Grocery Stores
David's Tea
I like tea. A lot. It's awesome with my Saturday morning chocolate chip pancakes, and it even makes my Monday morning toast taste better. This is why I was so excited to visit David's Tea.
Dara and I wander into the Queen Street West store, stopping to giggle at the 'David's Tea girls have gone wild (for the new spring collection)!' sign on the sidewalk.
Dara first notices the design of the store. It is bold and eye-catching with a relaxed vibe. She also mentions the flowers on the front window match the flowers on the spring collection tins.
Kim, who is very friendly and knowledgeable, is working when we arrive, and is handing out samples to customers as they browse the shop. She offers us a sample of the tea of the day - caramel pear. It doesn't taste much like caramel, but it's still really good - like fresh pear juice has been squeezed into my tiny porcelain cup.
As I sip, my eyes wander about the store. There are so many loose-tea-filled silver tins lining one side of the store that it's a bit overwhelming. I ask Kim what she likes and she brings over Exotica, Read My Lips, Vanilla Oolong and Kenya Silverback White.
One sniff of Exotica later, I am in love. Seriously. It is made with lemongrass, red pepper, cinnamon, pineapple and orange peel and reminds me of sitting on a patio in the middle of summer. A few more sniffs and I realize it also smells like my grandmother's sponge cake.
Read My Lips seems like it should be featured for Valentine's Day, but it's actually part of the spring collection. A black tea, the chocolate pieces, peppermint and red candy lips make it not only great to smell but also really fun to look at. We continue exploring.
There's a small counter at the front of the store that seats five or so, for those who'd like to have a cup of tea ($2.50) instead of getting it to go. Buying en masse does seem to be the way to go, though (and the better value - starting at $5.50 for 50 grams, which makes about 25 cups), so that's what we do. After smelling almost half the teas, I buy a small tin of Exotica. Dara goes with Read My Lips and at the last minute throws in a turquoise mug to brew the tea in ($18.50).
Only after we purchase our teas do I notice the cupcakes. No idea why I didn't see them right away - if there's one thing I love more than tea, its cupcakes. They look absolutely incredible, and Kim tells us they are made by a local baker. Guess I'll have to get one next time.
Writing by Laura Stricker, photos by Dara Skolnick.
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When asked whether the tea was from Assam, they merely replied "it's orange pekoe". Strike two. Enough said.
Not a reputable tea store.
if i am wrong, i apologize, but overly positive (or overly negative) reviews are suspicious.
I haven't been in Toronto long enough to know who has good macarons and who doesn't, but I'm curious about the ones here, since David's tea is a place I pass fairly regularly.
Also to the photographer, THANKS for the WIDE ANGLE shots of the entire place. I was getting claustrophobic of how there were microscopic shots of only the food in every other review.
How did the tea taste after you 'cooked' it?
Also since we are in the discussion of Teas, Twinings makes some really good flavored teas. Its all over in London, but haven't seen them around in TO.
But I'll have to settle for a cup of Tetley and a Mars bar from the vending machine. :(
But they dropped me before the store even opened, and I'm pretty sure I did nothing to deserve it! This kind of turned me OFF the whole "David's Tea" experience and I'm perfectly happy going Tealish for my tea, even though it's out of the way for me.
Atelier Thuet has pretty good macarons (the caramel is mind blowing)
I wrote a good review for David's Tea but sorry, I don't work there, neither do I own the place or have any interest other than being a customer. Is it really that difficult to believe some people might like something enough not to complain? Sorry but as cynical as I often am, I gotta call you on yours.
Haven't found them here really (one lame-o one from Pusateri and okay ones from the frenchie place in Summerhill).
Also, they have these neat starter packages where you get 6 teas an a strainer ball. Great way to start out.
I found them on the net through sweetspot - truly a great find.
good tea. i also bought my mom a kickass teapot for christmas there.
I've been treated with a lot of patience while making them drag down over 10 containers of tea, digging out gift wrapping or spare boxes during the holiday rush, and even when I ask stupid questions like "Do you have any tea, that's more like coffee in caffeine content - but tastes less harsh than your X blend?"
I did try the macaroons though, and they were delicious :)
i live in the other end of town, yet i find myself making
weekly trips there
a few people said they try to push sales, i totally disagree
i think it's that the employees are just enthusiastic
the only problem i have come across, is when it gets busy they
tend to just focus on a few customers and ignore the rest
oh well, the tea is totally worth it ..i have yet to try one
i didnt like
and for some reason i never noticed the cupcakes either !! lol
i guess i just get wrapped up in all the tea :D
i love the tea's - but mind you, they'll smell much stronger than they actually taste. especially if you get an iced tea, really tastes weaker than flavoured water at times.
Anyways, the tea blends are great although the tea itself is of fairly low quality. Price point is okay but not really a great value considering the quality of the tea (lots of dust, broken and small leaf fragments, sticks and twigs, and excessive use of flavourings to cover up the quality of the tea itself). My favourite blend isn't tea at all, it's just chopped nuts and beetroot. I also enjoyed the Coffee Pu'erh (my first attempt at drinking pu'erh, I have now bought a bunch of aged raw and cooked pu'erh from quality factories in China).
To summarize: it's a cute store, interesting concept, fun accessories and flavours of tea but it's not for the tea connoisseur (or even amateur), it's more geared towards people just getting into tea or that like the odd cup of very flavoured tea (teens, young adults, occasional/rare tea drinkers). If you're a serious tea drinker, you're probably going to go elsewhere for quality tea (and at a better price). It's fun but it doesn't take tea that seriously. The staff are overly aggressive and they really don't know their tea, unfortunately.
It was opening weekend and (naturally) was very busy and had an excessive amount of (very friendly but not pushy) staff. I usually prefer to browse on my own and am put off by overly social staff but I actually found the staff very helpful! Especially in going over the tea sampling and ordering process. I picked an initial tea and the salesgirl recommended a similar popular tea which I loved even more.
As a non- expert on tea I cannot comment on the specifics of their teas or the in-depth knowledge of the staff, but for someone who enjoys tea in general and is looking for great variety, decent prices, and good service I highly recommend David' tea. (I have been back to restock and purchase a very cute reasonably priced mug)
The tea is delicious, however I do still believe it is of low quality tea and uses flavourings to cover the quality of the leaves. However, the flavours are fun and there is a nice wide array of types and flavours of tea. The accessories are very nice, high quality accessories, and the store is fresh and fun looking. Again, for general tea lovers like myself, the tea is decent but it's not gourmet or high-quality (and in fact, I believe the owner/founder of the business said so himself as his target market is not for the high-end tea snobs).
I'd rather have a tea party in the comfort of my own home, and be able to sample the different teas available than have to go and buy from people who obviously can't be bothered to stop their conversation to help a customer.
I read that you are from Vancouver as well. I am fairly new when it comes to drinking tea and one of my co-worker's recommended the store. I am worried that I will get completely lost or ignored if I go to the store. I have done some research and have made a list of possible teas that I want to purchase. From your experience, will the staff let me wander the store or even better if they can educate me a little about my selection to help me choose which teas from each category I should start with.
Thank you in advance for your time.
One other thing.....why is it only staffed by women? Do guys not know how to sell tea? It seems like we have gotten passed that.....
And they do smell great: really rich, interesting blends.
And so you buy, and take your tea home. And then try as you may, you can't get your tea to taste good; no matter how you experiment with water type and temperature and method and steeping times, the tea is wimpy tasting. Because what looks good and smells good doesn't necessarily steep well and make a good tea.
I know this well because I'm a tea fan. So as well as buying two different kinds of teas from DavidsTea, I've received almost a dozen different kinds of DavidsTea as gifts over the past two years. (I live near the Annex store).
It all makes up as wimpy, weak-tasting tea.
Loved what I read here, I hope the the Johnson St store is just as great!
First of all, I'm the "real-deal-customer", and I can promiss you that David's Tea has changed my life. I had to give up on coffee for health reasons and I was craving it every day, until I discovered David's Tea in Laval, Qc. Coffee ? Tell me again, what is coffee ? End of story.
Second of all, yes, Twinings makes good teas (which you can find easily in groceries all over the province of Quebec), but David's Tea is a whole new plane of existence (I know, you think I'm over-selling it, but this is how I really feel about it).
Most of their black teas/pu'erh have the heartiness of coffee, especially when you add milk to them, but with a whole new set of flavours. I can't get enough!
So go ahead, discover for yourself, and enjoy.
(Please forgive my mistakes, English isn't my first language.)
Great service, friendly staff at the Dufferin Mall location.
I'm mostly a black or white tea drinker - not much of a fan of the greens, reds or herbals ~ but honestly, DavidsTea is probably one of my favourite places to go to try something new. Because it is kind of a cafe chain, I feel like there is less pressure from the staff to be knowledgeable. The service isn't pretentious and the variety/prices are great. I loved this blog post and hope to stop by the Queen West DavidsTea when I'm in Toronto next week!
I thought the tea was overpriced but I do steep the leaves 3-4 times each time I make tea. It's good but I dunno...I'm split on if I should go back to try more teas or stick with the cheaper tea my parents get
I received a box of David's "Round the World" teas for Christmas and need to know if they are Gluten-Free. Does anyone know. Thanks
So yes, the teas themselves are gluten free, but the processing facilities are not.