Wissotzky TLAB.

Wissotzky tells its own story in dates: founded in Moscow in 1849 by Kalonymus Wolf Wissotzky, a New York branch in 1904, and in 1935 Shimon Seidler's first factory in Mandate Palestine, which supplied the British administration. Beit Wissotzky, the Tel Aviv building at HaHashmonaim 103, was inaugurated in 1963 as a mechanised tea factory; production moved to the Galilee in 2005 and the house became the headquarters. TLAB, the concept store, opened there in 2020. It is open Sunday to Thursday from ten to eight and Fridays from ten to three, closed on Saturdays, with step-free access.

The drinks bar comes first. Every drink is built on Wissotzky tea brewed on the spot, moved into kegs and poured from beer taps into reusable cups: cold infusions, hot drinks with spices or frothed milk, milk teas with tapioca pearls, matcha drinks and popping boba in lychee, mango or passion fruit. A free T-club card gives the tenth drink free and a birthday treat. The second branch is on the first floor of the Azrieli Mall, next to Super-Pharm, open Sunday to Thursday from half past nine to ten at night and Fridays until three; the company also sends a mobile TLAB bar to offices.

The loose-leaf shelf is short and priced in 100 g: an Assam CTC, a Scottish Breakfast blended from African CTC and Assam, Wissotzky's own Earl Grey at the lowest price on this page, an organic Tie Kuan Yin from Fujian, a Milk Oolong, a High Grade jasmine green, a Bai Long green and a pu-erh, with hand-rolled jasmine pearls and a Shizuoka matcha in 50 g. Around it are English tea boxes of bags, infuser bottles, mugs, strainers and kettles. The webshop states that its prices apply to online orders; delivery is ₪19.90, free from ₪199, or ₪7 to a pickup point.