Murchie's Tea & Coffee

Murchie's tells its own origin story on its site: John Murchie, working for Melrose's of Scotland, delivered tea to Queen Victoria at Balmoral, then emigrated to Canada's west coast and set up Murchie's Tea in 1894. The company now runs eight shops across Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria, and blends and packs its teas at a plant in Delta, BC. The Victoria flagship is at 1110 Government Street, on the main tourist street a short walk from the Inner Harbour, with a café of its own that opens at 7:30 on weekdays.

The range is wide rather than rare: more than 130 teas and 25 coffee roasts. Loose tea is sold in 2 oz (56 g), 4 oz, 8 oz and 16 oz bags, and the pricier origin teas, Dragonwell, Ti Kuan Yin, Milk Oolong, White Peony, also in 1 oz. The blacks are the backbone: English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Assam Pure, Best Ceylon, Keemun Extra Choice and Lapsang Souchong, most of them also boxed as tea bags in 10, 50 and 100. Greens run to Sencha and Jasmine Extra Choice, and there are Peppermint and a Traditional Rooibos for the evening.

There is a second Victoria store in the Hillside Centre mall, at 1644 Hillside Avenue, with mall hours and late nights on Thursday and Friday. The Government Street shop takes cake orders for pickup and sells the full tea wall every day from 9 to 6. For a first visit, buy the 2 oz of Best Ceylon, which is the cheapest black on the list, and a 1 oz of Milk Oolong to see what the rare shelf is like.