CaryTown Teas — Restaurant in Richmond

This is paradise for the tea fanatic. First off, the tea itself is amazing. I've never had better in my life. Apparently, it's the second-best tea shop in the United States. If Carytown Teas is number 2, number 1 must be mind-blowingly incredible, because Carytown Teas has hands-down the best tea I've ever tasted, and all of the paraphernalia you'll ever need to make a truly mind-blowing cuppa. The atmosphere of the shop is warm and inviting, there is a list of teas 3 or 4 pages long to choose from, and the staff are infinitely knowledgeable about their merchandise. The owner is a Frenchwoman whose love of tea is palpable as soon as she begins to talk about anything to do with the subject. If you're unsure what to get, she'll ask you a few questions & suggest something perfect. For the unadventurous or new tea aficionado, there are plenty of familiar, reasonably priced varieties, all blended in-house, and all absolutely delicious. If you're really serious about tea, then you'll find single-estate teas as complex and nuanced as any fine wine. The prices might seem high if you're used to supermarket teas, but the difference between a cup of Twinings and a cup of anything from Carytown Teas is so extreme that you'll never go back to supermarket-grade bog tea. Also, there're a lot of fancily-packaged, gimmicky "upmarket" teas showing up on supermarket shelves that cost far more per cup than Carytown's basic offerings. The breakfast blends, or the Assam, all good, robust black teas, are cheaper per ounce than any bog-water tea in a fancy box on a supermarket shelf, & they're infinitely better. There're a couple of extremely pricey teas available; they cost so much because they're so hard to source, though. They're the Château Lafitte of teas. I have some 2nd-flush Darjeeling tea that cost $12/ounce, & was worth every cent. For one thing, an ounce of tea is about 15 cups worth, & reusing the leaves a few times doesn't make a worse cuppa each time; the flavor evolves, different aspects of the leaf come out with each steeping. After about the 6th time, it's pretty well washed out, but that's less than a dollar for 6 cups of the closest I'll ever come to knowing what heaven tastes like. You get what you pay for. You're not getting gouged with prestige pricing. The yerba mate deserves special mention: there're blends available for the diletantte or Paraguayan & Paraguayan-style bombillas that get clogged the moment the yerba gets near them, & then there's the real thing: proper mates, uncured (the owner will gladly explain the process of curing them for use) & as authentic a rioplatense yerba mate experience as you'll find outside Montevideo. I went and got a second gourd just to make sure my green & roasted yerbas didn't cross-contaminate their respective mates. The prices are steep, again, but you're paying for quality. The yerba is the best I've ever had in my life. If you want to get away from the woo-woo health claims made about what is about as exotic a brew as coffee, and about as healthy (but much more delicious), here's a good place to start. Speaking of woo-woo, there're plenty of tisanes & herbal infusions to "detoxify" your body and balance your qi and expel the pernicious excess of black bile or phlegm that's making you feel slightly uneasy. If you're into that nonsense, there's a bunch of crushed-up leaves for you to choose from. If you're not a premodern "medicine" cultist & just like herbal decoctions, I'm sure Carytown tea does...

This is the best tea in Richmond, hands-down. It's unfortunately also some of the worst service in Richmond, too. On more than one occasion, I've checked the store hours on the web, called the store and listened to the store hours on their answering message, then driven thirty miles to the store and found out that it was closed with hours posted on the door that didn't match their phone message or their website. (The website is now updated with the summer hours, which would have been great at the beginning of summer rather than the end.)

The website mentions monthly tea tasting days on the last Thursday of every month. So on the last Thursday of a month, I'd arranged with a few friends and family members to meet there to try and buy tea. But after the store hours thing I was wary, so I called ahead. The first couple of calls, nobody answered, but I eventually got someone later in the day and asked about the tea tasting.

Silence.

"...Oh. We don't actually do those anymore. I guess we should start doing them again sometime."

Yeah, I guess maybe they should, if their website's advertising them. Fortunately I found this out before winding up looking stupid in front of several friends after they all drove to the store only to discover no tea tasting.

The terrible shame is that their tea is just great. If they weren't so careless with their customers' time and gas and actually maintained accurate store information, the place would get a perfect score from me. But between the fact that it's a mystery guessing game about whether the store will be locked when I get there and the fact that I never plan to set foot in a Teavana store to have some kid try to sell me four hundred dollars in tea pots and overpriced tea, I'm left with no options in Richmond but to mail...

I stopped in to see the selection of tea and learn about teas that are new to me. I was so pleased by the service from Chris and Andrea. They are two of the loveliest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. They shared knowledge that is obviously forged from a love of the products and need to care for their community. I truly cannot say enough good things about my experience. I asked a ton of questions and I never felt like we were (my wife and myself) anything less than the most important people in the store. I now have 6 teas to try and can't wait to go back to get more new-to-me tea. I would encourage anyone reading reviews to take the low marks with a grain of salt. I hold quality customer service in high regard and the service I received was 5 🌟 all the way. I will surely be back many times! Truly a fantastic store, with even more fantastic people there at the ready to make your journey in to tea the...