The Spice & Tea Exchange of Anchorage

The Anchorage store of The Spice & Tea Exchange is at 10950 O'Malley Centre Drive, Unit B, in South Anchorage, and is owned and operated by Elizabeth and Ryan Eldridge. It follows the chain's format: fine spices, more than 85 handcrafted seasonings hand-mixed in store every day, loose-leaf teas, salts, sugars and gifts, with a Tea Bar inside. The store takes phone and email orders for curbside pickup, and opens seven days a week: ten to six from Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, ten to seven on Friday and Saturday.

The tea catalogue is the brand's own, sold online and stocked in the stores, and it splits into black, green, herbal, oolong, white, pu-erh, matcha, yerba mate, chai, decaf and iced teas, plus concentrates and lattes. Each loose tea comes in the same run of formats: a two-ounce small bag, a four-ounce bag, square and storage tins, and eight- and sixteen-ounce pouches for people who have settled on a favourite. Among the classics are an Earl Grey blended with bergamot oil, an organic single-estate Darjeeling, a Sencha Superior with grassy notes, hand-shaped Jasmine Pearls and a Taiwanese Iron Goddess of Mercy.

Two practical notes. The store takes phone and email orders for curbside pickup, so a bag of tea can be waiting at the door without a walk through the shelves. And the Tea Bar inside is where to taste before buying: the store leads with its spice masters mixing blends in front of customers, but the tea list runs from black and green to white, pu-erh and matcha, and a cup at the bar is the shortest route through it. For a first order, the two-ounce bag is the format to start with; the larger tins and pouches are for a tea you already know you like.