The Tea Smith.

The Tea Smith opened in 2004 after its owner, Tim Smith, sat through a Japanese tea ceremony and came home wanting to bring loose-leaf tea to a coffee city. The shop has lived at Tower Plaza, near 78th and Dodge, ever since; a second store in the Old Market opened in 2012 but is no longer listed. Smith, who signs as Chief Leaf, took the 2012 World Tea Expo Tea Infusion Challenge and later sat on the World Tea Conference advisory board.

The catalogue passes 150 teas and herbal infusions, and every loose tea is priced per ounce with discounts as the basket grows, so sampling is cheap: Ceylon Star at US$ 2.02, Keemun 1st Grade at US$ 2.89, Royal Yunnan at US$ 3.82. Above the everyday shelf sit the estate lots, Assam Khongea Golden Bud and Darjeeling Margaret's Hope second flush, a Nepal series with Gaba oolong, Taiwanese Tung Ting, Fujian Silver Needles and a white Darjeeling Moonlight from Glenburn Estate.

The shop doubles as a tea bar, runs Tea 101 sessions and themed tastings, caters events and sells a Tea of the Month club in three versions. Hours are long for a tea shop, eight in the morning to eight at night Monday to Saturday, and the loyalty programme is called LoyalTEA. Matcha comes in a 28 g Uji ceremonial tin, and the Japanese section includes genmaicha and a karigane kukicha made from gyokuro stems.