Treasure!
25-Sep-2005
One of my earliest posts was about my love of tea. I really am quite a tea fanatic, drinking it from dawn to dusk on some days. I like it hot or cold; earthy or perfumed; exotic or universal. I have my favorites but love trying new varieties or combinations that catch my imagination.
So on Friday, when this rather nondescript box arrived on my doorstep, I was very excited! This box is from my all-time favorite tea purveyor, Tealuxe. Years ago I stumbled across their first shop in Harvard Square. (Perfect place for a perfect tea shop, don’t you think?) It was cold and damp outside but I entered the shop and was enveloped by warmth, the underlying smell of bulk teas and the friendliness of the teatenders. They have another location in Boston and, according to the website, one in Providence, Rhode Island. A word of warning: Before visiting any store outside of the Boston area, call and make sure they are actually still in business. M and I once spend about 1/2 a day in Manhattan trying to track down one of their stores. It turned out it had closed some time prior but I hadn’t checked the website or called to make sure they were still there. It seems they’ve had a hard time surviving outside of Boston, as this was actually their second Manhattan stored that hadn’t been able to make a go of it.
The selection can be fairly overwhelming at first. If you are in the shop, pick up one of the menu/catalogs and browse through it – the teas are very nicely organized. If you are online, use the Region/Estate search feature (First choose "Our Teas" off the main page, then at the top of that page you’ll see the Region/Estate search.) that will allow you to narrow your search as much as you’d like – notice the note at the bottom of the search box that tells you how many teas will be displayed, based on your current choices.
You can also look at the Teatenders’ Top Ten, Andre’s Tea Lists or answer the Tea Questionnaire for additional ways of helping refine your search. All of these are found on the Tea Choosing Help page. The site is a little awkward at first, but once you’ve used it a couple times you’ll be able to find your way around. And, once you’ve placed an order you can refer back to it and just plug selections in by bin# and amount which makes for a quick ordering process. In addition to teas, they stock lots of pots and tea paraphernalia, if you are in need of any accoutrement to enhance your tea making experience. In this last box I had a mix of old favorites and a few new items. Victorian Rose, a China black tea layered with rose petals, and Monk’s Blend, a Ceylon black with grenadine and vanilla, are two of my all time favorites! Then for just a slight change I ordered a Raspberry Earl Grey (there is always some variety of Early Grey in my order) and a Vanilla Jasmine. And two that are brand new to me Gingerbread, a Darjeeling with ginger, cinnamon and orange (obviously the change in seasons is having some affect here!) and Lemongrass, which sounds so clean and refreshing to me.
I’ll be diving into my order a bit later today. I’m looking forward to the first steaming mug of a brand new tea. Ahhhh…
Culinary Fool 
Comments are closed.