# Looking for a good loose leaf tea by mail service **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 8, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061 "2020-11-08T15:56:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/1 "2020-11-08T15:56:37Z")
Seven months out of the year, I really don’t drink hot beverages of any kind. This time of the year though, a nice steaming mug of comfort is most welcome. I certainly drink my share of coffee but, in general, I prefer tea. Unfortunately, my selection out here in the hinterlands of Plains state America is poor to non-existent. There’s the usual dusty boxes of mass market grocery store brands if I’m lucky. Do you have any good suggestions for online ordering of quality, loose leaf teas delivered by mail? My go-to us usually English Breakfast tea but I’m OK with dropping a few quid a month on some semi random selection that might be interesting. Services that offer diverse sampler packs to enable me to sample a nice variety would be good. A monthly subscription service with a wide selection of quality samples would be ideal. All polite suggestions welcomes and I’ll set out the biscuits. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/2 "2020-11-08T16:28:29Z")
You appear to be based in UK, which probably makes my US-based suggestions not very useful. But here they are anyway (I don’t know if any of them have subscription services like you described). Harney & Sons David’s Tea Adagio Teas ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/3 "2020-11-08T16:44:43Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > You appear to be based in UK No, I’m U.S. based. I was just goofing with the quid and biscuits bit for no obvious reason than rampant schmuckery. Maybe It’s PTSD from living in Red State America. I offer sincere apologies to anyone I may have confused or offended. Many thanks for the hints. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/4 "2020-11-08T17:18:34Z")
> **[J-TEA INTERNATIONAL LLC](https://jteainternational.com/)** > > joshc@jteainternational.com ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/5 "2020-11-08T17:20:44Z")
Glad to hear they will be of some use then. I have dealt with all of them, and their products seem to be genuinely good quality tea, and they have a lot of variety. None of them is cheap, however, if that’s an issue. There are a ton of other sites, if you google (for example) “loose tea for sale online” or something similar. These are just the ones I have bought from. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/6 "2020-11-08T17:24:13Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > There are a ton of other sites, if you google (for example) “loose tea for sale online” or something similar. Yes, searching on my own was my first step but frankly I was a bit overwhelmed. I was hoping to tap the wellspring of doper knowledge for advice on cutting through the posers and finding the better suppliers. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/7 "2020-11-08T17:51:05Z")
Adagio was already mentioned by I’ll second it. I like their tea and their delivery service is excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/8 "2020-11-08T18:40:07Z")
I’ve used and recommended Harney & Sons before. If you want to get ‘artisan’ about it, this post from Serious Eats (which is usually a great site to browse, anyway) has a list of their favorite, circa 2015, passionate mail-order tea purveyors: [Where to Buy Amazing Tea Online](https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/02/best-tea-where-to-buy.html) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/9 "2020-11-08T19:15:49Z")
[Upton Tea](https://www.uptontea.com/) is always first class, though it can be daunting to order from: so many varieties. [The Whistling Kettle](https://www.thewhistlingkettle.com/) is also quite good. They’re local, but do offer mail order. I especially like their “King of Silver Needles” white tea. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/10 "2020-11-08T19:50:42Z")
Second for Upton, and second on the bewildering array of varietals! ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/11 "2020-11-08T22:07:45Z")
Upton! That’s the one you all talked about before, when we last had this thread. It was on the tip of my brain and I couldn’t remember. I’ve not ordered from them—I have a bale of Harneys to work through—but they looked very interesting and comparable in price to Harneys. Certainly less expensive than the purveyors sound in that Serious Eats article I linked to. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/12 "2020-11-08T23:09:20Z")
FWIW I’ve ordered from Halmari Tea and been happy with the products. [https://www.halmaritea.com/](https://www.halmaritea.com/) Okay, now I want a cup of tea. Wish I had some cookies (biscuits). ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/13 "2020-11-09T03:15:55Z")
I’ll have to try Halmari. My favorite Assam tea is no longer available in the U.S. I’ve haunted all the local shops looking for it. I now rely on a friend to bring it to me when returning from her annual family visit. Right now, I’m working through a bag of Yorkshire Gold, as I ran out of my fancy, Indian estate tea. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/14 "2020-11-09T03:31:37Z")
I order from Tea Source a lot. They’re based in St. Paul, so maybe not too far away from you. Huge selection of black and green teas, and their tisanes are damn fine. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/15 "2020-11-09T03:43:40Z")
David’s Teas has some lovely teas, a huge variety of quality teas. They are very expensive and their customer service is nothing short of rip off central. I wasted months trying to get what I ordered, the agents were rude and basically said, “we’re keeping your money. What are you going to do about it?” Save yourself the agony. You won’t get the right order and you also won’t get a refund. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/16 "2020-11-09T03:46:32Z")
My husband buys tea from Simpson and Vail > **[Simpson & Vail High Quality, Specialty Teas since 1929](https://svtea.com/)** > > Simpson & Vail imports high quality loose teas; then we blend & flavor them in-house. We sell everything you need for brewing tea: tea infuser mugs, strainers, teapots, filters and more. We offer high quality herbal tisanes (botanicals),... I especially like their gunpowder green, and a Ceylon green whose name I forget. All their teas that I’ve tried have been solid I buy tea from Rishi > **[Rishi Tea & Botanicals](https://rishi-tea.com/)** > > Direct trade importer of certified organic tea. Offering loose leaf tea, tea bags and sachets as well as many other herbs and botanicals sourced from around the world. because I returned from South Africa having really enjoyed rooibos, but a lot of what I could buy here didn’t taste very good. I bought every brand I could find at the supermarket, and Rishi’s was the best, to my tastes. Their teas are variable, but some are really excellent. I like their Ancient Golden Yunnan (one of their cheaper Yunnans, but one of their better ones, imo) and their Japanese rice tea. (That’s not the real name, but it’s common in Japan to get tea mixed with toasted rice, and Rishi’s is quite good.) They have some fabulously expensive teas, too, some of which are excellent and some of which don’t taste that different from cheap tea – at least to me. But they always send a sample of something new with my order, and that’s often fun. I think the owners care about tea and want you to care, too. (We both drink teas from both those sources, fwiw, but we each keep up the stock from the shop we order from.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/17 "2020-11-09T03:56:40Z")
This is the ceylon tea my husband buys: [https://www.svtea.com/Ceylon-Blackwood-Estate-Green-Organic/productinfo/T0786/](https://www.svtea.com/Ceylon-Blackwood-Estate-Green-Organic/productinfo/T0786/) It’s got a lot of flavor for a green tea, and it’s a lovely cup for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/18 "2020-11-10T00:17:13Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > David’s Teas has some lovely teas, a huge variety of quality teas. They are very expensive and their customer service is nothing short of rip off central. I wasted months trying to get what I ordered, the agents were rude and basically said, “we’re keeping your money. What are you going to do about it?” Save yourself the agony. You won’t get the right order and you also won’t get a refund. Sorry you had this experience. I agree David’s is on the expensive side, but I have never had any experience remotely like this when dealing with them, either in person or online. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/19 "2020-11-10T01:00:16Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I agree David’s is on the expensive side Glad your experience has been better. I might have caught them at a moment of expansion and was dealing with poorly trained or supervised employees. It ended up being a wasted $50. Even worse, it was a gift so I needed to find a replacement and get it delivered. And it sounds like there are quite a few tried and true tea purveyor suggestions here so folks have good choices. Just reading them makes me want to have a good cuppa. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061/20 "2020-11-11T22:26:33Z")
I’m late to the party but I’m another fan of Upton Tea. I’m also a casual follower of Series Eats and I hadn’t seen that article, so thanks! They recommend Simpson & Vail for Nepalese tea and mention Mist Valley. Here is S&V and Upton links: [https://www.svtea.com/Nepal-Mist-Valley/productinfo/T0885/](https://www.svtea.com/Nepal-Mist-Valley/productinfo/T0885/) > **[Loose Leaf Nepal Black Tea | Upton Tea Imports](https://www.uptontea.com/black-tea/c/nepal-black-tea/)** > > Nepal Black Tea at Upton Tea Imports S&V is noticeably cheaper (prior to shipping) but Upton tells you the flush so I would interpret them as the more “serious” tea purveyor. I spend a lot of money at Upton, mostly on single-estate Darjeeling teas. That said, maybe my all-time favorite tea was Equal Exchange’s loose leaf Darjeeling blend which sadly is no longer sold. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-loose-leaf-tea-by-mail-service/925061.md?page=2)