VS
Yesterday I found a new tea store at Bramalea called DavidsTea.The thing that I liked best was that they didn't sell 50g minimum like Teaopia. I was able to buy 5 different teas, and I was buying between 8g-12g which made 3-5 cups. I was also able to buy 8g of Matcha to try. all for just under $8.00 CDN
I know that staff in the Teaopia stores are more that willing to brew the teas for you to sample in store, however I didn't want to spend my whole day going through all the teas to find one that I liked. Also, I am the type of person that always NEEDS to try new things, and it is more convenient to buy many different teas in smaller amounts than to buy 1(one) tea in a bigger amount (for the same price)
Now regarding tea quality, I did not actually try the other tea, but from the sample in store the quality was comparable.
The service was also comparable. They also had similar products (mugs, pots etc.)
They also had a many teas to choose from like Teaopia, and the ingredients in the teas are similar.
I think the prices are comparable as well but the other tea store will allow you to buy smaller quantities which works out to be a little less.
So I guess in the grand scheme of things, it comes down to what you are looking for, and how much you want to spend or buy and what your palette likes best.
I have so many new teas to try before I can conclusively decide which is better for my tastes.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog from your post on David's Tea Facebook page.
I was a Teatopia customer but I've mostly switched to David's Tea (David's seems to have fresher tea from the tea I've bought. Maybe it's my local Teatopia location but a lot of their flavoured black tea is stale). However, I prefer Teatopia's canisters as they are shorter (fit my cupboards better) & stackable. (They also sell some canisters covered with beautiful Japanese paper for more $$.)
I much prefer Davids Tea over Teaopia. The very fact that you can get any amount you want at Davids, makes it so you can but more tea. [Meaning in essence you can spend more money. I bought about 6 bags of tea; (and I re-use my leaves to maximise the tea) all around 24-6ish grams, where as Teaopia I could only spend 15 dollars on tea because I wasn't sure if I'd like it).
ReplyDeleteI also feel that David's tea tastes what it smells like. I've really hit a miss with them and again re-using the leaves I can still get a lot of flavour. I have yet to hit a home run with the tea I bought at Teaopia. Apple Strudel doesn't taste awesome, orange truffle doesn't taste awesome and I've yet to figure out what Aztecs Gold is supposed to taste like - but it doesn't taste awesome.
David's Tea gets my vote and my money hands down.
I used to work at Teaopia, and I've shopped at both. Since I found The Tea Haus, (in London, ON) I'll never go back to either chain store. I started working there recently and I'm learning so much about the tea industry and tea culture around the world.
ReplyDeleteThe tea at Teaopia WITH employee discount was still more expensive than regular price tea at Tea Haus. The owners deal directly with the international suppliers, so the quality is exceptional. They are conscious of waste (one drawback is that they don't do cups to-go, but the for-here cups are only 1.75 as opposed to Teaopia's almost $3 for a simple cup).
I also find that Teaopia and David's don't have as much variety. I mean, they have a lot of flavoured teas, but not varieties of actual teas. There are so many more types of green teas and black teas than I realized.
I also know from working there and having done my research that Teaopia makes exaggerated health claims.
Thank you for that comment.
ReplyDeleteI actually can't travel that far for Tea, I am in Brampton, if I do find a Tea Hau, I will make a point to check it out.