Tea Buying Tips: Brick & Mortar Tea Shops

(This is the second post in my series on tea buying. The first post was about developing relationships with tea vendors. The next will be on evaluating and working with online tea vendors.  You can listen to a podcast version of this post by clicking here.)

1. Drink Before You Buy

You should buy tea because you like the way it tastes. Patronize stores that offer you the opportunity to try a tea before you buy it, particularly if the tea is expensive. Many tea rooms sell their tea at retail: Just order up a cup and if you like it, buy a few ounces to take home.

Retail tea shops often have on-site brewing equipment and are glad to make you a cup of tea at a nominal cost. Don’t be afraid to ask them to make you one of the more expensive teas: They are making a good profit on that cup of tea, and they know if you like it, you will buy it.

Some tea shops will either give away free samples of dry leaf with a purchase, or will sell you a very small quantity upon request. If you are already making a more substantial purchase, most places will be glad to sell you a small amount of a tea that has caught your eye.

2. Ask Questions
Tea shop owners got into this business because they love tea and they appreciate tea conversation with knowledgeable customers. Ask how they source their teas: If they work with individual tea producers, the shop is likely to have unique teas, and it is worth your time and money to cultivate a relationship with them.

Also, be sure to ask the owner about their favorite teas and if they specialize in a certain type of tea. If a tea shop has a specialty, you are far more likely to encounter unique treasures there.

3. Check out the Tea Storage & Packaging

A good tea shop will protect its teas by storing them right: Teas should be kept away from heat, light, moisture and strong scents. Tea shops should package their tea in airtight bags and/or sell tea tins to encourage responsible tea storage.

4. Beware the Quantity Discount

In most cases, tea does not improve with age, and since even an ounce of tea leaf can make anywhere from 6-8 cups of tea (with only one infusion!), buying a pound or more of tea means that your tea is likely to sit around for a long time. Yes, you might save some money, but if your tea gets stale before you drink it, you may end up losing money in the deal.

If you are determined to get your quantity discount, here are a couple of strategies:

• Share with friends. If you and your friends like a particular tea, by all means pool your money, buy a pound or two and divy it up. That way you all get a price break, the merchant gets a nice big sale, and nobody’s tea goes bad.
• Split and store.  When you get your pound of tea home, immediately break it up into 2 ounce portions, and store the tea in airtight jars. Put the jars away in a cool, dark place. The portioning will help keep the tea fresh by not exposing it to air each time you use it.

5. Don’t Sweat Bad Information

This may sound strange, but let me explain:  The tea community is experiencing a big learning curve right now, and there is still a lot of bad information in circulation. Even well-known tea writers and personalities make mistakes, usually because they got their information from equally well-intended, yet errant sources.

Over time, more research will be done on tea such that misinformation can be quickly and effectively corrected. But until then, don’t dismiss a tea vendor simply because they tell you that you can eliminate 80% of your tea’s caffeine by rinsing it for 30 seconds. Repeating an old chestnut does not mean that they sell bad tea.

6. Teaware

In my experience, it is much easier to find good tea than it is good teaware. Teaware is often bought and sold on the basis of aesthetic appeal rather than functionality. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying beautiful teaware, only good teaware makes good tea.

Teapots seem to be a big bugaboo for tea lovers. There are a lot of cute teapots on the market, but they often suffer from design flaws, including badly designed spouts that clog at the slightest provocation.  It gets worse when you are trying to buy specialized teaware, such as Yixing teapots or gaiwans, and sadly, some teashop owners are not particularly knowledgeable about teaware and/or don’t pay it a lot of attention.

While teaware buying is another post in and of itself, I leave you with the following tips for buying good teaware:

• Word of mouth is important. It is great to give your business to local shops, but if there is a brand that interests you, look it up online or on Amazon to see what kind of reviews it is getting.
• Ornamentation hides a multitude of flaws. Very plain teaware often costs more than elaborate pieces, because the artisan can’t cover sloppiness or a lack of skill behind paint and swirls.
• Good teaware costs money: Beware cheap teaware, particularly unglazed Yixing pieces. A bad (adulterated) “Yixing” pot can ruin the flavor of your tea.

Tagged as: retail tea, tea, tea buying tips, tea shops, teapots, Teaware