarm – www.teafarm.ca
These guys have the nicest little shop in the middle of nowhere it seems (in the Cowichan Valley), and delicious teas! The owner is very knowledgeable and offered us tea as soon as we entered the shop, in beautiful clay cups. Prices were not too bad in the store either! A wonderful find on a random road while following the GPS directions back to the main highway haha. Also, the teas I have tried from them so far have been quite good, they do not have their full selection online as some are limited offerings, but so far I have been impressed! I will be writing reviews on them shortly.
Thay Tea – http://thaytea.com
This tea shop is located in Ucluelet, BC, which is fairly off the beaten path already. The shop is right downtown and serves tea lattes, milkshakes and other goodies. As for the tea, I was very impressed with the selections I had! I got a mint latte in store and it was delicious, they even offered coconut milk, which seems to be a rare option for lattes lol. I also bought a mint EG which I will review on here shortly, but it is so fresh and different! Also tried another tea which I may end up ordering online as it was delicious lol. Also, they have a decent selection of teaware in store, and I got a beautiful little cup there. If you are ever out there for a visit, I recommend checking them out!
Oooooh, Thay Tea has a Butterscotch Puerh and a Chocolate Blueberry black tea! :D
Mmm Butterscotch Puerh sounds quite tempting :D their double cream EG was excellent, that is the other one I tried :) had it as a London Fog and just straight, excellent both ways!
from the Instagram.
Far Leaves Tea
http://www.farleaves.com/
Buddha Teas
http://www.buddhateas.com/
Smacha Tea
http://www.smacha.com/
Enablers all of you…….!
No, not you, of course not. I would never say that about you! You’re simply guiding us down the path to enlightenment. ;-)
I’ve enjoyed quite a few of the teas I’ve tried from Great British Tea store: http://greatbritishteastore.com/ They offer reasonably-priced sampler packs, fast shipping, and great customer service!
Not sure if they have an online store, but the Mountain View Tea Village in Mountain View, California is a gem. Their selection isn’t large, but they have a great Almond Green Oolong, and a decently large collection of pu-erh on hand. I plan on having their pu-erh as my first sometime soon!
yyz gave me this link in chat last night. Dying to make an order with them. http://en.siam-tee.de
The Jasmine Pearl has some good blends and I haven’t seen them talked about http://thejasminepearl.com
apt has mentioned this company http://www.silvertipstea.com
I ordered from Tea Chai Te for the first time on Black Friday. They have a brick and mortar at two Portland locations http://www.teachaite.com/default.asp
ESGreen is another one without many reviews up. I’ve enjoyed their teas so far, and they have a points system which I appreciate. When I signed up you got points just for joining their newsletter and creating an account. I’m not sure if that was a promotion or if it’s still going, but it’s worth a try http://www.esgreen.com
I just signed up at esgreen and I did get points for signing up AND they let me use those points on my first order!!!!
Does anyone want to post their referral link to ESGreen? I’m going to register an account and I might as well give points to someone.
Dexter – Yay, good to know! What did you end up ordering?
Anlina- Thanks, that is so sweet. Mine is https://www.esgreen.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/554/
I just checked my points balance, and noticed that they also give you points for your birthday, so be sure to fill that in!
Hmm, it asks for a referral email or code on sign up. Your referral ID, 554, doesn’t seem to work. Post your email address or PM me?
I’ve been watching a pot on that site for a couple of weeks now – thought I would pick one up onsale over the BF/CM sales – but I didn’t find one I liked as much or a good deal etc. Sooooo I bought one of their yixing pots….
Anlina – This is my code OFFRbW9WNnB1SUo5VlpIaE83Q0RhZnpHcFh6MzR2RVg= if it doesn’t work, it’s okay. It was really nice of you to try!
Dexter – Nice! I’ve been looking over some of their gaiwans. They have some lovely tea wares.
I have tried teas from Tea Chai Te – I love going to their shop (I don’t live far from Portland) – they have a couple of awesome shops in Portland. Their teas are wonderful. I especially love their Vanilla Rose Chai:
http://www.teachaite.com/product_p/chai69-1.htm
Jasmine Pearl is another great company. They have a really good Earl Grey: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/07/07/earl-grey-tea-from-the-jasmine-pearl-tea-merchants/
I’ve had some teas from esgreen … If I remember correctly there was a customer service issue with this company that was talked about here in the forums. Here’s that link: http://steepster.com/discuss/3716-what-to-do-for-a-cracked-gaiwan?page=1
Thanks LiberTEAS. I hadnt seen thar customer service issue. I dont like difficult companies. That was 2 years ago, wonder if its changed. Oh well too late now Ive already ordered stuff. Will really check it close when i get it.
Oh, jealous that you can go visit Tea Chai Te and have The Jasmine Pearl at your market! I’d heard others find them in the bulk tea section at Whole Foods, but sadly we don’t have any of those here.
That’s a bummer about ESGreen. Hopefully they’ve improved in the past two years.
I find Jasmine Pearl in bulk at my favorite produce market too, so yeah, that’s nice. Two more good local companies are Townshend Tea and Smith Teamakers.
Follow up – I got my esgreen order today. I ordered it on the 2nd it shipped on the 9th. Took quite awhile for them to ship it but I got it today – they sent it express. The pot is beautiful, the strainer is really nice, haven’t tried the tea yet but I got what I ordered. I have no reason to complain about anything, so don’t know how they would handle an issue, but I’m happy with my order (assuming the tea is good). I got 1000 points for creating an account and signing up for newsletter. I used those points – 10.00 off my order, and currently have 850 points to use (points from my order 8.50). All in all I’m pretty happy with this….
Lake Missoula Tea company is a fabulous little hole in the wall shop in Western Montana. Their Royal Tajiri and Organic Thai Elephant tea are great! Lots more that I haven’t tried yet!
http://lakemissoulateacompany.com
A local shop, and my usual go-to for tea shopping. I think most of the reviews here are from swaps/gifts that Dexter sent out. http://www.corneliabean.com/
http://sayteaonbloor.com/ doesn’t have an online shopping cart – you have to email or call to place an order, but their prices are really good and I’ve been really impressed with most of the teas I’ve tried from there.
Their website is pretty useless, they don’t have a list of their teas online, and their minimum is 100g, but if you can drop into their Toronto store, or know exactly what you want, they’re worth checking out. The owner was extremely knowledgeable and the stuff I’ve tried was excellent http://houseoftea.ca/
Let’s Steep With Bekky is a Quakertown PA based company I happened upon at the Bacon Festival in the area last month. So far the blends I’ve had were strongly flavored and tasty. Drawback is that I don’t think they have everything available online, and they don’t have the most awesome website right now.
The tea shop sounds nice, but the Bacon Festival… That sounds like all kinds of awesome. :)
Last year was the first year and it was terrible – super crowded, not enough vendors. This year was lovely. Plenty of people watching to be done after I ate a giant fried bacon mac n cheese ball with jalapeno the size of my fist. I am a big fan. :)
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