The Tea Haus

The Tea Haus is at 130 King Street, upstairs in Covent Garden Market, the covered market in the heart of downtown London, Ontario, and describes itself on its site as a premium tea merchant. Its catalogue runs well past a hundred teas, each sold in 25, 50 and 100 g with the 50 g as the standard pack, and the same list is on its web shop with a wishlist, a tea journal and a sampler range. The site publishes the address and a phone number but not the counter's hours, so a first visit is best timed to the market's own opening.

The black shelf is the deepest in the city and the cheapest: Irish Breakfast, Scottish Breakfast, Keemun, Rukeri from Rwanda and an Earl Grey Cream at CA$ 5.75 the 50 g, Kenilworth Ceylon and the Duke of Earl at CA$ 6.25, Assam Organic TGFOP and Craighead OP at CA$ 6.50, Ilam from Nepal and the organic Original Earl at CA$ 7.25, and Darjeeling Margaret's Hope at CA$ 7.75. The Japanese greens run from Hojicha at CA$ 6.25 to Shizuoka Sencha at CA$ 10 and Kukicha at CA$ 9.75, with an organic gyokuro and bancha sold by the 25 g; the oolongs go from Se Chung at CA$ 5.50 and Iron Goddess at CA$ 6.75 up to Da Hong Pao and a Jade Oolong at CA$ 15.

Beyond the six families there is a Pai Mu Tan and a Tian Shan Yin Hao among the whites, a certified organic Golden Pu-Erh at CA$ 10.50, two matchas, a 50 g Traditional at CA$ 22.50 and a 30 g organic tin at CA$ 39.95, Tibetan and green chais, a long rooibos and honeybush wall and plain herbs such as peppermint, raspberry leaf, licorice root and an organic yerba mate at CA$ 5.50. Only the 50 g price shows on the page before a size is chosen, so the 25 g samplers are a counter conversation.