Spice and Tea Exchange

Not a fan! The thought of all those yummy spices intrigued me to come in. The owner was extremely rude. I over heard her complaining to someone (I think it was an employee) about tourists and people not spending enough money. She actually looked like she had been drinking. How inappropriate! I decided not to shop there and take my business elsewhere.

Adorable little spice and tea shop right off Hypolita Street. Be warned: if you have a sensitive nose, this place might be a bit overwhelming. If you have issues, they offer benches outside to sit on while you wait for the more adventurous. Otherwise, it’s a great store to peruse the many herbs, spices, teas and accessories that line the walls. The prices are very reasonable.
There’s plenty of grinders, tea accessories, gift ideas, and unique specialty items besides the teas, spices, flavored salts and bulk offerings. And they offer beautiful gift bags & packages.
This is a locally owned store and the staff is friendly and helpful. The owner even helped my dad choose a nice blend he personally recommended. That’s proper customer service, IMO.
Overall, this business offers unique items and spice blends for that at-​home chef to season fish, poultry, beef, pork and homemade dishes. Definitely worth taking a peak inside.

The store itself is a must see! The entire walls are hidden behind endless jars of aromatic spices that really piqued my interests. So glad it’s right down the street from my house.
Don’t know anything about owners/​proprietors.

Let me say I bump in a small bag of sugar, OF a salient fixture, and it dropped. I politely stood by the bag just to find out that the first response from the owner was, «you break it, you buy it.» So, I did the honest duty but she was rude and almost made her day, she was happy that she finally got a sale !
She overcharged for a tiny bag of ridiculous sugar.
She almost threatened me.
NEVER SUPPORT THE TIRANY OF THIS SHAMEFUL STORE

I just got into tea and have Teavanna as my primary source of loose teas. I am rightly switching over to the Exchange! Will be ordering from them. Amazing. Especially the Cinnamon Plum tea that I need in bulk. The set up in old style apothecary and the hostess was very knowledgeable. Wish they had the rock sugar or sweetener. Would be nice to have the honey component as well but still a great stop!

Small two room spice and tea emporium with an extremely friendly staff. The aromas are present even before you open the door and walk in. The place is filled with a very large selection of bulk and packaged teas and a respectable amount of salts and spices. A lot of small nic nacs that make great gifts.
The prices are a little steep but it’s a specialty store in a touristy town so it is what it is. The store is neat and organized.

My boyfriend and I stumbled upon this gem after a day of shopping on Hypolita St.
I really love the assortment of teas, spices, and salts they have. Some of the salts were a bit pricey but the packaging and contents were all high quality and I definitely wouldn’t mind spending a little extra to enjoy them.
We decided upon three different tea blends, which was the Mystic Dragon, Berry White Tea blend, and the Tahitian Nectar which all taste and smell amazing! The tea bags that come pre-​portioned were relatively inexpensive and each bag gets around 8 – 10 steepings.
We will definitely stop by again the next time we are by downtown!
Also, make sure you check out their spice collection. They have ground spices, whole seeds, mixed varieties, and all types of spices for all varieties of cooking styles.

The place is really interesting. As a tea-​enthusiast and a spice lover (since I do a lot of cooking and experimental cooking) I was über excited for this place. I love love loved the different kind of sugars they have here … the only thing that I was not too happy about is their price … maybe some people may find that their prices are reasonable, but I really wasnt digging the price tags at all.

Love. Love. Love this place so many times over. If you are looking for fresh spices this is the place for you. It’s fairly small inside and when we were there there was only one woman working but I was determined to get some spices. They have everything you could want and they also make blends you can purchase. The blends can be kind of pricey but worth it if you’ve found one you love. I’ve never seen so many different kinds of salt too, that was pretty cool. They also had tea (the main reason I went) but it was priced more then what I was willing to pay. I also found ideas for spice racks (we live on a sailboat and space is limited) that I’ve never thought of and will totally work great. Oh and they had a small bag of sticky rice which I had one time and loved so I’m excited to try. The really nice thing is that they ship! We found deals on most spices and will def be back.

This place is really neat. They have a decent assortment of teas and spice blends. We went to both locations in one day. The downtown one has been around longer I think. They seem to have a little bit more to choose from as far as single herbs and spices goes, but the blends are available at both locations. It’s fun to just walk around smelling the different blends. The workers seem very knowledgable. We listed several specific spices and teas we like, and they immediately walked to the wall and started pulling down canisters for us to smell. Warning: the more you smell, the more you will buy! They have discount deals for buying 3 or more bags. They also have several odds and ends items like spice grinders, tea steeping balls, mortar and pestle sets, and other little gift items. One of my favorite little shops we visited on our trip.

I wandered by the Spice and Tea Exchange on a recent visit to St. Augustine and was thrilled that even though the sign on the door indicated that they had not yet opened, the proprietor let me in for some early spice shopping!
The Spice and Tea Exchange is located in a quaint, rustic, wooden building and very much reminded me of the shops that I used to visit when I was growing up to the north of Boston, Massachusetts. The building really is conducive to buying teas, spices and anything that might have once been an expensive import from the Spice Islands.
The proprietor was very helpful and friendly. He made it easy to find about half a dozen things that I had not planned to purchase but which became essential after I sniffed the aromas coming from the various jars that he opened. Indeed, we have already run out of the blackening spice that he recommended for fish and will soon have to order more.
When in St. Augustine, Spice and Tea Exchange is a must-​visit place for foodies. I look forward to my next visit!

HOW. HOW HAVE I NOT WRITTEN A REVIEW.
I first found out about this place when visiting my parents while they visited St. Augustine last winter. This year, I was lucky to return for another visit. In the intervening year between them, I ordered many, many spices online and just love this store’s wonderful selection.
Not to mention, their awesome spice blends! I can’t recommend this place enough — I love it and you have to stop by if you’re in old downtown St. Augustine. Smell all the spices and take some blends home — I recommend Pirate’s Bite and Florida Sunshine, for starters!

Anything you could ever want in teas and spices — it’s here.

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME products & owners! Amazing items to try & lots of sample packets to purchase for just $ 3 – 4 — take home treats for you, your co-​workers, your petsitter, for presents, etc! Visit Ms. Colleen & Mr. Bob whenever you’re in downtown St. Augustine. Pretty sure they can ship to you as well.

I have only been to the store in Portland, Oregon but I purchase all of my unique spices from the St. Augustine main HQ. I have been regularly purchasing amazing spices from here for a year and a half.
I particularly LOVE the Morroccan blend which I use primarily as a lamb rub for tagines. I also worship the black truffle sea salt :) Some of my other favorites include the sweet onion sugar, coconut flake powder, jalepeno salt, and lime coconut smoked sea salt. I hope one day to visit the main store but this place is desperately needed in Las Vegas. Until I can visit a storefront I will continue to shop via the Internet because it is easy and fast. This is a wonderful operation!

I love this store! There are many different types of spices, rubs, sugars, and teas. Some of my favorites are Bakers Blend, Cinnabar rub, and Coconut sugar. I recently purchased some new products and I’m looking forward to experimenting with them. The people working here are very friendly and helpful. If you are in the area, definitely don’t miss this place. If you are looking for a unique ingredient, like say, black truffle salt, they probably have it here.

I’m a tea addict and went into the Spice and Tea Exchange to see what teas they had I wanted to try, but it was the giant wall of salts that held my attention. I went in for a couple of teas and ended up walking out with 3 teas, 6 salts, and 4 spice blends. This shop is dangerous to my bank account but I don’t regret any of my purchases. Kudos also to shop owner Colleen, who was friendly and helpful without being pushy.
My only caveat? I wish the S&TE had squeezes in a couple of small tables with chairs and sold some of their teas brewed on the premises. It’s a cozy, warm shop and I would’ve loved to enjoy a nice cup of tea while people watching.

I LOVE this store. I really miss being able to drive to SA and navigate the tourist traffic just to go to my favorite store there. The staff is very helpful and knowledgeable, they helped me out many times and I’m sure they had way more knowledge to share than I would ever need (I’m definitely not a chef!). My favorites are the rubs, specifically the Teriyaki Ginger rub, and the different rices they sell. I’m always trying out new rices with different dishes to see what goes best with what foods, my fave is the Himalayan. The labels on the bags help with that as well. They also have a fantastic assortment of teas but I haven’t tried any of them.
I could stand in here all day and enjoy the aromas!

This is a sweet little shop that has a fantastic selection of teas and spices. They are always friendly and helpful. If you love tea or cooking then you will love this shop. The only down side is no parking as is always in downown St. Augustine.

Spice and Tea Exchange is formerly known as Old Florida Spice Traders. It is a great place to purchase spices and teas. They have jars upon jars of different gourmet spices. I love the selection of salts as well as all the custom blends. The custom blends include thai curry mixes, indian curry, butcher’s rub for steaks and more. If you love to cook, this is the place for you.