Rakkasan Tea Company

Rakkasan Tea Company opened in 2017 at 3002 Commerce Street in Deep Ellum, in the same room as Deep Vellum Books. Its co-founders, Brandon Friedman and Terrence Kamauf, led Rakkasans — the nickname of a unit in the US Army's 101st Airborne Division, taken from the old Japanese word for parachutist — in Iraq and Afghanistan, where they often drank the tea locals offered them. The company that came out of that buys from estates in current war zones and post-conflict countries, and it is the one shop on this page with a street door and posted hours.

The shelf is organised by origin as much as by type: Nepal, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Laos, Colombia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Egypt and Georgia. Nepal does most of the work, with a Himalayan Earl Grey and a Kathmandu Jasmine in 2 oz, a Kanchenjunga oolong and a White Sunrise in 1.5 oz. Prices run from $13.49 for the South African rooibos to $19.49 for the white, and a canister instead of a bag adds $3. Sampler packs and sachets cover the cheaper end for anyone who does not want to commit to a full bag.

Past the leaf there is a tea club subscription, mugs and teaware, art, and gifts and apparel, plus an events calendar and a wholesale line. The shop keeps short afternoon hours from Monday to Thursday and opens Friday and Saturday by appointment, arranged by email; Sunday it closes. Because the room is shared with a bookstore, a visit doubles as a bookshop trip, and everything on the shelf also ships from the same address for anyone who cannot make the afternoon window.