A few places I've dealt with and they have great service and great products..

SBS Teas

Mountain Rose Herbs

Thanks for the question Mary and thanks for the response Terri.

I have been on the same hunt. I just finished some really great loose tea but don't remember where I got it. I'm guessing it was from an Amish store when I was visiting Sherry, Peppi, and Annie.

Some of my favorites from SBS Black Forest, Almond Biscotti, Mate Tiramisu, and Vanilla Moon. I don't see the others I loved. There was a green tea and something caramel too..It's not coming to me and the other flavors Peaches n Cream, and Gypsy Ambrosia.

I've ordered "whole" things from Mountain Rose. Rosebuds, Camomile and lavender.

One of my favorites is Republic of Tea's Ginger Peach Decaf. Also love Stash's Lemon Ginger (herbal).

If you are talking "commercial" teas..I agree Republic of Tea's Ginger Peach is really good..as are several of theirs. Another one I love is Tazo.

We were once gifted with teas from Ducky Life - DH, who has a more discerning palate than I do, says it is some of the best teas he has ever had.

I buy tea from Upton Tea Imports, all loose teas. I've never gone to their website, but get their very simple catalog, no pictures, no slick pages, just tea listing after tea listing. Some of the teas are quite rare and expensive, but many are very affordable. You can buy samples for $1.00 or so, a little more for the very rare ones. I recommend them highly.

We now have a pretty good tea store in town, but I used to order from Special Teas. Good selection in loose tea and bags. And they do have loose Chamomile tea.

Here is a link that might be useful: Special Teas

This is a very timely post for me Mary! I've gotten in the habit of splurging on loose leaf tea when I have time at home. But I carefully watch my caffeine intake, so I've been looking for some loose leaf decaf tea and haven't been able to find any in the stores around here, even the specialty tea and spice store only had herbal teas in their decaf section. I like herbal, but it is not the same thing as black tea. I am so addicted to black tea, and I use decaf to temper my addiction, even though it is nowhere near as good--just like decaf coffee. I tend to use spices in my decaf tea, just like I do in my decaf coffee, which I often drink as the hazlenut kind. I still have a ton of hazlenut liquer thanks to a long gone blueberry frangelico jam session. I couldn't afford the frangelico, so bought the other option, the large bottle of cheapo hazlenut liquer. For my tea though, I have a whole collection of whole spices. A slice of candied ginger is heavanly!

Peet's teas are not inexpensive, but they are of a very good quality. Their Yin Hao Jasmine is the most fragrant Jasmine tea I've ever had, with a fresh flower flavor, none of the mustiness that cheap Jasmine tea can sometimes have.

They also have very good quality decaf teas as well as a few herbals.

Here is a link that might be useful: Peets coffee and tea

I too like Upton Tea and have placed many loose tea orders on their website. I have tried many of them by getting the sample bags which usually gives me a couple of cups from the sample when I use my small thin china tea cups instead of a mug. For some reason, tea always tastes better in the tea cups. I am sure it's just in my mind! Anyway I have always been very happy with the tea and they are quick to process the orders and because I set up an account on the website, I can go back and check out all the orders for easier repeat ordering. The tea choices are many and the descriptions are very helpful.
Kat

I always buy my tea on line at The TeaSource. It is featured from time to time on The Splendid Table on NPR.

Here is a link that might be useful: The TeaSource

Cathy, I just bought some more from the mediterranean Market, it's plain black Assam, and it was $4.99 a pound, it's one of my favorites and about 1/4 the price of a can of Twining's Irish Breakfast.

The Twining's is my splurge, but I just bought $1.55 worth of the Assam yesterday, LOL, it will probably last me a couple of months and I'm wondering if that's what you bought.

Should I send you some to see if that was it?

Gawd, I love that store, I just bought figs for 99 cents a pound. Fresh figs, the small dark ones. I'm going to make fig and vanilla bean preserves, I loved the stuff that Jessica sent me.

Just to stay on topic, I'll have the preserves on toast, with a cup of tea. (grin)

Annie

Annie,
When I use tea bags, I'm a Twining's girl too. Every working morning starts with two cups of Twining's Darjeeling, which is my favorite black tea. I usually wait until the local Giant store is offering Twining's with a special BonusCard savings, and then I stock up. This week they had a savings and I was able to stock up at 2.50 per box with my card. I also found several new green teas I didn't know they made. I bought Cranberry Green Tea and Lemon Green Tea. I haven't tried the Cranberry yet, but I love the Lemon one. This is the first green tea I have ever enjoyed enough to have a second cup. I hope the Cranberry is as good.
Kat

Just placed an order with Upton's for some blended teas - my favorites. I appreciate that their shipping charges are so reasonable and I like the ability to try small amounts for only $1. Unfortunately I had to stop buying from Murchie's in Canada because the shipping was really too high - and I loved Murchie's teas.

Now that it is getting cooler, I will enjoy hot tea again. Here in "HHH" (hot, hazy, humid) North Carolina I can hardly stand hot tea or coffee even in the morning.

Thanks for the info on Upton's!

Annie, That is very generous of you to offer. Based on the price and amount that you quoted, I do think it was when were at that market--Grand Rapids right? It was black tea with cranberries in clear bag with a kind of homemade label. Whenever you get back to that market, grab a bag or two for me.

Thanks,
Cathy

My DS and DDIL sent me a sampler from Serendipitea....I loved it. The apple, mango and green tea (Genesis) was delicious as was the Slim Mint. It contained chocolate bits, vanilla, rooibos, mint and black tea. There were six samples in little tins nestled in a beautiful wooden box. The little tins have screw top lids and can be reused for many things. The box and be used as a jewelry box....it has a velvet like lining.

Here is a link that might be useful: Serendipitea

I've purchased from Blue Moon several times, mostly Taylor's of Harrogate and Yorkshire Gold which are definitely not herbals. We like the English and Scottish teas. If you go to the Teas By Type there is a link to herbal tea, flavored teas or loose teas. They also have sampler packs of about 10 tea bags so you're not stuck with a ton of tea you don't like.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blue Moon Tea

My tea order from Upton's arrived yesterday and I had a cup of Scottish Breakfast this morning - very nice! I like their minimal packaging and the personalized labels with the recommended steeping time on each package. I tried 4 blends: 3 sample packs and a larger bag of Ceylon Breakfast. Their large selection of all kinds of tea has something for everyone. I want to try some of the Rooibos caffeine-free tea from Africa in the near future.

Good tea, good service!
Teresa

Cathy, I'll be glad to. Cranberries, huh? Mine is plain black, but that's what I like so I probably didn't look for anything else.

Annie

I'm sort of a tea purist (not wild about most flavored teas), but I have ordered some very nice herbal infusions from Mountain Rose Herbs. I also like Taylor's. Another favorite is Elmwood Inn Tea. I like their Mayor's Cup blend, the first flush Darjeeling, and their blueberry infusion (which doesn't have any tea in it, just blueberries.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Elmwood Inn Tea

Lots of great suggestions, thank you all. I'm hoping a good herbal will help me sleep at night and a nice morning black will help with the winter darkness.

Another recommendation for Upton Tea Company. They have an excellent selection and their shipping dept is awesome. The package arrives in two or three days.

DH likes flavored iced tea and drinks it all year round, so I order various flavored teas from Upton, i.e., apricot, black currant or mango. I make it in a coffeepot. They sell iced tea makers but I think a coffeepot works just as well.

I like brewed hot tea, especially Nilgiri and Irish Breakfast. They have so many types, it boggles the mind! I'd love to try lots of them.

My dad turned me on to Harney's online. I have bought some from Teavana in the malls (lots of samples!), but it's quite expensive. They have some delicious fruited Roiibos blends. Right now I'm drinking their Apple Lemon Pomegranate mixed with Tarocca Ruby Orange.

Personal favorite from Harney's: Vanilla Black. Their Earl Grey Supreme has bergamot and is divine and not bitter at all.