Tea Places: David’s Tea – Bleecker Street
After an amazing dinner at Peanut Butter and Co., my boyfriend and I stopped by David’s Tea‘s Bleecker Street location for an tummy settling cup of tea. I’ve been meaning to check them out ever since the Canadian based retailer opened their two NYC shops. The space was very modern but soothing at the same time. They had a huge selection of loose leaf teas, both flavored and traditional. The staff wasn’t pushy but they were all very friendly and helpful. They had a nice comfy couch in their seating area and we were able to take a load off and enjoy our tea. I had the strawberry white tea and Jason had the pure…
Tea Places: Franchia
I have been meaning to check out Franchia for quite some time and never managed to get around to it until now. The instant I walked through the door I felt as though I had left the buzz of the city behind me. It may be different during busier times of the day but the space was so quiet and peaceful. While it is a vegan café, they also have a selection of high quality loose leaf teas. I’m not vegan or even vegetarian so I struggled with the menu a bit. I settled on a couple of rolls of their meatless sushi. It was…interesting. The “chicken” teriyaki roll wasn’t too bad though.…
Tea Places: Harney and Sons SoHo
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a screening of The Meaning of Tea (a documentary I somehow neglected to review) at Harney and Sons’s tasting room in SoHo. I had been meaning to check it out and this event was a perfect excuse. I had a blast and got to meet several new and old tea friends including James Norwood Pratt, Michael Harney, Jason of Walker Tea Review, Alexis of Teaspoons & Petals and Caleb Brown of Calebrown.com. The first thing that I noticed was how large the space is. I love a tea shop that isn’t crowded and cluttered. The second was the massive wall of tea tins. It’s…
Tea Places: In Pursuit of Tea
I recently had the pleasure of attending a tea and cheese tasting at In Pursuit of Tea’s new shop on Crosby Street in Soho. I’m going a little link crazy in this one but I really want to recognize the great companies involved. It was conducted by Sebastian Beckwith from In Pursuit of Tea, Benoit Breal from Saxelby Cheese, and Melanie Franks, a chef instructor at the French Culinary Institute. We sampled six teas, ranging from white tea to puerh, that were each paired with a different cheese. Even thought I’m adventurous in my tea drinking I’m actually quite the picky eater so I was a little worried that I would not enjoy…
Tea Places: Radiance Tea House and Books
This post is the first in a series that I will be doing on tea places in New York City. I decided to kick off my tour at Radiance Tea and Books. This time I had the pleasure of visiting with a future tea sommelier. There is nothing better than sharing good tea with good company. I had the miso soup, a salmon summer roll and two pots of Bi Luo Chun. The great thing about filling up on tea is that it keeps me from ordering dessert. Located on West 55th street between 6th and 7th Avenue, they are one of my most favorite places in New York. Once I step inside…
Steepster Meetup
The wonderful people who run Steepster held a meetup at Radiance Tea House and Books. It is a rare day that I get to share my tea passion in person so it was a really enjoyable gathering. Dan did a really nice tea tasting for us. We sampled several pots of each of these: Silver Needle white tea Dragonwell green tea Golden Lily oolong tea Phoneix oolong tea Lapsang Souchong black tea I also had a bowl of their yummy summer noodles since a lot of tea always makes me hungry. Afterwards, we indulged in three additional pots of tea (sencha, keemun and a honeybush fruit blend). Comparing tasting notes on the spot…
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