Tea shops · Mesa, United States
A downtown Mesa apothecary that weighs tea by the ounce, with a two-ounce minimum and the lowest prices in the valley.
Illustrative image
The house
SW Herb sits on North Center Street, one block north of Main, in the part of downtown Mesa you can park in and walk. It is an apothecary first and a tea shop second: the shelves are mostly single herbs, and the tea sits among them, sold the same way. Everything is weighed to order by the ounce, with a two-ounce minimum on the whole order rather than per item. That one rule is why the shop is on this page — two ounces can be two different teas, so the smallest possible purchase here is a comparison.
The site tells its own history plainly. Herbalist Kathleen Gould opened SW Herb in 2005 with her business partner and late husband, and in 2008 the shop moved into this Mesa address; it is now run by her son. Alongside the counter the shop teaches — a herbal certification course and guided plant walks appear on the same site as the price list. It describes itself as a gathering place, which in practice means the room is set up for people to stand in and talk rather than to queue.
The tea shelf is small and honest about it. Nine loose products, no oolong, no white, no pu-erh — for those you cross town to the Asian grocery on Dobson Road. What is here is the everyday half of the world: an English Breakfast, a Chunmee green, a Jasmine Green, an organic Green Chai built on green leaf instead of black, and matcha powder. Prices run from three to eight dollars the ounce, which is roughly what a single cup costs in a cafe three blocks away.
Mesa · United States
148 N Center Street, Mesa, AZ 85201
Published hours: Tue–Fri 11:00–17:00 · Sat 10:00–15:00 · Sun–Mon closed
Directions to this location →Check with the house before visiting. Published hours may include appointments, seasonal schedules or temporary closures; live status, where available, applies only to the named location and does not account for exceptional closures.
The FindMeTea edit
01 · Chai
Chai is almost always built on black leaf, and the spices bury whatever tea is underneath. This one uses green, which is the harder version to blend and the one you cannot find on a supermarket shelf. It is also the cheapest thing on the list, so there is no reason not to put an ounce of it in the order.
US$ 3.04· 1 oz (2 oz minimum)
Explore this tea →02 · Green tea
Chunmee is the plain Chinese green that most shops skip in favour of something with a story, and it is the right second ounce to pair with the chai: same leaf family, no spices, so you can taste what the blend is actually sitting on. Brew it below boiling and short.
US$ 3.68· 1 oz (2 oz minimum)
03 · Black tea
The one tea here that takes milk, and the cheapest black leaf on our whole Arizona page. Buy it if the rest of the order is delicate greens and somebody in the house drinks coffee — an ounce is enough to find out whether anyone reaches for it.
US$ 3.18· 1 oz (2 oz minimum)
Explore this tea →The one worth the trip
Matcha is normally sold in sealed thirty-gram tins because ground leaf fades fast, which makes trying it an expensive bet. Here it is on the scale like everything else, so you can buy one ounce, use it within the month and find out whether you like it before committing to a tin. Very few counters anywhere will sell you matcha that way.
US$ 7.57· 1 oz (2 oz minimum)
Explore this tea →Prices
Prices are indicative. Each price keeps its currency and pack size; this selection does not necessarily cover the house's complete range.
5 prices
| Tea | Type | Price / pack |
|---|---|---|
| Green Chai Tea Organic | Chai | US$ 3.041 oz (2 oz minimum) |
| English Breakfast Tea | Black tea | US$ 3.181 oz (2 oz minimum) |
| Chunmee Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) | Green tea | US$ 3.681 oz (2 oz minimum) |
| Jasmine Green Tea | Green tea | US$ 4.101 oz (2 oz minimum) |
| Matcha (Camellia sinensis) Powder | Matcha | US$ 7.571 oz (2 oz minimum) |
Indicative prices, with each product’s pack size. Prices may change; check with the shop. Price verification dates: 2026-09-17.
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Images are cropped to fit the layout. The generic cover, when used, is illustrative and does not show this shop.
