Tea shops · San Antonio, United States
Tea shops · San Antonio, United StatesGarden Tea Lounge
A tea lounge inside a vintage and crafts mall on NW Military Highway that sells more than 40 organic teas by the single ounce.
Between booths of vintage china and teapots, a counter sells Fujian silver needle and Anxi Tie Guan Yin one ounce at a time.
Garden Tea Lounge sits inside Craftiques Mall at 2375 NW Military Highway, a vintage, collectibles and crafts mall with more than 200 dealer slots in the North Salado Village shopping center, just north of Lockhill Selma. The mall opened in November 2009 and calls itself the home of the lounge. Between the booths of china and teapots there is a room that serves organic loose-leaf tea by the cup, with scratch-made scones, cheese plates and pastries from local bakers, and it also takes bookings for private tea parties.
More than forty organic teas, herbal infusions and tisanes are sold by the ounce in vacuum-sealed bags, and the same list is on the online shop. The ladder starts low: the Earl Grey, built on a Yunnan Dian Hong with bergamot from southern Italy, is the cheapest black. Dragon Well from Zhejiang and Tie Guan Yin from Anxi County sit in the middle. Silver Needle buds from Fujian and a ceremonial matcha from Aichi prefecture are at the top, and ripe pu-erh comes pressed in small tuo cha of about five grams each.
The lounge also sells teaware from several tea cultures: teapots, tea makers, infusers, cups and mugs, maté gourds and bombillas, and matcha bowls, while the mall around it is full of vintage tea services. It keeps its own hours, shorter than the mall's: ten to five on Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, ten to eight from Wednesday to Friday, and noon to five on Sunday. It is the one shop on this page where you can taste a tea in the cup before taking a bag of it home.
- prices
- 6
- tea types
- 6
- from
- US$ 4.25
- shops
- 1
Where it is
Craftiques Mall, NW Military Hwy
2375 NW Military Highway, San Antonio, TX 78231
In the North Salado Village shopping center, just north of Lockhill Selma.
Hours: Tea lounge: Mon–Tue 10:00–17:00; Wed–Fri 10:00–20:00; Sat 10:00–17:00; Sun 12:00–17:00
What to buy here
Tieguanyin
Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong
US$ 8.75 · 1 oz
Tie Guan Yin from Anxi County in Fujian, a light oolong with a chestnut note that the shop says holds up for many steeps, so a single ounce goes a long way in a small pot.
See our page on this tea →Long Jing (Dragon Well)
Dragon Well
US$ 7.75 · 1 oz
The classic flat, sword-shaped green from Zhejiang, near West Lake, and the middle of the ladder here: a named Chinese green you can buy by the ounce instead of the tin.
See our page on this tea →Shou Pu-erh
Ancient Pu-erh Tuo Cha
US$ 6.75 · 1 oz
Ripe pu-erh from Yunnan, blended from vintages two to four years old and pressed into tuo cha of about five grams, each one a session, so an ounce is a handful of sessions rather than a whole cake.
See our page on this tea →
The one worth the trip
Silver Needle Buds
US$ 17 · 1 oz
The top of the shelf and the bag to cross town for: buds only, from the Fuding and Zhenhe districts of Fujian, sold by the single ounce rather than in a gift tin. Taste in the lounge first, then take an ounce home.
See our page on this tea →All prices
Open a tea to see who else sells it.
| Tea | Type | Price | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Grey | Black tea | US$ 4.25 | 1 oz |
| Ancient Pu-erh Tuo Cha | Pu-erh tea | US$ 6.75 | 1 oz |
| Dragon Well | Green tea | US$ 7.75 | 1 oz |
| Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong | Oolong tea | US$ 8.75 | 1 oz |
| Silver Needle Buds | White tea | US$ 17 | 1 oz |
| Ceremonial Matcha - Reserve | Matcha | US$ 19.25 | 1 oz |
Teas you can find here
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