T2 Tea (Perth WA)

Shop 4/ 726 Hay St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9226 2429
http://t2tea.com/
Hours:
    Mon-Thu 9:00 - 18:00
    Fri 9:00 - 21:00
    Sat 9:00 - 17:00
    Sun 11:00 - 17:00
 In the Kingdom of Coffee, T2 is a serious contender to the throne. T2 Tea sells anything and everything related to tea in the East and the West. T2 is an Australian brand that succeeds at what it does because there is passion behind the project. Not only that, they have gorgeous shops with clever marketing policies implemented in how things are presented and offered to you. The most important thing is that they sell more than 100 varieties of tea, mostly loose, but also in convenient tea bags. They have certified organic tea, and a great variety of white, green, yellow, Oolong and black teas, plus tisanes, fruit, herbal and floral blend teas, rooibos and honeybush teas, and even vintage tea. Not enough, they have bottled  unsweetened iced tea. Wow! 

I have tried many T2 teas and tisanas, and some of them smell good but taste OK, or at least do not taste as the name of the tea or the smell of the team made you think. Those that deliver, to me, are among the tea bag teas: Gorgeous Geisha (green tea) and the Red Fancy Fruit (rooibos based). Among the flavoursome tisanes I would recommended the Spi Chai  (spicy but delicate), Apple Chunky (mostly dried apple), an the Toasty Nugat (chunky apple, syrup, vanilla and almonds), which are great both cold and hot; the same can be said of Vanilla Slice and Strawberry & Cream (red fruit based). Among the green teas, Sencha Peach and Sencha Sensations are both fabulous in taste and aroma. I find most of the black teas at T2 a bit disappointing or not worth the money, really. Still the Monk Pear has a distinctive aroma and flavour, and it is quite nice for a medium-strength breakfast tea; it might not be your cup of tea. The Oolong teas are quite nice, but nothing wow -at least to me- to pay their high price.  

They sell gorgeous tea sets, cups, saucers, mugs, and jugs from the very simple to the romantic and ethnic, to the vintage; the latter are expensive, but cheaper than in other places. All of this, plus a huge selection of tea storing, brewing, and serving tools.

THE STORE - The Hay St store is quite large but very sleek and cheerful, most of furniture and celled walls in black with a few coloured areas. A perfect place to showcase the beautiful colourful crockery they have. They are very clever at mixing the very well organised and illuminated cells in the wall, with the more street-market-like piles of stuff in the stand-alone tables and shelves, which appeals to different sort of customers. The piles always make you enter and wander around, as it gives the shop a casual shop air, while the rest is what the shop is meant to be - a posh tea shop. Every time I enter here, I tell myself that whomever is designing the shops, is doing an awesome job at marketing what is for sale. 

I love the fact that they have three or four pots of brewed tea prepared for customers to taste. A great gesture, and a very clever marketing policy.  

THE NITTY-GRITTY - * The place is pricey for everything, but especially for tea infusers, canisters and for simple organic tisanes (chamomile, peppermint and even simple rooibos), which can be found at your local IGA, Woolies Coles or Chinese store for a fraction of the price. You can find beautiful simple tea sets at bargain prices at Asian Shops, so come to T2 just for the posh ones.
* Many of their teas are weak, so if you are into strong tea, many of them will be too "girly" for you. 
* Many of their teas smell divine, like an otherworldly experience, but then they taste bland. Still, they are a good way of eating with your senses, just using your olfactory senses. Try the  strawberry cream tea, and then you will understand what I am talking about.  
* Service is uneven. Sometimes I am greeted with a big smile on arrival and offered a cup of their brewed teas, while others I am treated matter of fact with a nosey attitude, and others I am left to browse around without being disturbed. The staff can get uptight if you make certain sort of questions. Like, does T2 have sales? Like, Do you recycle the tasting paper cups? There is no need to look at me as I was landing from Pluto, I am just asking. 
 * Although this affects the whole brand, I find shocking that they do no use recyclable tasting cups, as the ones they have cannot be recycled after use. Are we in the 21st century yet?
* They rarely have sales. So uncool. If something is too expense and/or I can find it cheaper elsewhere I will go elsewhere, unless you are selling ambrosia. 

***

If you are not a tea drinker, I invite you to visit T2 shop in Hay St, taste some of their varieties of tea, and then tell me that you cannot find anything that suits your taste. If you already like tea, this is heaven!  

TIP
 The golden leafed decorated cups and saucers are not microwaveable.