Best of Tea 2024, Best 7 Tea Shops of 2024
Hello hello!
Welcome to this year's 'Best Of'!!
Since I started my blog almost 9 years ago, I've done a year-end 'Best Of' list nearly every year, to help highlight some of the best tea! However, the world of tea is so expansive, that it's hard to limilt it to one big generalization. So below, I'll be breaking down the 'Best Of' in various categories, and at the end, I'll list the top 7 best tea companies in all of 2024.
If a company made this list, even if they're not in the top seven, they are still one of the best of 2024.
Note: The blue 'X' by each company, will be a direct link to their shop/social media pages. Also, given the vastness and inaccessibility of the Asian tea market to Western Markets, Asia will largely not be represented on this list.
Let's dive in!
Best Tea Retail Stores:
America:
(Split by Time Zone)
Pacific: Smith Tea Maker, Flagship Store, Portland OR x
Mountain: Trident Booksellers, Boulder CO x
Central: Northeast Tea Shop, Minneapolis MN x
Eastern: Te Company, New York City NY x
America, Miscellaneous:
Best New Tea Shop: Seven Tea House, Leesburg VA x
Best High Tea: Tea Around Town, Washington DC x
Best Queer-Friendly Tea Space: Eli Tea Bar, Chicago IL x
Best Mobile Tea Shop/Food Truck: The Chai Shoppe, Huntsville AL x
Australia:
Sydney: TopoTea x
Melbourne: Teamoo x
Perth: Teassential Tea Store & Brew Bar x
Canada:
Vancouver: Cultivate x
Montreal: Camellia Sinesis x
Toronto: Tao Tea Leaf x
Halifax: World Tea House x
England:
London: Postcard Teas x
Bristol: Kimono Kimono x
Brighton: Birds & Blend Tea Co. x
Birmingham: Whittard of Chelsea Birmingham x
Wales: Tydden Mawr Tea Room x
Europe:
Paris: La Maison des Trois Thés x
Helsinki: Nari Tea x
Madrid: Teterimundi x
Barcelona: Caj Chai x
Rome: BiblioTeq Tea Shop x
Warsaw: Same Fusy Tea Room and Cafe x
Copenhagen: Sing Tehus x
Athens: Ohayo Teahouse x
Lisbon: Companhia Portugeza do Cha x
Stockholm: The Tea Centre of Stockholm x
Vienna: Jager TEE x
Berlin: BOHEA Teehandlung x
Budapest: Flying Bird Tea House x
Zurich: Shui Tang x
Oslo: Spill The Tea x
New Zealand:
Auckland: Tea Total x
Hamilton: Zealong Tea Estate x
Mexico:
Mexico City: Tumaste x
Tijuana: Sinensis x
Middle East:
Istanbul : Beta Tea House x
Tel Aviv: HoYum Tea x
South America:
Sao Paulo: Talcha x
Rio: Moncloa Tea Boutique x
Buneos Aries: Pei Chen Tea Palace x
Lima: Quintessence Tea Shop x
Santiago: Milagritos x
Travel:
Best Tea Travel Destination: Gorreana Tea Estate x
Events:
Best North American Tea Expo: 2024 Toronto Tea Festival x
Best European Tea Expo: 2024 Berlin Tea Fest x
Best Singular Tea Event: Swift-Tea High Tea at the Brown Palace Hotel, May 2024 x
Best Reoccouring Tea Event: Midnight Tea Party, hosted by Sip Jojo Tea x
Best Speaker/Presentation at a Tea Expo: Nadia De La Vega, The Power of Partnerships & CommuniTEA, 2024 Toronto Tea Festival x
Best Tea Booth at a Tea Expo/Other Event: Old Ways Tea, The 2024 San Francisco Tea Expo x
Best Tea Booth at a Tea Expo/Other Event, International: Yoshien, 2024 Berlin Tea Fest x
Tea Types, Regions, and Products:
Best African-Sourced Tea: Cured Tea Leaves x
Best Taiwan Tea Source: SatoTea x
Best Japanese Tea Source: Nio Japanese Teas x
Best Sencha: Ippodo x
Best Matcha: Yamasan Kyoto Uji x
Best Indian Teas: Gopaldhara Tea Estate x
Best Chinese Tea Source: Yunnan Sourcing x
Best Puer Tea Source: FarmerLeaf Tea x
Best Chai Tea: Chala Chai x
Best American Grown Tea: The Great Mississippi Tea Company x
Best Wellness Tea: Fresh Steeps x
Best Prepared Canned Tea: TWRL Milk Tea x
Best Tea Advent Calendar: David's Tea x
Best Tea Club: White2Tea Tea Club x
Best Online Tea Shop, Accessories: Tea Thoughts x
Best New Online Tea Shop: Tea Rebel x
Best Tea Wholesaler: Sugimoto Tea Company x
Best Tea-Related Food Product: Tea Wine, Tethos x
Best Innovative Tea Product: Boba Protein x
Tea Drinks:
Best Boba Tea Shop: Bobcat Tea House, Portland OR x
Best Milk Tea Shop: Milk Tea People, Denver CO x
Best Shop for Fruit Tea: Tea Maison, Las Vegas NE x
Best Milk Tea: Matcha Brown Sugar from SocieTEA, Springfield MO x
Best Chai Tea: Masala Chai from Chai Guys, London, England x
Pottery & Teaware:
Best American Potter: Anj, Gushu Studios x
Best International Potter: Andrzej Bero x
Best Teaware Educator: Mark Mohler, SanGuine Tea Pots for Northeast Tea Expo at Penn State University x
Best Tea Pets: Marsha Townsend x
Marketing/Branding:
Best Tea Branding: Rockys Matcha x
Best Tea Packaging: Kiani Tea x
Best Social Media Product Photography: Mikazuki Tea x
Best Retail Product Photography: T2 x
Best Company Merchandising: Spirit Tea x
Best Online Marketing: itoen x
Best Social Media Marketing Campaign: David's Tea, for their line of canned tea x
Media/Social Media:
Best Tea Blog: Nicole Wilson, Tea For Me Please x
Best Blog Series: 'Spill The Tea' by Cody Wade, The Oolong Drunk x
Best Tea Youtube: Mei Leaf x
Best Tea TikTok: Jessie's Tea House x
Best Tea Instagram: Kimberly of @kimberleyskyusu x
Best Tea Social-Media Photography: Ginger Woo, @JetCityTea x
Best Tea Personality: Tim and Jennifer, of @TimandJennifer x
Best Social-Media LIVE Tea Commentator: Samara Flink, TICE Tea Special, The Snark Squad, Facebook LIVE x
Best Online Tea Community: The Snark Squad, Facebook x
Best Tea Discord: CommuniTEA x
Best Tea App: My Tea Pal x
Worst Social Media Tea Community: A tie between /r/tea and /r/puer, subreddits, Reddit.
Education:
Best Tea Publication: 80 Degrees Magazine x
Best Tea Education Facilitator/Coordinator: Stephanie Wilson, PDX Tea Fest x
Best Tea Educator: Babette Donaldson, of T Ching x
Best Tea Class: Tea Salons, Hosted by Cody Wade and Peter Jones of Trident Booksellers, Boulder CO x
Top 7 Tea Shops of 2024
In random order, the following tea shops are the top 7 tea shops in all of 2024.
Snarky Tea
Snarky Tea made this year's list, for having innovative marketing, fun branding, and making tea accessible in a unique (and snarky) way. Their ability to create community and be inviting to tea drinkers of all kinds, is something that the greater tea industry is lacking. They set an example that other tea companies should follow.
(Link)
One River Tea
One River Tea is a three-person operation, and made this year's list for their ability to quietly support the tea industry as a whole, while still being able to release some of the best teas in the market. One River Tea works with various artist to help them source their own teas. Not only is their footprint large (yet quiet), they continually release high quality single origin teas that are out of this world.
Bitterleaf Teas
Bitterleaf Teas made this year's list for their incredible abiltiy to conintue to release some of the best Chinese teas you can buy. Their quality, accessibility, and unique style makes them one of the strongest powerhouses in all of tea.
Rivers and Lakes Tea
Rivers and Lakes Tea made this year's list for their ability to travel and source single origin teas, while making them accessible to a US market. Despite that this company is ran on a very small scale, they're able to produce a solid line-up that never disappoints.
White2Tea
White2Tea made this year's list for their ability to contiually release some of the best Chinese teas you can buy. White2Tea continues to expeirments and push the envalope on 'tradition', and somehow always sticks the landing. A lot goes into this small business, and yet, they make it look effortless.
Trident Booksellers
Trident Booksellers made this list for being one of the best cafe's to exist. They carry a wide-variety of tea, and helps tea farmers by sorucing directly from them. They sell tea at a lower cost with the idea of sharing the love of tea, while supporting their local commiunity. Not only is Trident a prime example of what a cafe should look like, they are a business model that all tea shops and cafe's should take note of.
David's Tea
David's tea made this year's list for their relentless innovation, and their ability to make tea accessable to the general public. David's Tea is a wonderful tea experience for newcomers, and fun experience for long-time tea drinekrs. While many companies of this size would be hesitant to push the envalope, David's Tea refuses to let the idea of failure stop them. Their ability to welcome failure and consistently try new things, has actually made them successful.
Let's raise a cup of tea to 2024, and can't wait to see what comes of 2025!
See you next year!
Best wishes,
~Cody Wade
aka The Oolong Drunk
"Blissfully Tea Drunk"
