Newbie Help

Special Teas is good. The online vendor I use the most, though, is Upton

Formosa Oolongs tend to be quite expensive. I like Upton's Formosa Amber Oolong (TT55) which is also modestly priced at about 5.6 cents per gram, or about $25/pound. Also the Oolong Finest Grade (TT17) is pretty good and around 6.5 cents per gram, or about $30/pound.

Randy

I like TEA SOURCE in st paul on clevland just north of FORD PARKWAY. This place has many teas,alot I had not sean before. they serve tea there. they brew it by tempature. its a very nice place and the female workers are very attractive. there is a great place that roasts its own coffee beans across the street.

tom

I have been buying tea for years at Teavana online and at MOA...the staff is great, the teas always very fresh and high quality...A lot of what I tried from other companies was stale and inferior. Teavanas quality and prices were great.

I got interested enough by this to check out their website. Of course, I haven't tried the tea so I can't comment on the quality - I'll take your word for it that it is good.

However, I would take exception to the statement that their prices are great. Their gunpowder green went for $32/pound. Even the finest grade gunpowders from other very reputable online vendors can be had for half of that. Their English Breakfast was over $26/pound, whereas vendors like Special Teas and Upton have good offerings for around $15/pound.

I was also taken back by the fact that the only quantity you can order from Teavana is 2 oz. You can buy multiple 2 oz. orders of the same tea, of course, but you get absolutely no break on the price. This is not the case with the other online vendors I use.

I will be at MOA this coming summer, and am likely to visit Teavana and pick up a package or two of tea since I will be able to get it without shipping charges. But given the above reservations, I am very unlikely to ever order online from this vendor.

-- Randy (if replying by e-mail, remove SPAMFREE and DeLeTe from my address)

My local tea shoppe prices is $10/4oz for anything and a few at $10/2oz. He has selection and overhead. I can buy any generic Chinese tea for at most $1/oz in Chinatown. Any Temple of Heaven pinhead gunpowder is penny/gram. In the end it isn't prices but convenience. I shop both places if I'm in the vacinity. The local tea shoppe is having a sale tomorrow so I'll stock up at half price. Support your local merchant. You carry it out of the store with you. My local tea shoppe has 1 oz samplers for anything he sells. You try it before you buy it. Or just order a cup to go or a pot and relax in the store.

Jim