Tealand

Tealand Trading LLC was established in 2004 as Night Stars Foodstuff Trading, supplying loose black, green and herbal teas to the UAE market before adding accessories, bagged tea and its own blends. Today it lists five addresses in Dubai: the retail outlet at Shed 23 in Umm Ramool, near Rashidiya, and counters at Dubai Festival City Mall on the second floor, on Jumeira Street in Jumeirah 1, at Golden Mile 6 on Palm Jumeirah and inside Palm Jumeirah Mall.

The catalogue passes 500 teas, and the shelf is organised by size as much as by family. Most loose teas are sold in 50 g; the Taiwanese oolongs move up to 100 g, which is where Alishan, GABA, roasted Dong Ding and Jinxuan sit. The green section is unusually deep for a mall counter: mingqian Long Jing Shi Feng, Dong Ting Bi Luo Chun, Tai Ping Hou Kui, Lu An Gua Pian, gyokuro, houjicha, kukicha and gunpowder. Pu-erh comes both raw, as a Xia Guan sheng, and pressed as a dated shu cake.

The herbal side is treated as its own department, with single herbs sold loose, rooibos in two versions, lemongrass, elderflower and yerba mate with stems. The accessory wall covers cast iron, gongfu ware, glass, matcha tools, samovars, tins and infusers, and there is a specialty coffee line beside it. Sampler kits and a free-sample category let you test before committing to a 100 g bag, shipping inside Dubai is free from AED 200, and the company also runs wholesale, franchise and tea training programmes.