Where to buy tea in Finland?..

Metsämarja · Post by **Metsämarja** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 4:59 pm

Hi all,
I was looking for a shop in Helsinki that sells Genmaicha tea and other good teas.
There's not much tea culture here, and so far I haven't found any good tea shop...

**Sponsor:**

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 5:52 pm

Theres a few, and then Tokyokan has japanese stuffs.

inkku · Post by **inkku** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 8:30 pm

Actually, i believe where is a growing tea drinking culture, at least in Helsinki. I wonder how come you have not found any good tea shops? (In addition to those ones on the website), there is one tea shop specializing in japanese tea in Eerikinkatu, close to the corner with Annankatu. Robert Paulig sells loose tea at stockmann and other places, there is a tea selling delicacy shop near Toolontori. to start with. Design forum cafe sells tea. I think all the shopping centres have tea shops.

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:39 am

TheHuone has got a largish selection of Japanese teas - as Pursuivant said you might also head to Tokyokan. Some of the "ethnic" shops in the Hämeentie region may also have green teas available, however I'm not sure if they have other than Chinese varieties.

Tea culture... I'd say most people here prefer coffee to tea, and those Finns who do prefer the latter tend to drink black teas instead of green teas... and many go for so-called "scented" varieties, called Burp of a Rabid Tiger or Hot Gossip Juice and such like... So yes in that sense you may get blank stares if you ask for Oolong at your local shop. But teas are available, you just need to know where to look for them.

I'm not sure if many in Finland go for the Russian-style samovar tea with fruit/cherry jam... Pursuivant, maybe? But if we talk about "tea culture" one might perhaps expect that sort of things more than, say, Chinese or Japanese-style teahouses.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 12:06 pm

I don't dare plug in the samovar, should get a new proper one...

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 12:46 pm

Pursuivant wrote:I don't dare plug in the samovar, should get a new proper one...

Afraid you might cause a Chai-nobyl reaction?

Mölkky-Fan · Post by **Mölkky-Fan** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:06 pm

reminds me of the joke:

why do you need a strong zipper to work in Ukraine?

Cos otherwise Che knob'll fallout

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:54 pm

Goddammit! Samovar reminded me for russian earl grey and that reminded me on good sandwiches so i had to go buy those!
Well now i have stack to survive few evenings

(tea and sandwiches are evening meal eaten while you look movie or read book just before you go to sleep)

inkku · Post by **inkku** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:18 pm

sammy wrote: Tea culture... I'd say most people here prefer coffee to tea, and those Finns who do prefer the latter tend to drink black teas instead of green teas... and many go for so-called "scented" varieties, called Burp of a Rabid Tiger or Hot Gossip Juice and such like... So yes in that sense you may get blank stares if you ask for Oolong at your local shop. But teas are available, you just need to know where to look for them.

I'm not sure if many in Finland go for the Russian-style samovar tea with fruit/cherry jam... Pursuivant, maybe? But if we talk about "tea culture" one might perhaps expect that sort of things more than, say, Chinese or Japanese-style teahouses.

Sammy, i presume you are a bloke (?). Observe around, check what women are drinking. At least in Helsinki, many young(ish) women drink tea. They are health conscious, know about the health benefits of tea, and in particular green tea. And if you ask green tea at any shop, they will know. Oolong is already a bit niche thing.

http://www.common-helsinki.com/myymala.html

A funny place to try different types of tea is Soihtu, run by students. Very informal.
http://www.soihtu.org/teehuone

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:28 pm

inkku wrote:Sammy, i presume you are a bloke (?). Observe around, check what women are drinking.

a) Yes, that's true b) Cider?

Nah, I don't go out to cafeterias that much, maybe tea is gaining in popularity? I'm a tea freak of sorts myself (NB I'm not a connoisseur, I said freak

) but mainly have tea at home so I wouldn't know what happens on the town tea-wise.

I had not come across that "Common" shop near Viiskulma, thanks. Whenever I pass that way I'm probably heading for Digelius with blinkers on

A propos Japanese tea - this could be an interesting spot, mind you, but it's probably not generally open to the public, other than by appointment:

http://www.urasenke-finland.org/tokuyuan.shtml

Pauluss · Post by **Pauluss** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 7:40 pm

Yes, for Chineese teas go to Hameentie, ordinary stuff, nothing fancy.
For black teas, Stockman usually has 1-2 good sorts to select from...

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:00 pm

Happened to pass this place today, too:

The Ounce

The website is still under construction - haven't seen the shop earlier so maybe it's a new one? Didn't have time to pop in though.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:05 am

inkku wrote:. Observe around, check what women are drinking. At least in Helsinki, many young(ish) women drink tea. They are health conscious, know about the health benefits of tea, and in particular green tea.

Yes,

and then they go to the funny farm
where coffee is served ha ha he he ho ho
with trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket
weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and toes and they're
brewing you some tea, ha-haaa!!!

inkku · Post by **inkku** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 10:38 am

Pursuivant wrote:
inkku wrote:. Observe around, check what women are drinking. At least in Helsinki, many young(ish) women drink tea. They are health conscious, know about the health benefits of tea, and in particular green tea.
Yes,

and then they go to the funny farm
where coffee is served ha ha he he ho ho
with trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket
weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and toes and they're
brewing you some tea, ha-haaa!!!

Are they coming to take you away?

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 10:42 am

It seems that summer is finally gone and I can continue to enjoy hot drinks. The problem is my tea box: its filled with all kinds of yummy teas, mates, rooibos etc. and I still can't find the new must-have-tea. Last one that hit like a cargo train was lapsang souchong and now I need a new favourite, so how about derailing this thread somewhat and adding tea suggestions to go with hints about the shops?

ps. I order most of my teas from http://www.forsman-tea.com/

Finland Forum

Find information about moving to, living in and life in Finland