Palais des Thés Tea Store

As I write this, Palais des Thés has closed its New York City shops, ending their US presence. I made a visit one day to learn of this sad discovery. They discounted everything, down to the last tea leaf.
I was a patron of this shop and meant to write a review. Here’s my original review (before they closed up shop):
Palais des Thés is a fantastic place for purchasing quality tea and their Signature Tea infusions (mix). My favorites in the latter are Thés du Humman (a tea reminiscent of Turkish bath houses, which, funny enough, where I first had my first cup), Blue of London (for those who love Earl Grey and anything with bergamot), Vive le Thé! (it’s especially great iced), Fleur de Geisha.
This store was also my source for «straight teas» — Grand Jasmine teas and oolongs.
You can buy in bulk, in tins, or sachets. I tend to buy bulks as it’s more economical for someone who drinks tea daily.
Knowledgable and welcoming staff. The staff members who helped me were patient and pleasant. They can help recommend teas if you’re not familiar with what you may want or want to try something new. They do not offer tastings, unfortunately.
A must visit tea place, if you ever come across one in your area, country.

I enjoy tea, though am no expert. The place has a good selection of teas in green canisters that you can smell & sample — not too many white teas. They had a cherry blossom tea on sample. The service was excellent and friendly but not in an awkward, «obligated to buy» way, which made me feel good about patronizing this place. I appreciated knowing which teas were fine served cold and which were better hot. You can get your loose tea in either a canister or a bag/​pouch. They also have a selection of some tea accessories. If you enroll in their rewards program, you get $ 5 back for every $ 100 spent. I would return, especially if shopping for gifts.

This review is specifically for the Tea Class. It was done with poor ceremony by a new guy who was literally reading from a script, didn’t have any depth of knowledge, and didn’t make the teas correctly. I don’t blame him, hey, he’s new, but the store’s focus is obviously on making a quick buck, not on an in depth and educating tea tasting experience.

TEN STARS FOR SERVICE. The man here was so helpful, outgoing and clearly really loved tea! He showed me a bunch of different teas based on my preference and helped me select an excellent tea. Definitely glad I decided to stop by here on my trip to New York from Cali. Thank you again!!! The tea I ended up purchasing smells like bubble tape!

I love this place! The teas are out of this world, the staff are super friendly and they know tea. I’ve been drinking tea for about 30 years and am pretty picky, but after becoming acquainted with this place I will always have a tin or two or three on my kitchen shelf. If you are a tea lover like me, this is a must.

My boyfriend and I are very avid tea drinkers. When we lived in San Francisco, we frequented a small chain of tea shops that buy directly from China — short of going to China ourselves, we’ve had some great tea!
I’m always on the hunt for a great place to locally buy loose-​leaf tea and I think I may have found it. The gentleman who helped us was very informed about all the teas we asked about and he even helped us find my all-​time favorite — Jasmine Pearls.
The store itself has a beautiful décor. We came here on a cold day, yet the store felt warm and welcoming, as did the staff member who greeted us and offered us a free sample (which, of course, was delightful).
If you like tea, love tea, or are just interested in knowing a bit more about tea past what tea bags have to offer, this is a great place to come!

Very high-​quality loose teas, available in variously sized bags and containers. Gift-​worthy teapots, tea samplers, and other tea-​brewing accessories. Beautifully decorated space with open displays. Helpful and informed (but not pushy) sales associates. Free sample of the tea of the day. Top marks all around!

Stellar. Top notch product, very knowledgeable and friendly staff. A small but cute selection of teaware too. Definitely worth a visit, especially for the tea connoisseur. I’ve been drinking green tea for a long time and am pretty particular about it, and I found myself learning new things while talking to the gentleman who works here.
The company has an interesting story; it’s worth checking out their site if you’re curious — the owner has been running the business himself over 20 years, and still hand selects the teas. Whatever he’s doing, it works!

AMAZING store!!!
I’ve been drinking tea for over 30 years and I am amazed at how much wonderful tea they have. The saleswoman was so nice and gave me lots of samples and great advice on tea blends.
Totally recommend for nice gifts.

I’ve been walking by Palais des Tres almost every morning to work and I kept telling myself I would go in. It took me about 4 weeks of passing by this quaint little tea shop before I stepped into the store in search of a last minute birthday gift.
The moment you walk in, you’re greeted by someone offering you a tea sample. I actually liked the sample so much that I ended up buying a package of it for work! They serve three different samples throughout the day — one in the morning, another in the afternoon and one more later in the early evening.
I browsed around and was offered to smell some teas that I would be interested in. I ended up going for some green tea, which they generously offered to gift wrap for me. They also have a frequent buyer program — spend $ 100 and get $ 5 off your purchase.
I will definitely be back any time I am in need of a quick gift!

Nice guy running the place and giving me that ‘damn you look uninformed’ look, but this place feels more corporate than their other accent-​less location
. I can definitely get behind their sniff-​based design.

Definitely one of the best loose tea stores I’ve ever been to. They have a large selection of both regular tea and melanges. The jasmine pearl at Palais des Thes is the best I have ever had. I really recommend this shop to everyone and anyone who likes tea!
EDIT: I went this Saturday morning and was surprised to find it closed, at 10:30am. I came back around 11 and it had just opened. I asked the employee there about the opening hours, and said it usually open around 10, sometimes (like the weekend) at 11. So don’t pay attention to the info listed on Unilocal,and don’t go before 11am to be sure to find an open door.

Franchise feel with sharp lines and equally cold customer service. You’d think with all the truly daunting varieties of teas and accoutrements this would impress but I walked out swiftly as it just felt empty and lacked the character required to entice a connoisseur.

Just stopped in today because I saw their GC deal go live. The store is set up really nicely — clean and organized (but I guess that’s to be expected, given its neighborhood). Really friendly and helpful employees… and the best part? No difference in treatment even with my voucher.
I also scored double because they happened to have most of their loose tea leaf canisters on sale… AND I scored three free samples with my Unilocal check-​in.

Yeah, it’s that good. The teas are «natural,» not organic, so a star off for that, but I got the «Toffee,» a vanilla/​caramel black tea that they were offering samples of at the door the other day, and I’m on my third cup. There were lots of little vanilla beans in the bottom of my cup when I drained it.
I favor loose tea, which I’ve found numerous ways of brewing – cold brew is my current fave, but my old standby is the German coffee-​filter method. This store has tins and tins of loose teas arranged by type, and they offer a helpful informational pamphlet.
And the store is dog-​friendly, which is always a huge plus in my book.

The teas and the service here are both quite outstanding. Their black teas with apricot or peach are my absolute favorite, but I have also enjoyed countless of their other teas hot and cold. Each one is a treasure, and the staff are so well informed. They can find out what you like and guide you to the teas which they think you will like the best, and so far, they have been spot on. The shop is also beautiful, and well designed for easy navigation and for being able to find what you will love the most in a short amount of time.

Finally made my way to this tea shop. Let me say that its immaculate… the moment you walk in, you are asked to indulge in a tea tasting (love it) then you stroll through the shop at ease. The staff there are knowledgeable and are helpful when you are trying to make a decision especially for novice folks. I left out of there with the cherry blossom and was floored by the amazing taste!

New tea store that just opened. First visit and it was great! I had a sample to taste on a cold winter’s day. I ended up buying a white peach, watermelon, and kiwi green tea. The de Alize’s it smells so good I can’t wait to drink it warm or cold oh yeah!

This store just opened up yesterday! My friend and I were walking around during our lunch break and discovered our new «treasure»! They sell loose tea, tea bags, pots, strainers etc. We bought a delicious smelling and tasting Oolong with Orange blossom and my friend bought an Oolong with a combination of 7 citrusy fruits. I have a feeling we’re definitely going to be dropping by this location MANY MANY times this year :)