Where to buy tea in Boston

Taking afternoon tea at a hotel or restaurant isn't something most people can afford to do everyday. Well fear not, because Boston has recently added several shops that sell a great variety of tea and all the things associated with tea-drinking. These are places to stock-up at for your own tea-drinking pleasure, or to splash-out at prior to hosting your own tea party. So far, we've found 5 main shops worth a mention, but we will update and add detail to this page as we find more.

Tea Zone

Yelp Reviews, Official Website
Tea Zone is our favorite tea supplies store in Boston. Out in Somerville, a short walk from the Porter Square MBTA station, this independent shop is filled to the brim with amazing teas. The young owners have created a welcoming atmosphere and have on display almost a hundred teas that are purchased from the best importers in North America. Each tea has a shelf spot to it's own with a glass sample jar that you can open to catch the aroma. Your choice of tea is sold by dry weight and the staff are always happy to brew any of them up as a hot tea or an ice tea for you. They'll even show how best to do it yourself, which is useful when you return home and need that perfect tea fix.

Apart from being able to stop by here to get an amazing cup of any tea for a great price, Tea Zone is also great for tea accessories and there are plenty of gift ideas to browse. Where Tea Zone really comes up to another level, is if you are organising a tea party or designing a tea menu. It's quick and easy to choose several teas, they are weighed-out for you on the spot and handed over in sealed foil packs. You can (as we did) even design your own blend from many of the teas and herbs available. The owners are knowledgeable, their service is at bargain prices and their website is chock-full of information.

Timeless Teas

Timeless Teas on Newbury St is the oldest of the current bunch of tea supplies shops in Boston. It occupies the third floor above the popular Cafe L'Aroma and is run by the same family. They specialize in teas from the Indian subcontinent, especially from Sri Lanka. This makes a nice change from the China-dominated tea scene in the USA, and the staff take pride in this.

The store is packed full of loose-leaf tea in jars with plenty of variety and they stock a good number of tea-related gadgets, especially from Bodum. Where Timeless really excels is on three fronts: the wonderful teapot selection, the bargain flower teas (about a dollar a flower) and regular tea seminars where you can be thoroughly educated in all things tea.

It's also worth pointing out that you can buy tea here and then ask for hot water, bags and cups downstairs at Cafe L'Aroma if you can't wait to enjoy your purchase.

Whittard of Chelsea

In early 2007, Newbury St, Boston became the USA's first location for the English chain Whittard. Whittard of Chelsea has over a hundred stores in the UK and Japan and specializes in gift sets, fine teas, hot chocolates and that other drink that begins with the letter C. It’s perfect for Newbury St and also for the second location in Quincy Market as the stores are just as much for kitchen novelties and gifts for mom as they are for tea. Prices run high here, but this isn’t a store for your basic tea fix, it’s a high-end shop with convivial staff that often treat customers to an impromptu taste-test or two.

It’s not possible to get a drink of tea here, except for the free samples always on offer at the back of the store. These are usually sweetened cold herbal mixes that are the luxurious answer to the bottled Lipton soft drinks you can get in any 7-11. What you can get are teapots and teacups adorned with English rose patterns, loose-leaf tea in box sets with images of London and some fantastically good tea bags and loose-leaf varieties. If you really want to drink tea like a typical Englishman, head to Whittard to get a box-set of teabag varieties from around the world and enjoy excellent tea on the quick without the hassle of loose leaves. Particularly recommended are the English-style teas (Whittard Original and Earl Grey stand-out) as well as the famous white hot chocolate mix, which isn’t actually tea in anyway, shape of form but is definitely worth a mention.

Teavana

With a great spot in the Prudential Shopping Mall (and also a smaller branch out of town at Burlington Mall), Teavana never fails to pull in customers with money to spend on gifts or self-indulgence. It’s an American chain with a focus on the Asian-aspects of tea – karma, zen, ceremonial drinking – but also with an eye on those who want to impress but haven’t found the right places to buy. Tea is sold loose-leaf and weighed-out by the black-clad staff from the cabinets behind. Like Whittard, some flavored cold herbal blends are usually offered as samples in the store, especially to those browsing the three-figure-dollar cast-iron Fujian teapot section.

Knowing what to buy at Teavana is a daunting task for the bargain-hunter or someone new to the leaf. The teas on offer are presented in a lavish brochure and can run up to a high cost. The brochure is filled with tasting notes and factoids about each tea which go a little way to justifying their price. A good option to help you choose is to buy a cup of tea from their bar area, where a paper-cup of any available tea can be bought hot or iced for the same price, regardless of whether it costs 5 times the others in the usual menu. But be warned – The Boston Teacup has never had a good experience at Teavana, with poor excuses been offered by the staff when cups of high-end tea were ordered and then declined.

Cardullo's

Cardullo's is the international food store with a prime spot in Harvard Sq. As well as all your favorite chocolates and cheeses from around the world (and edible crickets!) they also have a substantial tea section at the rear. At first glance this just seems an extension to the coffee area, but if you look again it’s actually the home to the best range of teabags in New England. Not only are there classic English bags like Twinnings and PG but there are lots of other brands including The Boston Teacup’s current favorite, Mighty Leaf, who use silken bags and full loose leaves within.

Cardullo’s imports all its stuff from all over America and Europe and also has to deal with Harvard Sq rental prices and satisfying local bums with a big TV in the window showing the current Red Sox or Pats game. So with that in mind, it’s obvious that this is not the bargain-basement place to buy tea but it’s convenient and handsomely stocked none-the-less. It also has a wonderful abundance of eccentric staff and Hob-Nobs – the classic biscuit (cookie) to enjoy with a mug of Assam or English Breakfast.

Other venues

Good loose leaf tea and teabags have been spotted at Whole Foods branches and Harvest Market in Central Sq, Cambridge (both excellent for herbal teas). Asian teas are in abundance at the Super 88 Asian supermarkets dotted around town and Indian teas are at bargain prices at Shalimar Spices again in Central Sq, Cambridge. The tea café, Tealuxe also sells a lot of teas – even the very brand of Indian tea that was ceremoniously dumped into Boston Harbor by revolutionaries back in 1773.