Thehuset

Thehuset opened in 1924 by Kungsportsplatsen and has stayed in the same premises ever since, with the city going past the door. Its current owners, the friends Carin Henriksson and Anna Lenninger, started in tea in the summer of 2006 with a small shop of their own on Vallgatan, and shortly after were offered the old house on the square. They took it, and have run it since, adding a web shop and branches in Mölndal Galleria, Kongahälla Center in Kungälv and Spinneriet in Lindome, all outside the city.

The tea comes loose in 50 and 100 g bags, sorted the old way: plain and flavoured blacks, plain and flavoured greens, white, oolong, pu-erh and aged teas, rooibos and fruit and herbal blends, with matcha on its own shelf. Estate teas such as an organic Assam from Tonganagaon sit beside Japanese senchas, a Keemun from Anhui and an organic GABA oolong. Around the tea there is coffee from single origins to espresso, chocolates, marmalades, teapots and, in autumn, advent calendars.

The other half of the business is teaching. Under the name Teakademin, the owners run regular tastings and themed evenings on China or Japan, most of them at Kyrkogatan 30 and some at the branches, and their blog announces new arrivals as they reach the Kungstorget shop. The square shop opens every day of the week, Sunday afternoons included.