TeaChat

I have always loved tea and was first introduced to loose leaf tea in 2004 when I was studying in the US. One of my roommates had ordered some teas from Adagio, so I quickly looked into it and became instantly hooked.

I love all sorts of tea. My favorites are probably oolongs and greens.

I also love dogs. I have a beautiful French Bulldog named Sencha! : )

I currently live in Ecuador, where there sadly is barely any tea to be found... Any time I travel to the US I make sure to bring back a LARGE amount of tea to have around (last time I literally brought back an entire suitcase!)

I am open to any suggestions for my orders for my next trip )as to retailers and teas in particular).

Welcome, Nina!

I would think any larger city would have a decent tea shop or two. The only physical retailers I have shopped at are TeaGschwendner, Teavana, and Ten Ren Tea. I would recommend TeaGschwender over the others, but they only have stores in Chicago and New York, I think. Online is a good way to purchase tea and lots of vendors have free shipping if you spend $50 or $100-which I suspect you will if you are filling a suitcase

Welcome! I used to have a friend from Ecuador! There is always the internet, many of us get our tea by ordering it online. I hope to see you around the forums!

Hi Nina, pardon my late welcome! We hope to see you around the forum! Please share what is in your cup on TeaDay!

Hi again! Sorry for not checking back on this post for a while!

While Quito is a big city, it is a big city in third world country standards. To top it off, there really isn't a tea drinking culture at all! In fact, it will come as a surprise to most that even being a big coffee producer, almost all of the coffee consumed in the country is instant!!!! I have found one little tea shop, that is surviving. Unfortunately most of their tea has been sitting around for over a year now, meaning that it is pretty stale (I recently bought some green tea that I actually had to throw away due to it tasting like a moldy closet... )

Thankfully I am fine with bringing my tea into the country. And yes, when I place my orders they are at least at $50, I have to make sure I get enough until I get to come back!!!!!!