Tehuset Java | Tea Shop Review

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Tehuset Java must be the biggest tea store I’ve seen to date. Usually tea stores tend to be small and packed with stuff, giving the impression of being little, cozy spaces. This one is indeed packed with stuff, but it’s by no means small. Java is located in the Northern part of Stockholm on Odengatan 29 and it’s a fairly new place. From the street it doesn’t look like much, but when you go in you can get blown away.

The store is divided into two rooms. The first room is smaller and holds teas from various brands – a very large selection of Kusmi teas, but also offerings from Fortnum & Mason, Dr. Stuart’s and Ahmad Tea. Here you will also find some english style tea ware. The second room, which is more like a hall, holds Java’s counter with house loose leaf teas, but also a selection of Kusmi loose leafs. There are about 170 house teas to choose from, including a basic Japanese, Chinese and Indian selection, flavored , herbal and ecological teas. Java also has their own house blend – Lundablandning. Moreover, there are countless tea products here, anything from contemporary tea ware, design tea ware, thermoses, cozies, electric kettles, cups, tea makers, pots, caddies – and the list could go on. There is an especially large amount of Bodum products. Anything needed for an afternoon tea can also be acquired here – various sweets, jams, cookies, biscuits and other grocery products.

The mood of the store is not exactly identifiable. To me, the larger room, looked rather sterile, where as the small room, which i liked much better, is slightly reminiscent of and English-style home in India. It feel more welcoming, but also exotic. My brief impression of the staff was good. This store is clearly richly stocked, and just that makes a big statement – I would call it a tea supermarket, although it’s certainly much more then that. Java is absolutely worth visiting, while in Stockholm.

 

Adress - Odengatan 29, Stockholm, Sweden

Esters | Tea House Review

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Situated on a very long street in the southern district of Stockholm, Esters Tea and Coffee Shop is hardly noticeable. Folgungagatan is one of the bigger streets in that part of town and the shop simply blends in with the large amount of other small shops. Esters was established in 1899 and is said to be Sweden’s oldest tea and coffee shop. Inside the shop the atmosphere is created by various items from past decades, especially old teapots and a large collection of caddies. A very notable thing is that every chair and table is from a different set, making the place look quite chaotic. There are many elements of a traditional, English/antique tea shop here, but overall the shop doesn’t give off a specific feeling or style.

Esters mainly offers their own loose leaf tea (120 kinds). There is a whole wall, reaching the ceiling filled with those typical Chinese tea caddies. The only tea I have tried from here is the Swedish Soderblandning and I have to say I was disappointed. Their blend was very different from any Soderblanding I’ve had before, it didn’t have a fresh or floral aroma and some different ingredients were added to it. The dominant note was vanillaish, but the aroma was strange altogether. The tea is packed into a brown paper bag with handwritten name – not too exciting. Apart from tea Esters offers coffee , their own candy (mainly hard candy), some tea accessories and homebaked items. You can sit down and have tea and on fridays, saturdays and sundays they even serve Afternoon Tea, which is a big plus for this tea room. Another great thing is tea tasting sessions which take place here every now and then and they cost about 25 EUR (275 SEK). You can check dates for the upcoming sessions in a PDF file they have on their website.

When it comes to the service I could say it was ‘typical Swedish’. Generally in Sweden service in shops is rather impersonal with the occasional smile. Foreigners may interpret this behavior as rudeness, but it’s more of a cultural thing. The woman behind the ‘historical’ counter was quite nice, she climbed the latter and let us smell some teas.

In conclusion, Esters is not a place where I would want to spend hours sipping my tea, but I would like to find out more about the teas they have to offer and their quality. I think serves well as a local tea shop, where you can stock up if you suddenly run out.

 

Address – Folkungagatan 95, Stockholm, Sweden 
Website - http://www.esters.se/

Soderblandning – a tea from Sweden

If you have ever been to cafes in Stockholm it’s very likely that you have come across Soderblandning or Soder Te which can be also called Blend of South Stockholm in english. This blend, as the name indicates comes from the southern part of Stockholm and is generally very popular in Sweden. 

Soderblandning was first created by mistake in 1979 when a tea shop owner, Vernon Mauris was trying to make a new blend. While mixing, an extra ingredient fell into the tea accidentally and Mauris not willing to just throw the spoiled blend tried it and concluded that it tasted interesting. After improving the taste a bit, he marketed this new blend in his shop under the name “Mistake Blend”. Later used at a street celebration it was renamed Soderblandning in honor of the part of Stockholm where the store was located.

The ingredients of this blend are not officially stated and can also vary slightly between brands. The base is a blend of Chinese and Ceylon black teas with addition of flowers and fruits. Blue petals of cornflower and yellow petals of marigold as well as orange rind are very characteristic for this tea. I have tasted an alternative version of this blend with some small red berries, but it didn’t taste as good as the classic, most common Soderblandning. I have also seen variations with green tea instead of black. Generally the liquor has a dark color and a dominant floral note, but mixed with the fruit aroma it produces a unique and sweet combination. 

Soderblandning tastes best as loose leaf tea, but it’s even available in tea bags produced by Twinings. It is also popular in Japan, probably due to the fact that Mauris would export about 4000 kg of this blend each year to Japan. It’s hard to believe that such an exotic and vivid tea could come from a cold place like Sweden, but if you ever have the chance, don’t hesitate to try it.

Albert and Jack’s | Tea House Review

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Albert & Jack’s is actually a bakery and deli which offers other health food, cheese, tea, coffee, chocolate and lunch products. Located in the northern part of Stockholm, the expensive district – Ostermalm. The interior is very small, not ideal for sitting around and relaxing. There is only a few seats and people who come in and out all the time and be frustrating for those sitting down. The inside of this bakery is not decorated to be anything in particular. When I was inside I had a feeling of being in a half-store half-small warehouse – overall rather simplistic.

They have a small selection of teas – about 8, which you can either buy in a bag or drink on spot. Trying to find a tea that had interesting ingredients (all of them have strange names) I picked up Miss Saigon – a green tea with carrot pieces, scented with vanilla and exotic fruits. It cost 35 SEK (a bit more then 3 EUR) which it an ok price for Swedish standards, slightly overpriced otherwise. The tea was fun to try, but it missed a punch or some definition, which makes me wonder what the other teas at Albert & Jack’s are like. The teas here are packed in bags coated in white foil and white, handwritten labels, which I haven’t seen before and I think it’s quite eye-catching. Opening time from 7:00 on weekdays is perfect for getting some breakfast and tea before work. They have a standard breakfast package, which you can also expand ranging from 65 – 85 SEK (6 – 8 EUR). I also noticed that they sell various glasses and the Eva Solo Teamakers. 

The staff was neither nice or unpleasant, perhaps a bit slow and absentminded. Since I’m looking at this place from the ‘tea-point-of-view’ I can not say much about the quality of food there, as I have not tried it. If you get satisfaction from finding teas that are not available elsewhere Albert & Jack’s will give you just that. It will make you feel like you’ve found something that few other people will have, but I question the quality of the tea itself. 

Address – Engelbrektsgatan 3, Stockholm http://www.albertjacks.com/

Related products – Albert & Jack’s Miss Saigon

Tips on finding new and rare teas

If you are a hardcore tea seeker and collector like me you will be on the lookout just about everywhere. A tea shop or a tea house is quite an obvious place to find good quality tea, but there are other places where you can find interesting teas.

Grocery stores and supermarkets often offer a dull selection, but sometimes you can find something special. Not all grocery stores are the same. I find that certain grocery chains have a wide selection of imported products from all over the world like for example Piotr i Pawel in Warsaw. There I found Tea Forte and Eden Grove, but they have much more to offer.

In Stockholm stores like Granit and Lagerhausthat offer interior decoration, cosmetics, bathroom and kitchen gadgets also happen to offer spices, some gourmet food and their own tea blends! Usually it’s not a wide selection (I think in Granit I saw 2 or 3 different teas) but it’s defiantly worth checking out.

Another place to look are asian markets and asian food stores. There you can find original, imported Chinese and Japanese teas (often jasmine tea, blooming tea, pu-eh, green ginger tea).

Delicacy food halls that have different stands with fresh fish, gourmet cheeses, pasta, sauces etc. almost always have a tea/coffee/chocolate stand. Usually they have a very rich selection, as those stands are almost like a tea store. 

Once I found tea in a store with tourist souvenirs, so i wouldn’t hesitate to look in places like that. I can imagine that in Japan tourist shops is the place to go if you want to buy tea (especially gift-packaged).

Not to mention that you can buy a lot of teas online, however that takes away from the satisfaction of finding them yourself. It’s a good way to aquire the teas you can’t find in your area. Well then, heppy tea-hunting.