Tekultur

Tekultur describes itself as the city's only shop given over entirely to tea, and the shelves bear that out: hundreds of loose teas, plus teapots, tins, strainers and little else. It sits on Andra Långgatan in Linnéstaden and keeps simple hours: ten to six on weekdays, and on Saturdays only in even-numbered weeks, from noon to four. On odd-week Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays the door stays shut, so check the week number before a weekend visit.

The shop's stated interest is unflavoured tea, and the range is built around it: high-grade Japanese greens, white teas from China, Darjeeling, and a long oolong list that runs from Wuyi rock teas to oolongs from Taiwan, Korea's Jeju island, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. About 80 % of the teas are organic. Flavoured blends, rooibos, herbal mixes and yerba mate fill the rest of the wall. Every tea has its own entry on the website with a short description and a price per 100 g, the way it is weighed at the counter.

There is no web shop, and the shop says why: running the physical counter keeps it busy enough. Anyone outside Gothenburg can still email a list of teas and get back stock and a total with postage. The website doubles as a small tea school, with pages on tea types, brewing guidelines and the tools to brew with, and a section for cafés and restaurants that buy their tea here. For a first visit, read the oolong page at home, pick two, and ask at the counter for the rest.