Teassential.

Teassential is a Western Australian tea company, founded in 2015 and owned and operated in the state, and its store and brew bar is in the State Buildings, on the corner of St Georges Terrace and Cathedral Avenue in the centre of Perth. The founder, Bena Andriani, grew up drinking strong black tea sweetened with rock sugar from a terracotta tea set, and the company describes its aim as bringing teas and herbs from around the world and adding its own blends to them.

Each tea on the list carries a house number and a short card with its origin, ingredients and a brewing guide: water temperature, steeping time and how much leaf to use for a 200 ml cup. Most come in pouches of 30 to 70 g, and some teas also come in 25 g glass tubes. The classics sit next to the house blends: organic English Breakfast from South India, Lapsang Souchong, Dragon Well, Da Hong Pao, and an organic White Peony for anyone starting with white tea.

The Japanese teas go further than a first look suggests: a sencha and a genmaicha grown in the Acheron Valley in Victoria, a ceremonial matcha from Aichi sold in a 20 g size, hojicha, and latte powders of matcha, hojicha and genmaicha for making drinks at home. Orders placed on the website can be picked up at the store; the shop asks you to leave the pick-up date and time in the order message, and there is a loading bay on Cathedral Avenue.