Lots of tea, lots of work, too little time! Despite that, it's time to give a brief summary of the ordering process at Phoenix Tea (link: http://www.phoenix-teashop.com/store/en/)
Based in America, Phoenix Tea is not only an online retailer, but also a physical store, run by Virginia Wright (a noted blogger in the tea world) and Brett Boynton. During the ordering process, I managed to get into contact with Ms Wright, and she was very lovely to deal with! Some of the best dealings I've had with the internet tea shopping have been those where I've been able to chat to the very friendly owners, ask them advice, etc. It's these people that you want to shop with again.
So, the site is well set up, the teas are accurately photographed, and many have descriptions of the flavour profiles, which is always a bonus. Phoenix Tea stock a wide range of teas, sourced from a number of different locations, including China, Japan, Korea, India, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. They also have a very good Kenyan tea selection, and one tea from Malawi. Most importantly, I've tried a range of the teas so far, and the quality is certainly good.
You can order a range of weights of the teas, but I love the 2oz tins you get, which are perfect for re-use. There's a number of differently priced teas there as well, so if you're not wanting to spend as much, there are options available there. Having said that, if you want premium, expensive tea, Phoenix Tea have that too. The only criticism I can make is a lack of brewing instructions for the beginner. It's just something that I like to see, to give a newcomer a bit of a hand, so he or she is not eternally put off tea after attempting to drink a sencha brewed with boiling water. Having said that, with the range they have, it would certainly be hard work to write brewing instructions for everything.
There's a little bit of seasonal variation to the teas available, which is to be expected from a boutique tea store. Recently, they've had an influx of Taiwanese oolongs that I'm very much looking forward to trying.
There are a range of payment options available (paypal, credit card, plus a few others), and if you live nearby (Seattle), you can go to the store to pick up your order to save on postage. For those of us who don't live nearby, you get free international priority shipping on orders over US$85. Otherwise, the international shipping rate seems to be a flat rate of $15. My order took 10 business days to arrive, which is pretty good for getting to Australia.
Overall, Phoenix Tea was great to shop with. My order was processed quickly, the tea was of a very good quality, and the owners were certainly friendly! I'm a happy customer indeed.
And did I mention that their Taiwanese oolong was delicious? I may just have to have another cup now...
