Tea in Chicago

When one thinks of Chicago, the mind naturally turns to wondrous things like deep-dish pizza, Italian beef, and hot dogs "dragged through the garden." But one of my favorite things that Chicago has to offer is actually something much simpler to make and enjoy: tea.

Tea has never been all that popular here in the United States; whatever merits it had going for it got dumped into Boston Harbor all those years ago. And it certainly doesn't help that the best-selling tea in the country is the tasteless Lipton black tea whose only claim to fame is that it is the main ingredient in southern-style sweet tea. And until not too long ago that was all I knew of tea--and all I really needed to know.

This is what tea should look like.
If it's in a tea bag, you're doing it wrong. Source.

So imagine my surprise when, about three years ago, I was taken by my friend Angie to a tea shop that had just opened up in my hometown and found not just one type of tea, but hundreds. And not that bagged crap either, this was the real deal. If you are to know one thing about tea, it is this: always buy loose-leaf tea. The bagged stuff is what is left over after they process the real tea--whole tea leaves, picked, processed, and sometimes rolled (by machine or by hand), into things of beauty. The fannings, or "tea dust," the powder that is left over after processing, are taken and bagged into the form most of us recognize as that stuff we have to drink when we're sick.

This store, Adagio Teas, was singly responsible (albeit with a little help from Angie) for starting my love of tea. And when I say love, I mean addiction. On the list of things I love, tea falls below God and above everything else. Discovering how good tea can be, and how many varieties there are to try (from black tea to green, oolong to pu'erh, rooibos to yerba mate), is enough to make me a tea person for life.

But there's more to this story, for I was in for another surprise. Once I found out that good tea existed, I figured Adagio was the only place I could go (besides Asia, or those hacks at Teavana) for quality tea. But as it turns out, there is a whole tea culture that lurks beneath the surface of modern society. And it's all over Chicago! Here are a few of my favorites:

Adagio Teas

This was my first foray into tea, and this is still where I get most of my supply. Originally an online-only supplier, they opened their first brick-and-mortar location a few years ago in my hometown of Naperville, Illinois. At Adagio, their thing is to provide shoppers with a playground to experiment with different teas.

Wall-to-wall loose tea. A dream come true! Source

They provide walls chock-full of different full-leaf teas, and from there you can smell them, brew a cup to go, or even try your hand at making a custom blend. They also have one of my favorite pieces of tea gear. I shop there so often, they know me by name.

Teas to try: Ali Shan, Chai Town, Irish Breakfast

Bello Tea

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Bello Tea was a recent find for me. Now that I am commuting from home, I started walking to the Ogilvie Train Station to drop a fellow commuter off at her next train. On a whim I decided to check out the Chicago French Market, and lo and behold, one of the counters happened to be for this wonderful place. Their main store in Downers Grove is larger, and has a more cafe-style feel to it, but the location in the Market is one single counter--it feels like an old-school lunch counter. And it's great! I stop by almost every morning on my way to school/work, and there's so much variety there that you could probably go an entire year without having the same thing twice. And Bello Tea is run by one of the nicest people I've ever met.

This is Tammy, one of the owners of Bello Tea,
the nicest person ever, and the only person I will trust
to make my Matcha shots! Source

Bello Tea is different from places like Adagio or David's Tea in that they do offer more than your standard loose tea. You can indeed buy loose tea here, but they're also able to offer any variation of tea you can imagine! Lattes, Milk Teas, Bubble Teas, Hot Teas, Iced Teas, and my personal favorite, Matcha shots! Matcha is a kind of green tea that is ground into a highly potent, bright green powder, most notably for use in Japanese tea ceremonies. To see how to make matcha, check out this video. For two bucks, they'll make you a shot of matcha served in a stemmed espresso glass. Classy! And a great little extra something to get you through the afternoon.

Teas to Try: Matcha (shot), Almond Milk Tea, Milky Oolong


The Tea House

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While not exactly in Chicago, this place is just too good to pass up. The Tea House is located about forty minutes west of Chicago in Naperville. It's a tiny place inside an industrial park. It doesn't look like much, but head inside and you'll find a small oasis with teas from all over the world. The owner, Dan Robertson, began this tea venture after heading to Asia to create a documentary on the tea trade. Once there, he fell in love with the stuff, and now he runs The Tea House along with World Tea Tours, the "pioneer of tea adventure travel," where you get to tour Asia with tea experts, visiting farms and fairs, trying tea right where it's grown!

Instagram really does not do this picture justice. You could
spend hours here tasting rare, high-quality teas. Source

And it is on these travels that Mr Robertson finds and imports these wonderful teas and sells them via his store's website and in store, where he is available to host tea tastings and even demonstrate different tea ceremonies.

Teas to Try: Ti Guan Yin (They have many different grades of the stuff, so try them all!)


These are only a few places to check out. If you are a tea-fanatic like I am, you know I am only scratching the surface. There are plenty more places to find great tea around the city--and if you're having trouble finding the perfect one, there's always the TeaMap app!