Having enjoyed the 3-tier pastries and brilliant tea served at venues like Secret Garden in Vancouver, I looked for where that could be in a royal city like New Westminster.

As tightly connected to England as a commonwealth community, I leaped at the assumption that tea would be readily available in this city. Low-and-behold it WASN’T IN THE SLIGHTEST.

Suddenly, I came across the new and just recently opened Great Wall tearoom and everything was available and served in the highest regard for the traditions of tea I’ve encountered since Secret Garden.

Food isn’t served there, but it makes sense because the room is a 6 seat-long bar amidst the River Market in Westminster Quay.

Great Wall is the only venue in this “royal” city that offers and serves the amount of tea it does (probably 150!). I could compliment this shop some more, but then I would just be rambling.

Every tea we bought we loved. Every tea we left behind we regretted.

A great little place along the water. The first time I went there I picked up a couple kinds (I think they were Lady Londonderry and Blueberry Green, both which were great) and got a free sample for a tea I wasn’t sure I would like. Bigger chains don’t tend to give tea samples so that was a really cool gesture. I’ve become addicted to their Cream Irish Breakfast too…

The service is really nice and they take their time to talk about their different kinds of tea with you. And once when I asked for a kind of tea that they didn’t have on their menu they told me that it was possible to make a custom blend of any of their teas on the menu which is really cool.

The only thing I don’t like is the recent discovery that they only sell their tea in 50g and 100g increments. This is kind of a deterrent for me to try new teas that I’m unsure of because the lowest amount I can buy is 50g which is a lot of tea and what if I don’t like it? And it’s unlikely they’re gonna send me on my way with 10 free samples…

If this changed I would definitely go there more often. I go into DAVIDs all the time and buy like 20g or 30g just to see if I’ll like it and often times it’s successful and I return to buy a larger amount, or if I turn out to not like the tea, well then I only have a small amount of it so it wasn’t that big of a loss.

Still, their prices are lower than Teaopia or DAVIDs so that’s a plus.

Lovely little place that has a great selection of tea and nothing else. It looked as if they didn’t even have room to make tea but they could probably.

Having enjoyed the 3-tier pastries and brilliant tea served at venues like Secret Garden in Vancouver, I looked for where that could be in a royal city like New Westminster.

As tightly connected to England as a commonwealth community, I leaped at the assumption that tea would be readily available in this city. Low-and-behold it WASN’T IN THE SLIGHTEST.

Suddenly, I came across the new and just recently opened Great Wall tearoom and everything was available and served in the highest regard for the traditions of tea I’ve encountered since Secret Garden.

Food isn’t served there, but it makes sense because the room is a 6 seat-long bar amidst the River Market in Westminster Quay.

Great Wall is the only venue in this “royal” city that offers and serves the amount of tea it does (probably 150!). I could compliment this shop some more, but then I would just be rambling.

1.) It’s a booth in the market building itself. They’ve got all the tea tins attached to the wall, looking a bit like their logo. It’s awesome.

Sadly, when I went, they hadn’t gotten their debit machines yet, and I had no cash. So no tea for me this time. I plan to return!

2.) Edit: Stuffed my pockets with loose change and went back after class today. They’ve got a Dorian Grey! And it was delicious. I will have to bring more cash next time and go home with a bag.

They’ve also got more diversity in their teas than most tea shops. So many teas I want to try. I hung out there long after I’d finished my tea and just chatted with the staff; it was a lot of fun. They’re planning on getting even MORE teas in—we discussed a few we’d like to try, including tarry lapsang souchong and teas from the estate in Hawaii. She mentioned giving tarry a trial-run in the shop (she has lapsang, and it’s been surprisingly popular). I’d definitely show up to try it.

3.) EditEdit: I’m quickly evolving into a full-blown regular. I was there when they got their debit machines! I was there when the man called asking if he could come in an install them today, and I joked about the chances that I might still be there, hours later, when he did. And then lo and behold! I got to be the very first debit transaction. I feel special. I’ve also met a few of the other regulars as well. It was all very exciting. This time I managed to stay all the way till closing. If classes weren’t in the way, I’d probably be there at opening.

During this visit, I picked up three teas to bring home with me: Dorian Grey, Cream Irish Breakfast,Organic Wild Blueberry Black.

Their website is still in the works, so although I’ve added them to the database, there isn’t much information yet. Or photos.