Ok, so you are the second person who has told me this!!!!! This makes me want to go to London now (although flying over the water for that long would require more Xanax than I currently have a prescription for) :)

Oh, fun!

:stillheart:

My favorite teas are black teas...Peach Apricot is my favorite followed closely by a nice Scottish or English Breakfast blend. Like Massive said earlier, I've never gotten used to the idea of iced tea and prefer to drink it hot. There are a couple of really great tea rooms in the Seattle area. Now that I know you like tea, Sassy Leo, we should definitely plan to get together for tea. I'll also make a note to bring some to share in LR! :-)

:stillheart:

Note to self: I am not allowed to "window shop" on the Teavana tea site. :|
(I am NOT spending $256 on TEA)

I had a friend who had access to a wholesale supplier of fine teas, and they had really really high quality teas that you could buy by the pound. Incidentally, a pound of tea is a LOT and it keeps very well. LOL So I'm stocked up on loose leaf for... well.. hmm.. a while.

You need a business license to buy from them, but I once wrote to them and told them I did not yet have a license but was considering a tea business (I swear at the time, I was!) and they sent me a whole TON of samples (I was not expecting that, just a copy of the brochure!):
http://www.metrotea.com/

If you DO have a business license you can buy wholesale and it is really lovely. I got a whole pound of Jasmine Dragon Pearls (the hand-rolled long leaf 'gunpowder' style of Jasmine tea) for like $70 I think. This is one of the most expensive teas you can buy so I got a FANTASTIC deal for a pound.

Anyway... would recommend them in a snap!

I've tried their black teas, rooibos (they have some lovely fruity blends of rooibos that are heavenly), and greens and they're all marvelous. But the jasmine pearls are still my all time favourite and probably the only one I'd go to the trouble to buy in bulk again.. .er.. if I ever run out that is. I even share - a LOT! LOL

Oh my... do they ship to Canada? I actually have teavana's app on my ipod touch - it's a lovely download that is a teatimer! You select the type of tea and it tells you how long to steep and has a lovely little animation to go along with it. :) Also info on different tea varieties, etc. :)

Im going to have to check because I have been trying to win a frigging tea basket for the last umpteen years and have YET to succeed! And one year they had the cutest little crocheted tea cozy :praying:

Incidentally, I checked flights to London last night and 2 round-trip first class tickets ( I am NOT flying coach for that long over the water) from Little Rock, Arkansas to London Heathrow is a little over $17,000 :|

That was knitted thank you very much....

Part of the problem, I suspect..is that in the US, people tend to use Tea bags
Which are NOT at all the same as using loose Tea . Very different in taste and quality. The Tea put in bags, is cut very fine, and loses taste very quickly..
Not these days, there are company's changing the bags, and putting real loose tea in them, but those are the ones you have probably thought to yourself..Why would anyone pay that much for those !

The tea merchant I use has T-Sacs that I use when I only want a cup of tea for traveling. Just like tea bags, but you can put your loose tea in them. I think it's the next best thing to a tea bag if you don't like tea floating in your cup from a tea ball or infuser. Personally at home, I have a tea spoon I fill with tea when only wanting a cup. So, for those that like tea bags and also like loose tea, use a T-Sac.

Medusa - if you don't like flying or being on a plane try the Cunard transatlantic sailing trip. http://www.cunard.com/ They have afternoon tea everyday on board! It is a lot cheaper then flying first class. It also takes longer. About 6 days from NY to Southhampton. Rufusboi has arthritis and can't sit on a plane longer then 3 hours. Even that length of time makes him limp getting off the flight. So we are thinking of the Cunard option.

Melissa

Absolutely, although i was referring to a lot of new companies, with.. Infuser bags.. I think that is more what they get called. Much improved and contain already measured loose Tea.. : )