Quinta Esencia.

Quinta Esencia's main shop is unit 7 of the Caminos del Inca shopping centre, at Jr. Monterrey 258 in Chacarilla del Estanque, Santiago de Surco. It opens every day of the week, Monday to Saturday from ten in the morning to nine at night and Sundays from eleven to seven. The shop describes itself as a refuge built around the tea ceremony, and it backs its teas with origin and quality records; staff advise on choosing, brewing and serving, and the same teas go out to restaurants and hotels through a separate trade service.

The catalogue is numbered by family, from white tea through green, flavoured green, black, flavoured black, oolong and decaffeinated to rooibos, fruit, ayurvedic and herbal blends. The black list names its estates: a Darjeeling FTGFOP1 Makaibari, a Darjeeling TGFOP1 Castleton, an Assam FTGFOP1 Mangalam, a Sikkim Temi first flush, a Ceylon OP Kenilworth, a China OP Keemun and a Lapsang Souchong. The greens include a Japanese sencha and a Gyokuro Asahi, a China Lung Ching and a Temple of Heaven gunpowder; the oolongs a milky oolong, a Formosa fancy and a Darjeeling oolong from Gopaldhara.

Every tea is sold in 50, 100 and 150 g, and the larger sizes cost exactly two and three times the smallest, so the 50 g price is the whole price list. The accessories wall is the other reason to visit: Japanese Matsuda ceramics, from matcha bowls and nerikomi cups to large teapots with four cups, next to tea-for-one sets and glass tea makers. Orders can be picked up free at the shop 48 hours after buying, Monday to Saturday from nine to six; delivery in Lima is free from S/100, and the shop ships to the rest of the country.