So, every Saturday David and I go to the Renaissance Cafe on Pacific Ave for breakfast. It is always awesome- will have to do a review on it sometime. Anyways, we decided to wander around Tacoma, and we happened upon the Mad Hat Tea Co.
Ever since David and I discovered Osaka Sushi and Teriyaki in University Place, I have been really into green tea. I hated it at first (normally I drink sweetened black iced tea), but after going a couple times, I got to really liking it with my dinner. We had been at SouthCenter Mall at the teavana store, and I was really disappointed that the only teas they sampled were really herbal gross sweetened ones. I was also disappointed because they have a 2oz minimum. This doesn't seem like much, but it it gets really expensive to try lots of things (2oz/$10 or so). Also, they won't make up samples for you. The store has lots of neat teapots and stuff, but a lot of their stuff is way expensive.
Anyways, so Mad Hat Tea was awesome. It is right downtown. There is all kinds of art on the walls, stuff to read about teas, and there are couches, chairs, etc. It's a very cozy space, but the shop is deceptively large. The owner, Tobin, was very cool. He was super enthusiastic, and really seemed to know all about tea. I told him that I was new to liking green tea, and he made a pot of some really good mixed oolong/green tea. He did the whole tea ceremony sort of thing with a Yixing teapot and everything. I was impressed because I have a clay/art background, and he had all kinds of hand-thrown dishes. We talked a bunch- we were probably in there almost an hour, and he let us try a bunch of stuff. We ended up leaving with quite a bit of stuff :)
The best part was his prices (you can see them on the website). He has some expensive teas, but a lot of them are like $4/2oz. Also, he was willing to sell smaller or larger quantities, so you could bring home all sorts of things to try. The place has sort of a eclectic/hippy vibe, but its way cool/calming. He even has a no cell phone rule! It's cool to support Tacoma Businesses, and this one is very unique. While you can buy loose leaf tea, flowering tea, etc you can also buy pots of tea and just hang out. Definitely a place to try out!