Craving the perfect cup of tea? You’re not alone. Whether it’s the taste, the health benefits or the warm feeling it creates on a cold winter day, tea consumption is on the rise in Baltimore.
Tea rooms and retail shops throughout the city are meeting the demand with a variety of choices.
“The motivation for most people to drink tea is warm relaxation,” said Stanley Constantine, president of The Baltimore Coffee and Tea Company. “It makes you take five minutes out of the day to relax.”
The actual and perceived health benefits of tea – everything from fighting cancer and heart disease to staving off dementia – only add to the popularity, he said. It’s also more affordable than coffee.
“One ounce of coffee makes one pot,” he said. “One ounce of tea makes one gallon.”
Baltimoreans love fruit-flavored teas. Orange and lemon-flavored green teas, as well as apricot-flavored black teas, are always among the best sellers at Baltimore Coffee and Tea, which makes about 16 million tea bags a year in its Timonium headquarters.
At Teavolve Café and Lounge, Owner Sunni Gilliam sees a similar trend. Flavored green and white teas are always best sellers, and their popularity stretches across all age groups. The ginger peach white tea is so popular it’s difficult to keep on the shelves, she said.
“By far, I am running out of that tea on a regular basis,” she said.
If you are a new tea drinker, Constantine recommends starting with a green tea such as sencha – a traditional Japanese tea that is steamed instead of pan fired. Sencha is high in antioxidants and has a grassier taste than pan fired green teas.
Gilliam recommends starting with a lightly scented black tea, such as Star of India. For coffee drinkers making the switch to tea, she suggests a stronger-bodied black tea like Assam, named after the northern Indian region where it is produced.
Tea drinkers shouldn’t be afraid to branch out with their tastes, Gilliam said.
“Tea is very versatile,” she said. “We try to do everything we possibly can with it – tea sodas, tea-infused cocktails.”
And if the choices become overwhelming, just ask for help, she said. Tea room staff members can be a tea drinker’s biggest resource.
Tea time: Check out these Baltimore businesses to find your new favorite tea.
Baltimore Coffee and Tea | 9 W. Aylesbury Rd, Timonium | 410-561-1080
Gertrude’s |(in the BMA) 10 Art Museum Dr, Baltimore | 410-889-3399.
Teavolve Café and Lounge | 1401 Aliceanna St in Fells Point, Baltimore. Phone: 410-522-1907
Thir-tea First Street Café and Tearoom – 414 E. 31st Street in Charles Village, Baltimore. Phone: 410-889-7112
