The Oolong Drunk

Dec 30, 2023

Best 7 Tea Companies of 2023, Best Tea of 2023

Updated: Dec 31, 2023

Hello hello!

As various critics from all over the world release their arbitrary end-of-year lists for 2023 to help boost their site’s SEO results, I figured I’d hop on the trend of optimizing on cashing in on my SEO points by doing the same thing. Keep in mind, my list is entirely subjective, and subjective to the bubble that I live in. I will make bold statements about my personal opinions with an authoritative stance, and will leave out the majority of the tea industry because I’m only limited to what I see on a daily basis from my instagram feed.

So in my opinion, who is the best of 2023?

I’ll be going over the ‘best’ tea shops from various refined categories, and at the end, I’ll list out the overall best-7 tea shops that encompass all of my bases.

So lets dig in!

Note: No one from the list paid me, or sponsored me, to be on this list. However, if you are a company and see that you are listed on this list and feel generous enough to help compensate me, I will not say no. DM me on instagram for my Venmo info.

(Photo Location: Trident Booksellers, Boulder Colorado)

Travel:

Under this category, we’ll go over the best tea destinations that are the most travel worthy!

Best US Tea Room/Cafe: The Steeped Leaf, San Antonio TX

Best US High Tea: Tea Around Town, New York City NY

Best US Tea House: North East Tea House, Minneapolis MN

Best US Tea Shop: Song Tea and Ceramics, San Francisco CA

Best UK Tea Shop, Tea Blends: Bird & Blend Tea Co., Brighton UK

Best UK Tea Shop, Single-Sourced: Postcard Teas, London UK

Best UK Tea House: Mei Leaf, London UK

Best Canadian Tea Shop, Tea Blends World Tea House, Halifax Canada

Best Canadian Tea House: Camellia Sinesis, Quebec/Montreal Canada

Best European Tea House, Eastern Europe: T Element, Belgrade Serbia

Best Tea House, Central Europe: Chá Dào Tee Haus, Frankfurt Germany

Best Tea Shop, Central Europe: Marriage Freres, Paris France

Best European Tea House, Nordic: Spill The Tea, Oslo Norway

Best Mexican Tea House: Tomás Casa Editora de Té, Mexico City Mexico

Best South American Tea House: Quinta Esencia Tea House, Lima Peru

Best Oceania/Australian Tea Destination: Zealong Tea, Gordonton New Zealand

Media/Social:

Under this category, we’ll go over the best tea entities that has helped progress tea socially, excelled in marketing, or other various tea contents.

Best Heart Warming/Motivational Tea Shop: Be Still Tea

Best Social Media Marketing Campaign: My Tea Flow USA

Best Tea App: Steeped

Best Tea Talk-Show: Blissfully Tea Drunk With, Season 5

Best Personal Tea Podcast: Geek Steep

Best Corporate Tea Podcast: Steeping Together

Best Tea Publication: 80 Degrees Magazine

Best Facebook Group: The Snark Squad

Best Instagram Feed: Kelly, Ros_Strange on Instagram

Best Web Series: Midnight Tea Tastings, by Crimson Lotus Tea (instagram)

Best Youtube Tea Influencer: Tea with Jann

Best Instagram LIVE Host: UNY Tea Store, Jeffrey

Best Social Media Influencer: Vedika, ChaiMusaFirBlogs

Best Tea Instagram Baddie: Ana Likes Tea

Best Tea Blog: Nicole, Tea For Me Please

Best Blog Post: Tea With Neldon — Pesticides and Propaganda: How China Impacts the Vietnamese Tea Industry

Best Tea Art: Ruby Silvious, Tea Bag Art

Hottest Tea Blogger: Me, duh

Events:

This next category encompasses the best tea related events surrounding the world of tea.

Best US Tea Festival: The Mid West Tea Festival

Best Non US Tea Festival: The Toronto Tea Festival

Best Tea-House for Hosting Various Events: Sip Jo Jo Tea

Best Tea Group/Public Gathering: The Chicago Tea Collective

Best Tea Educational Program/Class: Being Tea, by Suzette Hammond

Tea and Tea Ware:

This Next Category encompasses the best tea by location, tea ware, and various tea-related merch and products:

Best Taiwanese Sourced Tea: Grand Crew Co.

Best Japanese Sourced Tea: Sugimoto Tea

Best African Sourced Teas: Cured Leaves Tea

Best Chinese Sourced Teas: Farmerleaf Tea

Best US Grown Tea: The Great Mississippi Tea Company

Best Bagged Tea/Tea Bags: Seven Tea House

Best Milk Tea and/or Boba: Milk Tea People

Best Chai Tea: The Chai Box

Best Matcha Tea: Marumatsu Tea Corporation

Best Innovative Tea Shop Offering: Smith Tea Co, for their cafe's 'tea flights' educational tea tastings

Best New Tea Company: Intergalactic Tea

Best Tea Club/Subscription: HoYum Tea

Best Canned/Pre Made Tea: Twrl Milk Tea, Jasmine Pu'Erh Milk Tea, with Pea Milk

Best Tea Ware, Traditional: Yinchen Studios

Best Individual Tea Potter/Ceramist: Sanguine Tea Pots, Mark Mohler

Best Tea Related Merch: Spirit Tea’s Clothing Line

Best Tea Related Product, Food/Beverage: Australian Tea Masters, Non-Alcoholic Tea Wine

Best Christmas Advent Calendar: David’s Tea, 24 Trips of Tea

Best Tea Stationary/Writing Materials: Tea Thoughts

Best 7 Tea Shops of 2023:

The following tea shops are, in my opinion, the best 7 tea shops in all of 2023. These tea companies have had excellent in innovation, creativity, and have consistently released incredible product lines that have exceeded the expectation set by the industry-norm. These tea companies also contribute in creating community, and have help grow the tea industry to a very substantial amount.

They are placed in random order, and do not rank above one another:

Bitterleaf Teas

Bitterleaf Teas won this spot by their diverse selection of accessible tea, tea ware, and their contributions to the puer tea market. Their ability to source affordable, easy-to-drink, and complex teas, is a delicate balance that they make look easy.

Crimson Lotus Tea

Crimson Lotus Tea won this spot for their authencitiy, their side selection of incredible teas, and their ability to bring the greater tea community together. Not only is Crimson Lotus Tea personable, their tea is truly incredible, accessible, and truly one of a kind.

Snarky Tea

Snarky Tea won this spot for their ability to create community while offering a wide selection of tea and tea-ware, and consistently releasing new products to keep their audience engaged. Their growth and originality is noteworthy.

Volition Tea

Volition Tea won this spot for their collaborations and partnerships with various tea companies, their ability to bring incredible new teas to their site, and their ability to grow and connect with various people in their tea community. What makes this impressive, is the fact that Volition Tea is ran by only one woman.

White2Tea

White2Tea won this spot by providing a large selection of tea. Their tea library is accessible, fun, and helps bridge a gap between tea and non-tea people. White2Tea has also managed to have a monthly tea club that has consistently stayed exciting despite for being around for over a half-decade, and is not afraid to release new tea productions that can’t be found anywhere else. Their innovation is currently changing the tea industry as we know it.

Trident Booksellers

Trident booksellers win this spot for various reasons. Trident Booksellers is a book press, a coffee shop, a live-music venue, and a tea shop. Their tea selection is refined, complex, and tasty. They carry teas that are for every kind of tea drinker, as well as proving gong-fu service as well. Despite having some of the best coffee in the US, they managed to carry some of the best tea in the US as well. They carry their own productions of tea, and provide a safe space for all walks of life to sit and enjoy a cup of tea. Locals and tourists from all over the world, come to Boulder, Colorado to experience a piece of magic that is known as Trident Booksellers.

One River Tea

One River Tea won a spot on this list for various reason. Derek, the man behind the madness, has overcome great adversity. He might not want me to air out his journey, but despite his hardships, he has managed to release some of the greatest teas the market has seen. He has also helped other tea companies release their own tea productions, and has an online presence that emotes friendship and warmth. This one-man show is something that the entire industry should take note of.

Final thoughts:

The World of tea has been a mixed bag this year, but despite the industry’s massive shortcomings, amazing people have immersed out of the woodwork to prove that the industry-at-large as we know it, will no longer cater to the same few tea companies. But rather, 2023 proves that tea companies can rely of innovation, kindness, and tact to succeed in the currently market. You didn't need to be a nepo-baby to make it big in tea this past year.

Here’s to 2024, and here’s to an even brighter and nepotism-free future.

Best wishes,

~Cody Wade

Aka The Oolong Drunk

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