Taipei and Kaohsiung open Taiwan on the tea shop map, plus 18 more cities

Twenty cities joined our tea shop pages this week, and two of them, Taipei and Kaohsiung, open Taiwan, the first country on the map where the oolong is grown a few hours from the counter that sells it. Each page carries the same things: shops with a street address, the hours they publish, prices with pack size and currency for the teas on their shelves, and the counter we would send a friend to first. Thirty-two of the new shops have a page of their own, with three picks from the shelf and one tea worth the trip. Singapore, the oldest page on the list, keeps all 74 of its prices and adds ten.

Taipei is the easiest place in the world to buy Taiwanese tea at the source. Wang De Chuan, a house founded in 1862 in Tainan with six shops in the capital, sells Alishan oolong at NT$ 1,180 for 150 g and a Sanxia Bi Luo Chun at NT$ 480 for 50 g; Jing Sheng Yu, a tea bar on Yongkang Street that sells only Taiwanese teas, has a light Alishan at NT$ 880 for 100 g; and Wolf Tea, started in 2013 at Fenqihu on Alishan, packs Muzha Tieguanyin at NT$ 530 for 50 g. Kaohsiung buys its tea by the 150 g vacuum pack: Ever Trust Tea, a family merchant since 1971 with its flagship on Jianguo 1st Road, sells Alishan and Dong Ding oolongs at NT$ 360, and YuSong Tea in Daliao pours free tastings by appointment and keeps a wild black tea from Liugui at NT$ 1,499 for 100 g.

Canada gained five cities. In Montreal, Maison de thé Cha Noir on rue Wellington in Verdun, pouring since 2003, sells English Breakfast at CA$ 8.75 for 50 g, and Thés Guru on rue Beaubien Est runs past 600 teas with a Sencha de Yame at CA$ 9.50. Mississauga gathers three counters inside Square One: Tao Tea Leaf prices each tea from a 25 g pouch, Earl Grey at CA$ 9, and Ten Ren's sells Tung Ting oolong at CA$ 20 for 227 g. London, Ontario has The Tea Haus upstairs at Covent Garden Market, Irish Breakfast at CA$ 5.75 for 50 g, and The Tea Lounge on Piccadilly Street. Spruce Grove, west of Edmonton, has The Cove Tea Company on Brookside Avenue, English Breakfast at CA$ 11 the 1 oz tin, and Thornhill keeps its tea in its groceries: Galleria Supermarket on Yonge Street sells Nokchawon organic green in 50 bags at CA$ 8.99.

The United States added eleven. Sacramento is the deepest page of the week with six shops, from Tea Cozy on the R Street corridor, stocking more than 150 teas since 1998 with a 2 oz Assam Organic at US$ 7.50, to Classy Hippie Tea Co. in Oak Park. Fort Collins has two tea houses a few blocks apart in Old Town: Happy Lucky's on Walnut Street, Earl Grey at US$ 4.95 the ounce, and Ku Cha on College Avenue. Kansas City pairs Tea Market in Brookside, organic English Breakfast at US$ 4.45 the ounce, with Shang Tea in Crown Center, where Fujian white tea is the speciality. Grand Rapids has Global Infusion in East Hills, organic Gunpowder at US$ 3.25 the ounce; St. Louis The London Tea Room in DeBaliviere Place; Scottsdale TeaTime on Fifth Avenue, English Breakfast at US$ 18 for 100 g; Tampa TeBella on Davis Islands, Earl Grey at US$ 10 for 2 oz; St. Augustine Cultivate Tea & Spice on State Road 16A, sencha at US$ 7; Bellingham The Spice Hut on West Kellogg Road, English Breakfast at US$ 6 for 2 oz; Jacksonville The Spice & Tea Exchange of San Marco; and Boston, where loose tea is sold by places that do something else first, from Polcari's in the North End, English Breakfast at US$ 5 the half pound, to the gift shop of the Tea Party Ships and Museum.

In Spain, Zaragoza has the oldest tea shop in the city, La Casa del Té y Café on Calle Bolonia, and the chain Tea Shop on the Coso, Strong English Breakfast at 8,75 € for 100 g. In Germany, Nuremberg has Evas Teeplantage on Innere Laufer Gasse, family-run since 1985, English Breakfast, Earl Grey and Keemun at 2,59 € the 50 g, and Kräuterhaus Wurzelsepp on the Hauptmarkt since 1933. Two pages that already existed grew as well: Berlin gained TeeGschwendner, with five shops in the city and 34 prices from the chain's web shop, and Auckland now lists Tingcha Studio in Totara Vale, a Chinese tea house whose teas are bought at the counter.

Singapore was this week's maintenance page. None of its 74 prices moved, and ten teas join the list. ETTE, on Kreta Ayer Road, adds a Jibun Sencha at S$ 12.50 for 25 g, an Earl Grey Original at S$ 20 for 50 g and a Kukicha Karigane at S$ 16; Tea Chapter on Neil Road adds a Keemun Red Tea at S$ 22 for 50 g and a Top Grade Rou Gui at S$ 61 for 40 g; The 1872 Clipper Tea Co. adds Finest Darjeeling at S$ 25 for 50 g and Earl Grey at S$ 23 for 100 g, and its blurb now mentions the weekday tea bar at IOI Central Boulevard Towers; TWG Tea adds a Japanese Sencha at S$ 20.25 and a Lung Ching at S$ 23.25 for 50 g; and FairPrice adds Twinings Earl Grey at S$ 9.95 for 25 bags. The addresses and hours of the two Chinatown houses and of Clipper at ION Orchard are as the shops publish them today.

Every one of these shops now shows up in the “Where to find it” box of the teas it stocks. Open Keemun, pick a country, and the box lists the shops there that carry it, with price and size: the exact tea first, close matches after, and tea houses with a counter ahead of online-only sellers. If you would rather start from the occasion than from the shop, teas by moment sorts the catalogue that way.

— The FindMeTea editorial team