Tay Tea

Went in with the in laws. Beautiful store but the high pressure sales drove us nuts… 3 salespeople followed us around trying to up-​sell us. Interesting because I think of a tea place as a relaxing place… Not this one! The tea, is tea! Also notice on their site it doesn’t mentioned n where the teas can’t me from. Strange.

If you’re up for an adventure, then you have to visit Nini at Tay Tea in Andes. The shop is a dreamy experience that tantalizes all of your senses. When I walked in, the first thing that arrived was a sweet aroma of fragrant smells that enlivened my other senses. From the front door, I was guided to the tea bar where I tried a host of iced teas, including my favorite Tay Tea ‘Dutchess’ First Love’ with a bit of agave. So delicious.
The store offers a host of wonderful items, of course their signature blended teas, soaps made with their teas, objects found on their trips to Africa, books on health, local Catskills products and so much more.
It’s an environment, an experience, they have paninis I didn’t try but I could totally see stopping in for a bit of shopping, a tasty bite and a cup of tea on the porch before embarking on the next leg of a journey.
See for yourself, it’s an oasis of fabulousness in the Catskills.

Went in 10 minutes before closing, owner was annoyed and rushed us to make a decision. When we choose a tea, she didn’t have enough to fill my glass and still charged me $ 3.25. I won’t go there again.

Wonderful place! Delicious tea and wonderful service.

I had the pleasure of tasting one of these teas early in July with a friend. I’m usually not a tea person– I prefer coffee– but I felt like it was a tea kind of day after a nice warm shower, post 5-​mile hike. Nice, right?
Upon walking into this shop, the wonderful soothing yet seductive smells of herbal teas slapped me in the face– and I loved every minute of it.
The teas smell outrageously inviting. And after glancing at their tea menu I decided on a cup of their signature tea «Better than Sex». I was pleasantly surprised a 12oz cup costs only $ 2 and some change! The tea size is standard so no small, medium and large here. The tea is easily worth double this price and it probably would cost that here in NYC– the home of the over-​priced.
«Better than Sex» is pretty much mint-​chocolate and isn’t really better than sex (unless you’re having terrible sex) but it’s darn good (and I’m sure a cup would be great right after sex!) I really enjoyed every sip of this tea– sans honey or sugar, of course. I do have to say that buying a tin of this stuff is pretty pricey but buying a cup satisfied me just fine. Too bad this place isn’t closer to NYC.

I actually haven’t tasted their teas, having ordered two of them for my mom, but I wanted to write about their phenomenal customer service. After placing my order online, the manager wrote me a very nice e-​mail the next day confirming that my order had been received and asking if I’d like a card included – I believe she had the hunch that I was ordering for Mother’s Day and made sure I knew that it wouldn’t ship until Friday.
Then, on Friday, she wrote again to let me know that my order had been shipped. The personal touch and effort that went into making sure that the order was going smoothly was much, much more than expected.

«Duchess’ First Love» is simply too good. I tried it at the coffee and tea festival 2 days ago and the aroma is still lingering in my mind.
I must get it online now. =)

Tay Tea has amazing teas, hands down. They were my «gateway tea» to exotic, creative blends and tea nirvana. The prices are a bit expensive in the NYC storefronts, so I prefer to order directly online. I especially recommend «Better than Sex» and «Marry Me Again.»

We took a leisurely Sunday stroll in Andes and stopped in to Tay. We tried a sample of freshly brewed tea and chose a blend to take home. The person in the store was knowledgeable and friendly. We enjoyed the visit and the ambience. Highly recommend.

We stopped into Tay on a lazy day of eating and swimming in August. It was supposed to be a quick stop — scope it out, admire the goods and head out. The thing is that I’m not even close to be a tea connoisseur. I mean, I like tea. It’s good. At times I drink it. But often i have to restrain myself from looking like a plebeian and popping in some sugar.
So when Nini, the owner and mixologist, offered me a cup of her most recent blend, I took it, in the way that all people who love free things do. But it wasn’t just ok. It was amazing and delicious. It was almost too good to be tea.
The other reason this is a 5 out of 5 is that Tay is still humble enough to have great customer service. When I emailed the store requesting the yet-​to-​be-​marketed tea, Dutchess’ First Love, I got a phone call back. With all this high tech consumerism, it’s pretty nice to slow it down and return to the craft of it all. Part of me wants to hold this information in and keep it to myself because it’s so nice, but… i’m trying to be an honest Unilocaler. check them out.