Anywhere to get really top notch whole leaf tea?

[sharpless]

I mean where you can actually buy bags of tea and take them home. Where's the good stuff? I can't find it and I've been looking.

[daikon]

There's also a Whittard of Chelsea on Newbury Street. Nice selection of high end loose teas.

http://www.whittard.co.uk/

[Alica]

Bar Harbor Tea in Maine has grea tea and they really know their tea! They have website.

[Ralphie_in_Boston]

One more vote here for both Teavana at the Pru and VirtousTeas in Newton.

Teavana moves more product (being in the mall and all) so they're less likely to have stale inventory. They also are big on the redbush bandwagon, rotating in many rooibos-based varieties, but I'm a big supporter of small shops so I go to Virtuous whenever I can.

[mr mangia]

One day while walking down Highland Ave in Somerville I saw a tea company and I knocked on the door and was surprised to find a whole tea warehouse. I can not remember if they sell retail but I could not believe the selection. It looks like those guys sell tea all of the country. Anyone know the deal on this place ?

[02139]

I think that's teazone. nice place. you should check it out.

[Bob Dobalina]

I don't think that's teazone. The Teazone retail shop is next to Tacos Lupita at the end of Elm St., not on Highland.

[mr mangia]

yes, the place i am talking about is a distributor of teas and doesnt have much of a sign. it is on highland right before pigs fly & the kick ass cupcakes.

[professor_r]

The place you found was undoubtedly MEM Tea Importers.

[mitsumame]

Have you tried www. teality.com?

[sushibox]

another fan of tea zone here! we love the cream earl grey, the mango black, the vanilla rooibos and the lovely delicate greens. about the location -- maybe not so great but my understanding from talking with the owner is that they do a bustling online business. we love smelling all the beautiful teas and love supporting an independent tea shop.

[admiralackbar]

big fan of christinas and the MEM tea.

[sequins]

Arriving a bit late to this thread... but I need to put in a resolutely good word for Tea Zone on Somerville Ave. Now that they've been open for almost a year, there IS brewed hot / iced tea service -- and priced more reasonably than at, say, Dado or Tealuxe. Although there's no seating, the staff and space are so mellow / welcoming that you'd feel encouraged to linger around while sipping. You can also go crazy sniffing all the tea leaves -- there must be eighty varieties or so in the store -- and prices are very affordable (usually $4 or so for 25 cups worth of leaves). I agree with the earlier poster that its location on that underdeveloped stretch of Somerville Ave. doesn't help its chances of survival, but think it'd be a great loss if they're forced to close shop. Go and check it out!

[jonthekingdon]

Teazone is a great spot to pick up tea I just went there today after reading this article their website is http://www.teazonline.com I highly recommend anyone going to check this place out!

[eatandrun]

What particular tea were you looking for?

[steinpilz]

If you want to buy over the web Murchie's in Vancouver BC has a great selection:

www.murchies.com

[littlelady]

wanted to second christina's in inman square-- they have a really great selection though everything is already packaged

[SeaSide Tomato]

Am I crazy to be buying my teas at Super88? They're not expensive, good selection, and how do you judge qualitly, anyway?

Am I missing something in this (fairly newish to me) world of teas?

One of the posters above was looking for Pu Erh--I saw it there yesterday--is that a brand or a type of tea?

When you inquire about whole leaf teas--is that the same as loose leaf? or are there others that are indeae big, whole leaves?

Siince I've exchanged my coffee for green tea, I don't want to miss out on some really great teas as I go along trying different types.

TIA!

Ehen you ask about

[lipoff]

Pu-Erh is a type of tea; a very complex Chinese tea that's post-fermented. Usually Pu-Erh has a very strong taste and a complex set of flavors. Unlike most teas, many Pu-Erh teas are sold aged, with fifty or hundred year old Pu-Erh cakes still available.

[SeaSide Tomato]

Thanks!

How are the teas, generally at Super88-such variety (variatea--well-it is Friday!).

[Dr.Jimbob]

Most of the teas that I've come across at Super 88 have been dirt cheap -- which more or less also describes the quality of the tea once you brew it. Not my favorite stuff for Chinese sipping.

I've been very happy with Upton's and Harney's in the past, but for Chinese tea, you might want to investigate Ten Ren tea, which is a major Taiwanese brand with a number of branches in the US (closest ones are in New York). There are apparently two web sites -- <http://www.tenren.com/> appears to be the main site, while <http://www.tenrenusa.com/> is for the NY branch specifically. They don't sell tea in bags (going back to the original poster's question) but they do some very lovely (and sometimes very expensive!) whole leaf teas. (I'm a particular fan of long-jing, or dragon-well tea, a Zhejiang green varietal with a beautifully subtle flavor.

)

And the branches also make an absolutely heavenly cup of bubble tea to boot.

/J

[SeaSide Tomato]

Thank you!

[nasilemak]

I second Ten Ren tea for their quality.

[uman]

Rishi Tea and In Pursuit of Tea can be purchased at Whole Foods.
Both are high end good quality whole leaf tea companies. Upton tea is also good.

[Bob Dobalina]

I went to the Tea Zone next to Tacos Lupita a couple of weeks ago. It seems like it is an idea and a location that is destined to fail. There is no tea service there I believe - just many many different kinds of tea.

Took home a small bag of raspberry-infused rooibos - it's very mild even after a dark steep, not too sweet, no sweetener needed, although a little lemon seems to perk it up. It's going to take me months to get through this little bag, so I would act quickly to stop in and stock up before it closes for good.

[pasuga]

There is a very nice tea shop on Newbury Street. Can't remember the name, but it's upstairs over the L'Aroma Cafe, between Berkeley and Clarendon.

[greengage]

Maybe I'm a tea philistine, but I like the MEM teas you can get at Formaggio. The Earl Grey is amazing.

[fauchon]

A massive second (or third) for www.uptontea.com... I also have purchased excellent teas from

www.specialteas.com

www.itoen.com

www.harney.com

IME all of these vendors excel in selection, quality & service...shop & buy with confidence...

[fenian]

I agree with the suggestion purchasing through the internet instead of in store. Though I've only done specialteas, their quality is substantially higher than that of all these trendy in-store tea places. As an analogy...
Instant coffee:Starbucks:high-end coffee (e.g., Simon's)::Lipton bags:Tealuxe/Peet's/Dado/etc.:SpecialTeas

[horrible]

I get my tea at Christina's Spice store in Inman Sq. They carry a pretty large variety of MEM teas. Everything is prepackaged in sealed plastic bags though. They have a number of otions in each style.

Everything comes in two sizes. I usually pick up a large bag of irish breakfast and a few small bags of some of ones that I've never tried.

Looks like Cardullos and Formaggion also carry MEM tea.

http://www.cardullos.com/tea_mem_tea.htm

[MaineRed]

I really like Virtous Teas in Newton -- the owner is super nice (give free samples too) and it's wall to wall tea: there's probably 6 kinds of earl grey (she also sold us some bergamot for an experimental brew) ... I wanted to create a little gift box for a pregnant friend and the owner was a huge help in chosing the correct teas -- some herbs are a no-no obviously, but you'd be surprised!

anyway: www.virtuousteas.com

[krazykid]

Cardullo's has a large tea selection including a bunch of loose leaf tea. I don't know what whole leaf tea is though.

[HoneyHoneyNY]

I order my tea online from http://harney.com

They have great blends, and a tea shop, if you ever happen to be in downstate NY.

[KitchenAid]

Teavana in the Pru. bEst Moroccan Mint I've ever had.

[Alica]

Harney & Sons also had a great Moroccan Mint. If you every get to go there, in NY near Ct. They have a "tea tasting room" It's great! I live their citron green tea.

[enhF94]

I just went to Tea Zone on Thursday night (after my first Lupita visit - where's that pork been all my life?!), and sniffed around. They had several whites, greens, reds and blacks (all the big names - silver needle, darjeeling); they had open jars for smelling and vacuum bags for selling. The guy politely let me browse as I wished but watched my every move, hoping to help (I was the only customer). I sniffed the black tea sample jar and he said, "smells too fruity, right? I had an herbal in that jar a few days ago." And he let me smell the big jar, which smelled as English Breakfast should. So he's paying enough attention to remember the jar mixup (yay), but he hadn't washed the fruity scent out of the jar (huh?).

I didn't ask, but didn't see any quality identifiers such as "Orange Pekoe," "Tippy," etc. It all looked whole leaf to me.

I did not buy anything, so can't vouch. The guy said they'd only been open for a month. I can't tell if it's a franchise, a chain or a sister, but the eponymous URL (http://www.teazone.com) points to a store in Portland, OR with the very same logo.

[limster]

I've sampled a couple of the teas at Teazone and I think it's great value for the quality. While certainly not a place to score century old pu-erh, it's a good place to shop for day to day stuff that's of rather high quality.

[trufflehound]

Mark T Wendell in W. Concord has a great selection amd quality too.

[Wineack]

The best place to buy tea is online at Upton Tea in Westborough, MA. They are strictly an online store. I stopped in once to their warehouse in an industrial park and they were not really able to deal with a walk-in very well. Their website is great though. In addition to an amazing selection of teas from around the world, they have special teapots and infusers and other tea paraphernelia. Their website is http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/home...

[srgoodman]

I am also a big fan of Upton Tea. They have a truly *huge* selection of top quality teas. I began purchasing from them when the Coffee Connection (which had a great tea selection) closed, back in '94.

Even though they're mail order, they're located just west of Boston, (in Hopkinton, not Westborough, unless they've moved recently) so Ground Shipping should get anyone in the Boston area next day delivery.

One of the nice things about Upton Tea is that you can buy sample sizes of their teas for a dollar or two, and try a lot of teas for a small amount of money. (Caveat: I think they limit the number of samples you can buy at Christmas time.)

[Wineack]

Yeah, you are right, Hopkinton. I just had a brain cramp and picked the wrong 495 town.

[BobB]

Agreed, you cannot do better than Upton Tea. My wife is Russian and VERY particular about tea. They offer unmatched selection and quality, and really care about their products. Every tea is shipped in airtight, resealable packets.

They get my highest recommendation!

[cassis]

Ditto. I've used Upton Tea for years, turnaround is as fast as Netflix, selection is amazing, website is packed with information but easy to use.

[autopi]

i've not been there, and i'm not a tea connoisseur, but i have heard good things about cha fahn in jamaica plain.

[powella]

Cha Fahn is great, nice people, expensive but very good whole leaf teas. They also do a nice tea service, and they recently upgraded their kitchen to allow for a fuller menu. I haven't eaten there since the upgrade, but I have always enjoyed my food there.

[finlero]

Where have you been looking?

Tealuxe offends some as a Starbucks wannabe for faux tea snobs, but their roster of tea is extensive and of high quality.

While we're on the subject of debatable Starbucks wannabes, Peets Coffee and Tea proffers a smaller selection than Tealuxe, but again, it's hard to find fault with the quality. I positively adore their Earl Grey with lavender, although they seldom carry it in-store anymore.

As far as local places, a place called Tea Zone has opened up in Somerville, next to Tacos Lupita on Elm Street. I've not been yet.

Dado Tea (2 Cambridge locations) always vaguely annoys me, particularly with their pricing (a large hot tea for over 2 bucks? Come on, it's not *that* good), but they've got the goods.

I don't recall if Qingping in the South End sells their tea by the bag, but if rare and exotic teas are your thing, it's worth it regardless. The owner imports all the teas directly from China, including hard-to-find white and fermented variants.

[Full disclosure: I love Peets, and am literally a card-carrying Starbucks fan.]