Best website to buy tea?

[julep19]

Looking to buy some great loose leaf tea online. I've come across several. Wondering if there are any recomendations out there. Thanks

[ItalyFan]

My wife loves Upton Tea. www.uptontea.com

[Wineack]

I agree with the choice of Upton Tea. I have been buying from them for years; their selection is encyclopedic.

[srgoodman]

I'll third Upton Tea. Top quality, huge selection, fair prices. I've been buying from them for at least ten years, and they've never disappointed.

[AGM_Cape_Cod]

Count me in on Upton Tea as well. I like that they date the packages. They arrive so quickly though that might just be because I am in MA.

[okra]

add my recommendation here. Going on 12 years, great quality and selection, plus I always learn something from them.

[BobB]

Yet another for Upton. Comprehensive catalog, great tea, great service.

[WTF51]

I strongly recommend Special Teas. Very good selection and info on their site, fair prices and free shipping for a $50+ order. If i order before noon, the tea often arrives the next day!

[lucyis]

I second this rec. I've been using this site for a few years and have never been disappointed.

[abbraccia]

I have been very happy with the fragrant leaf for the past 3 years.
http://www.thefragrantleaf.com/

[danieljdwyer]

Tea Gschwendner is by far the best online merchant I've found:
http://www.tgtea.com/Catalog/Default.aspx
I'd only recommend it if you already know what you are looking for in tea, however. It's not a great site for the beginner, or for an introduction to loose leaf tea.
For that I would recommend Adagio Teas: http://www.adagio.com/
SpecialTeas is pretty similar to Adagio, but I find Adagio slightly more user friendly. I use Adagio for less expensive, everyday teas, and Gschwendner for pricier, premium teas.

[GilbyEast]

Absolutely Upton Tea. Be sure to check out the Seasons' Pick section.

[Jasz]

I really like Design-a-Tea
www.designatea.com/index.php
You can design your own custom blend and get a free sample and their customer service is excellent.

[julep19]

Excellent, I'll check these out. Thanks for the recommendations!

[chocolate]

Harney and Sons is another good place to check.

www.harney.com

[thew]

i like adagio.com

[scottpalmer61]

I found a cool little site online that I have been buying tea from for a little while. What I like is that the owner always makes a comment on the invoice or the packing slip. I bought some tea before Christmas and they put some extra "samples" in with the tea shipped and he wrote merry holidays on the invoice. I like that attention. I thnk they must be getting busy too becuase each time I get a note from the owner the writing is getting more "hurried" LOL. They also have nice service, quick. Check it out. It is at Ourhometea.com. I have purchased from Upton, and Adagio and I think Ourhometea holds up against them pretty well... Besides this is a newer company and I like to help out the small guy too.

[PamelaD]

I like: http://www.mightyleaf.com

[omotosando]

Here is a prior discussion that might be useful.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/367181

Covers a lot of the online retailers.

I order from various places, but keep going back to Mariage Freres www.mariagefreres.com despite the fact that they might have the single most user unfriendly website in the world.

I have never been wowed by anything from Upton and my last offerings from Tea Gschwendner were awful, particularly a mint tea that turned out to have additives and has a repugnant smell.

I order my "house" green tea -- SPIRIT OF OHSAWA® ORGANIC GREEN TEA -- by the pound from Gold Mine Natural Foods http://www.goldminenaturalfoods.com/Teas/products/43/

I also order the OHSAWA® ORGANIC TWIG TEA (KUKICHA) bags from Gold Mine Natural Foods for the office, although I only drink loose leaf at home.

Tea Habitat http://www.teahabitat.com/store/ is a good source for high end oolongs. I'm not actually that enamored with oolong, but I emailed the owner explaining why I haven't liked ooling in the past and she got right back to me with some suggestions as to ones that might be to my palate. I ended up ordering one and I do like it when I want a change of pace from green tea or black tea. The owner is very helpful and they ship very promptly.

Would like to find a really good source for the world's best Assam.

[thew]

my regular tea is assam from adagio

[BobB]

Mine is Upton's China Congou Wu-Yi Golden Monkey, catalog #ZP80. It's the one black tea my wife and I can agree on. She prefers lighter teas like darjeeling, I like heavier flavors, but this one has richness, flavor, and delicacy enough to suit us both.

[danieljdwyer]

Tea Gschwendner carries 8 different Assams. I've tried 5, and all have been excellent. The Assam Marangi is absolutely the finest Assam I have tasted outside of the region itself. The Assam Mokalbari is not as refined, but I prefer the earthier flavor for everyday drinking.
http://www.tgtea.com/Categories/1/Bla...

[EmmaToo]

Thank you for linking to Goldmine Natural Foods. The site has a lot of things of interest to me. Have you purchased anything else from there and if so, does the quality match that of the green tea?

[omotosando]

The only things I have purchased from Goldmine are the green tea, the kukicha tea (which is a style of green tea) and the lotus root tea powder. However, I am familiar with a lot of the other products offered by Goldmine, such as the various Ohsawa brand products, because they are available at my local health food store (Erewhon on Beverly Blvd. for those of you who live in Los Angeles). In my experience, Ohsawa products are always first-rate. I buy my tea online rather than at the local store because the local store only carries the smaller sizes and I drink so much tea that I find it more economical to order it by the pound from Goldmine.

[sweetea]

I like Porte Rouge. They were very nice to deal with. I liked buying Mariage Freres tea from them. You can buy it in bulk rather than the canisters at a better price. They have a nice selection & also carry some other teas & tea accessories.

[DonShirer]

Savvy Tea (Madison) also has a website: Zhong Guo Cha, with many exotic blends. You can access it through
http://www.savvyteagourmet.com/
or jump directly to
https://secure.worldsourceintl.com/in...