Tea Shops and Fun Times

Stepping a bit away from my usual purview, I'm going to talk about one of my favorite places today. See, I see lots of people talking about their local coffee shop and how much they love it, but not many people at all are talking about one of my favorite places - David'sTEA.



The basics are simple. David's is affordable, tasty, and has a huge selection. But it's more than that. Yes, they have white tea, black tea, green, rooibos, herbal, mate, oolong, and pu'reh. They have blends, oh, the wonderful blends... my favorites to date are anything they make that is peach, and Chai Guarana. Skeeve likes Chocolate Rocket. Mad Natter likes most anything with berries.  I love their branded teal color. But that's not all.

I have yet to walk into a David'sTEA and not feel at home. I've never walked in a
nd had the feeling anyone in the place has had a bad day, which is truly unusual anymore. Inevitably, everyone behind the counter is cheerful and gregarious, and it's not just my own local shop that's like this - it's three shops in two countries! I love it!

The most recent trip to David's is what prompted this post. You see, they had a "buy 100g [4 ounces] of two teas, get 100g of a third for free" promo. Okay, sure. I'm running ridiculously low on my Chai Guarana (and heavens help us if I run out!), and they have the spring teas out, so I have all the excuse in the world!  Yay!  Plus, I have a frequent steeper card that'll net me free tea, so I'm all good. Anyhow. I walk in, and the place is busy, as usual. It takes a whopping two minutes before I have a sample in hand, and am chatting with the wonderful girl at the counter.

It starts with "what can I get you today," and somehow we end up grousing that Once Upon A Time season 4 is not yet available on Netflix, and the viability of Captain Swan as a ship.  Then, one of the guys chimes in, and the discussion continues, then moves over to Doctor Who. I spent 20 minutes (yes, the store had cleared out a bit by then) chatting with the various staffers about the comparative merits of the various new-iteration doctors, and whether or not Matt Smith has eyebrows. And it wasn't just us - we were pulling people in from the mall to chat as well. Now, I'm not entirely an extroverted person. Not much at all, really. But this was the best time I ever had shopping. Ever. Any store. Hands down. And it all started with great tea, and staff who weren't too rushed to appreciate chatting it up when the store gets slow.