Tea Shop (Vitoria-Gasteiz)

Tea Shop Vitoria is at Eduardo Dato 7, on the pedestrian shopping street that runs from the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca towards the railway station, in the Ensanche. The chain's own store finder lists it as its only shop in the city, and it opens Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 20:30 and closes on Sunday. It describes itself the way every store in the chain does: loose teas and infusions sold by weight, plus teapots, cups, infusers, matcha accessories and a shelf of gourmet food and cosmetics.

The catalogue is the chain's and the prices are its online prices. The classic origins sit between €8.50 and €10 per 100 g: Strong English Breakfast, Earl Grey Superior, Assam Maud, sencha, organic gunpowder, Tie Kuan Yin, a Pu Erh and a chai latte blend. The premium leaf comes in 50 g: a Taiwanese Dong Ding at €13.18 and Silver Needles at €25.98, with a Darjeeling first flush at €16.50 the 100 g and a Jasmine Chung Feng at €19.75. The organic matcha is a 30 g tin.

Most loose teas start at 100 g and go up through 250 g and 500 g to a kilo, so the price per gram falls as the bag grows. Online orders over €20 ship free within Spain, Italy and Portugal, can be collected free at the store, and every order includes a free sample. A few doors along the same street, Casa Eguía has roasted coffee at number 7 since 1936 and keeps its own loose-tea counter, so Dato is where the city compares the two shelves.