This really felt like walking right into someone’s living room. :) The decorations were largely hand-made in the most adorable sense of the word. Our tea leaves were served in the tea cup with one of those wee paper bag filters—which means I got to steep my milky oolong multiple times just how I wanted to. Their prices were relatively comparative to online shops. Understandably, there’s a little mark-up. There’s a wide variety of tea in just a little place. A couple different types of each staple.
I was able to pick up some of the aforementioned milky oolong, black dragon pearls, and some lapsang souchong (three teas I’d been meaning to get my hands on to try, but never had). That as well as some blooming green tea (all of the tea balls I have are white tea, so I thought I’d spice up that collection a bit), and a mango rooibos blend (for the fruity-tooty sister). Their teas come in just a couple ounces per pouch, which I personally prefer because I like to get hooked on a tea before buying a boat-load of it.
That being said, the atmosphere was very pleasant, the owner was very helpful and attentive to all four of us (which our gaggle of girls can easily feel like a crowd). A couple of us had some pastries with our tea, which received huge thumbs-ups.
Oh, and there was even a small selection of basic teaware. You could easily set yourself up with everything you need to brew various types of tea with just one visit—again, impressive in such a small space. They were definitely thoughtful and particular about just what they decided to carry.
If I ever pass through Olympia again, I imagine I’ll stop by for a tea latte. :)
While their standard method of serving tea seems to be Western, they were very accommodating when my friend brought me here and I asked to have the tea leaves in my cup and the water in a teapot so I could do multiple steeps. They went beyond that, providing us each with a gaiwan, teacup, fairness pitcher (cha hai), and half-pot of water at a time so the water would stay hot. We had a great time enjoying some Lapsang Souchong (my friend has no sense of smell, so the only way for her to enjoy this smokey tea was through actually drinking it). The atmosphere was great—we sat on reed cushions with a low table. There were cards and a couple other types of simple games available for us to play if we wanted. In the end, we spent our time chatting, watching the snow fall, and enjoying our tea. :)
Stopped in while visiting Victoria. It’s definitely high quality tea—yumm! They’re smooth, and worth savoring. We had a bite to eat there, and that was delicious as well. They’re set up for bulk-buyers, and tourists like us. We bought a handful of 10ct boxes to try a few different flavors, and are oh-so-happy we can shop online now that we’ve fallen in love!
I visited David’s Tea on a mission for something to replace my dwindling supply of a discontinued tea (Tea of Life’s Rooibos Chocolate Cinnamon, anyone seen some?) and they were very friendly and certainly knew their tea! I walked away with a rooibos cinnamon chai, and while I knew it wasn’t going to have that same cocoa-smoothness, it is definitely a great tea in its own right. I definitely appreciated the help picking something out! :)
As for the company, they have a variety of teas from basic to frou-frou, probably leaning toward the frou-frou. I like the basics more, so wading through a website full of crazy flavors can be daunting, but there’s always that golden needle in the haystack. (It’s kind of weird to put chunks of nuts and raisins in your loose leaf tea. Just saying.)
Anyway, I definitely recommend their physical shops, and their online one! You’ll find something you’ll like.
Visited here during my first trip to Canada. It appears they have a different brew each day you can try. We were treated to a traditional Chinese tea tasting, and were impressed by Olivia’s friendliness and patience as she taught me and my sister about loose leaf Pu-erh tea! It was a highlight to our trip, and I hope to stop in next time I’m across the border!
