Old Town Spice & Tea Merchants

Old Town Spice & Tea Merchants is a delight to the senses! I am confident this place has every spice you can possibly think of, as well as a variety of exotic teas to choose from. I definitely got my aromatherapy for the day!

My wife and I were surprised that this store is not set up for ease of sampling the aroma of all their spices, like Penzey’s which we absolutely love. The store felt tightly packed, lots of breakables, claustrophobic, not a place to bring small children. When we saw something that sounded interesting there was no open jar to smell the spices. Like at Penzey’s.
I know I’m rattling on about Penzey’s and a small Mom and Pop store like this can run it however they like. My point is that I couldn’t really tell if I wanted to buy something or not since I couldn’t smell it first, really important with dried herbs and spices, and when I’m afraid to turn around in a store for fear of breaking something my first instinct is to leave. Which is exactly what we did and haven’t gone back.
Obviously there are reviewers who like the products they sell and can overlook the stuff that I can’t, so if in the future they can move to a larger space and make shopping a little more customer friendly (less stuff crammed in, open jars for samples) then I would check them out again in a heartbeat.

Friendly, helpful staff.
I appreciate that they know their products well and try to give honest, helpful advice.
I LOVE their oatmeal raisin cookie tea blend. It is excellent!
Walking through the store is olfactory heaven!
I like when they offer hot tea samples. They seem to brew ones I wouldn’t normally choose, which is nice.

I LOVE, LOVE this place! I have been coming here for a few years now and I adore this shop. The staff is wonderful and so is their selection in teas. If you’re around and love tea like I do stop by and buy some tea.

Are you a fan of teavana, but not a fan of their prices? This is the place for you. SO many different types of Teas and spices. There is a wide variety of teas ranging from green teas, black, and fruity. The staff there is super helpful in assisting you in finding what you like most. They also have blooming tea blossoms-​I am really excited to see how beautiful and relaxing they look. They had a lot of different spices, and while I did not buy any, if I had the money I would had. There were a lot of different blends to choose from. Come here tea and spice lovers!

Talk about walking into heaven! I could spend thousands of dollars here. The two ladies working were helpful and professional. I noticed that one of the ladies recognizes her regulars and knows them by name. It is nice to see that level of professionalism and customer service.
The spices and teas smell and look fresh. They had a tea, chocolate, and nuts out for sampling. They also sell teapots and jars/​tins to store your spices.

Love this store so much we signed up for the monthly delivery.
Fresh spices and samples to try.
They have spices, teas and so much more.

My new favorite store!!!
I went because my friend and I had an amazing tea at a fair and I wanted to try to recreate it as a Christmas gift for her… no easy task!
The staff patiently and expertly helped me pick and blend teas until we had the perfect concoction.
I also picked out more teas for gifts and some for myself as well.
To top it all off the employees put what I had bought together into gift baskets that they decorated so adorable and chic with tea-​infusing spoons tied around the top with ribbon… all for no extra charge!
These guys made my Christmas shopping day!
And the tea I bought for myself was so good I’ll be back to try everything!
Even though they were completely slammed for the holidays they were so helpful and I will be a new regular :-)
Next visit: Spices!!! (And more tea)

I love this place. Every town needs a spice and tea shop.

I was strolling down a random street in old town trying to find where I parked again (lol long story) when I seen a sign on the side walk that said get all your spices for thanksgiving now. It dawned on me that I still hadn’t gotten my pumpkin pie spices so we stopped in. What a wonderful shop, the moment you open the door your greeted by the smells of spices and cooking and it almost reminded me of being in Philadelphia at the reading terminal market around the holidays. So many cool things in one spot, I found the pumpkin pie spice and it has a unique blend I’ve never seen before so I am excited to get it. I am weary of buying preground cinnamon because of the fillers that big company’s put in it (check into what companies put into it big box companies use wood shavings) so this is a delight to see this small company using wholesome ingredients.

I like their selections. But feel like they should carry more Organic Options.

If you haven’t already been to the fabulous Spice Merchant, I suggest you get on over there. You will be welcomed by all different smells from all various spices for almost every dish and entrée to their wonderful selection of loose leaf teas. The owners are wonderful people as well as their most helpful staff. Carol certainly knows how to put together and abundance of teas by asking you questions of what you like and explaining to you how to brew. I have been in there countless times and will continue to go often for myself and for those.
well put together gifts for that special person. I just bought the Mist Ice Tea Jug for iced tea and ran home to make it.
I put it in the refrigerator and presto yummy satisfying ice tea ready in no time. Now the whole family can enjoy a nice cold refreshing glass of tea.

Such a fun store. Nice employees, clean store. Awesome teas and spices. My daughter and I go there about once a month. We get a cup of tea and walk the shop smelling all the different jars of teas.

I’m a heavy tea drinker, and I really like the assortment they provide at this store. They even have small bricks of Pu-​Erh which is my favorite tea. Also, take advantage of their «buy 10 oz of teas and spices, and get an oz. for free»! I do this almost monthly! I highly recommend this place!

Been buying our spices, rubs and teas from here for over a year now. Staff is always friendly and helpful to recommend items when asked. I absolutely love their black truffle infused sea salt and a little goes such a long way. We’ve purchased quite a few of their rubs and my husband has never been disappointed with any of them. We’ve tried a few of their teas as well and also purchased some for gifts. Our gift recipients were very pleased with their presents and I just know we’ll have to replenish their stock.
We totally recommend this little shop ten times over. Prices aren’t cheap but not ridiculously high either. I’d say you’re definitely getting what you pay for. If you prefer cheap low quality then don’t bother but if you know quality costs a little more then give this place a try.

My wife and I had tea at this place. I had a Blue Beauty and my wife had a Sweet Biscoti. We had a good time drinking tea at one of the tables outside. The staff was very friendly.
This place has teas and spices from all over the world. It is incredible how many teas and spices they have. We have always enjoyed coming here.

As a non-​cook, I can certainly appreciate the wide variety of flavored salts, sugars, spices, teas, and honeys. I happened to see this store online, when I googled Temecula today, to get inspired to drive here today.
The ladies who own Old Town Spice & Tea Merchants, are so nice and sweet. They seem like 2 best friends who started this company together. I noticed how many patrons came in and were so delighted to shop and speak with the owners.
I purchased a pound of Himalayan salt, some coconut sugar, and some habanero salt. I think there are so great gift ideas here and I will return before Christmas.

When I return to Temecula, I always make sure to stock up on three things… wine, of course, and then there’s the tea and spices from Old Town Spice and Tea Merchants. What a selection! I can honestly say that I never was a big fan of tea until I tried it from here. Now, I’m in love! And the selection of spices is amazing. I can’t even list favorites because I find something new every time I return. Even if you aren’t a big fan of tea or spices, you still need to stop in and check out this shop. It’s like taking a step back in time. Great little shop!

We were given a recommendation to stop by this tea shop from David from Parea and thank goodness we did.
If I could pour out each can, jar and canister of all their teas, sugars, and spices, I would want to swim in it forever!
Its a huge selection of everything imaginable. Even rare and exotic items too and the green tea selection is spot on. (they even had Matcha!!!)
With every canister that I opened I took a big whiff like I was snorting something illegal and enjoying it way to much. They even have samples you can try.
Saracha salt, roasted garlic flakes, strawberry vanilla tea, coffee bbq rub, and the list of crazy and unique items goes on.
if you know a spice and tea lover (like me) this is the perfect place to bring them.

*Big inhale* The aroma in this store is heavenly!
While strolling around in Old Town, Steven D and I stumbled upon this place. Spice Merchants is the cutest little store! I was so impressed! It offers a wide variety of rare and hard to find spices, teas, coffee, beans, etc. The prices are reasonable also.
An added touch is the recipe box. These little recipe cards give you ideas on what to cook with the spices. The staff are friendly and well versed on the inventory as well; which is always a plus! I love supporting small business!
Great Old Town find.