DAVIDsTEA

The shop itself is bright and cute. The saleslady told me about how they are a Canadian company and therefore have much stricter rules about things being natural. I thought — hey great! She recommended a bunch of flavors and most of them had things like actual chocolate or actual caramel pieces. I thought that was lame. It takes a really healthy beverage (and I think many people believe it is healthy) and makes it into something that is not healthy — essentially a melted candy bar. I bought a couple that didn’t have sugar added. When I got home and made some, though, they smelled really artificial. One smelled like the raspberry russell stover things you can get at walgreens. It was gross. When I looked closely at the ingredients I realized it was because there is a ton of added flavors. When I looked at the other teas I bought, the same thing was true. Everything had added flavors, which makes it taste so unnatural. if you are someone who hates teas, but wants to drink more tea, this is probably the shop for you. If you are someone who really likes tea, I would advise skipping it.

1 star for both their teas and their service.
Service: I saw that they had a sale and decided to give their teas a try. Their staff said they couldn’t let me sample the flavors the way other more reputable tea stores do, but that the teas I was buying could be returned if I didn’t like them even if the bag was opened. I bought a few of each flavor thinking that I could return them if I ended up not liking then. I went home and was DISGUSTED by the flavors! I took the unopened packets back to the store but the cashier immediately told me that sale items can’t be returned. I told her the last cashier had told me otherwise and she said it was printed on the receipt. You don’t get a receipt til after a purchase and I saw no return policy posted in the store. If their staff tells me that the items I’m purchasing can be returned, and he knew that I was specifically buying sale items, there would be no way for me to know that isn’t true. Isn’t that fraud?
Tea: I LOVE teas and seeing how beautifully DAVIDsTEA stores are designed thought I’d love this store. Unfortunately, the majority of their teas are awful. This brand consistently overpowers their tea blends with a ridiculous amounts of artificial flavoring. Most of their teas tastes like hot watered down syrup. It’s pretty gross. It’s also not good for you.

They have a tea menu! 13 kinds of straight (vs flavored) green.
We had the buttered rum black tea with honey this morning and that satisfied! I’m still a green tea fan and need to make my way thru the cups on the menu. :)
Minus one star for lack of seating but otherwise this place is great. Love the atmosphere and neighborhood, incl. the two hour parking around the corner.

I’ve walked past this place several times and the cute, colorful display has always caught my eye. I used a cold evening as an excuse to step in and get a warm drink here. The store has a modern look to it with colorful tins of tea adorning the wall. The staff was super helpful and walked me through a variety of different matcha green teas (they have 5 types!)
I like having options, but this was one too many. Or in this case, five too many. I really had no basis to pick and left it up to the staff to make a decision. I thought the tea I got was good but nothing special, especially given the price.

I consider this place to have extremely friendly customer service and a very modern clean space. That being said, do not judge a tea spot by its cover, rather by its drinks. The passion fruit iced tea drink I tried is nothing special and pretty weak by my taste buds’ standards. It is okay, but worth paying for? I can pass.

Very knowledgeable staff and an amazing tea collection all color coded!

What a fun shop. After all the success of coffee, I had been waiting for someone to try and elevate tea to the same level and I think David is trying to occupy that space
The shop had a great modern funky vibe with colourful pastel colours making for a cheerful atmosphere. Quite distinctive from the traditional tearoom atmosphere you get in Chinatown
The staff are extremely knowledgeable and will gently guide you through the mind boggling array of teas that they stock. There seems to be something for everyone. Delicate through more flavoured versions
They also stock a good range of tea paraphernalia and gifts. A fun place to browse for sure

I love, love tea! I’ve been in here at least 3 or 4 times and I never walk away without making a purchase. I first stumbled upon this place a few years ago (it must have been brand new when I walked in) while wandering the neighborhood. I was staying a few blocks away with family and on my own exploring. You can imagine I did a little happy dance when I found this place.
The place is extremely inviting. The teal (if that’s what you’d call it?) color is one of my favorite colors these days. Possibly because of this place. The shop is well lit. A new addition I noticed while in the store last week and something that wasn’t there when I first visited was a little seating area in the back to make it more like a tea shop/​café. There was a sign for a book review and reading, too. It seems very community oriented.
Here, you will meet some very friendly and knowledgable staff. They are eager to get to know you and suggest some teas that fit your tastes or preferences. I enjoy learning from the members while also contributing some of my knowledge of tea to/​with them. You can select from various green, black, white, oolong, rooibos, and herbal teas mixed with various flavors, dried fruits, nuts, spices, and much more. I really enjoy pure flowering teas or plain pure green teas, but this is quite fun. Have a tea party with lots of fun flavors. There’s something for everyone.
Some of my purchases ranged from an infuser, an infuser mug, and a travel tumbler with the tea infuser/​refill container. Each time, I come in for some samples and pick up some tea. I live in southern California and only make it in once or twice a year. This year I’ve been lucky to be in the area several times.
CON/​DISLIKE:
My only dislike for the tea shops are the «flavorings» or «artificial flavors» added to some the teas. It makes sense because they offer so many flavors such as birthday cake or crème brûlée. However, the purist inn me wishes there were a way around it.
Price is also expensive. My wallet regrets what I spend, though I go home happy to have something different and fun with me each trip.

Pros: Great customer service, HUGE tea selection, convenient storage tins/​packages for tea
Cons: Expensive; Some teas have artificial ingredients/​flavor– read the label!; A little too «cutesy» with their teas at times… but I guess that’s only for us hard-​core tea drinkers… I usually like mine bitter and with no extra food particles!
Otherwise great spot — and they always have free samples outside, woo hoo!

Everything in here is ridiculously overpriced (read $ 22 for an uninspiring ceramic cup), but the matcha was absolutely fantastic.
Also, they have agave, honey, rock sugar and Splenda… but no stevia?

If you like jasmine I suggest Buddha’s blend and silk dragon jasmine
They also sell compostable tea bags.

Incredibly friendly staff with a extraordinarily large array of loose leaf tea bursting with exotic and unique flavors! This is a very nice space in the heart of Noe Valley! The staff person offered plus samples of a couple seasonal blends including a yummy pumpkin flavored variety. Nice gifting options available along with tea mugs, kettles and other tea essentials!

Great tea — the names are so enticing like «glitter and gold.» They make a tea-​pop which is what I go in for an sometimes I get some loose leaf. It’s a bit pricey, but I mostly took off 1 star because their business model is clearly to get their sales people to very aggressively push their product.

Darn I totally forgot the name of the girl who helped me today! She had pastel pinkish hair and tattoos.
Anywho. I came strolling in to see what this store was all about. I told the girl that I usually drink Lipton and stuff but she was soo passionate about teas I picked up my own little starter kit! I grabbed a color changing tea mug with an infuser and tea sampler box.
I’m super excited to see what the deal with loose leaf teas is!
This store has a huuge selection of teas. I don’t even know how I’m gonna pick when I run out of this sampler box. Go check out the store if you’re in the area :) tons of teas to smell.

Such a cute shop! I had to go in and inevitably bought a bunch of different teas. I am a frequenter of Teavana and pay pretty much out of the wazzoo for their teas. So David’s was more reasonable in comparison. Love the décor there and their packaging is very lively! The staff was great but there was only one person there when I was shopping. The poor guy had to attend to so many people and seemed very stressed out and frazzled. I wanted to tell him to sit down, relax and have a cup of tea ;p lol But he was going going going on the job. Get more people for this branch guys! He needs some help! Can’t wait to try all my teas! Wish you guys had a branch here in Southern California! But he was a great seller and upseller! lol And let me know about the points, and website and buying online. LOLz
Only downside parking is crap around here. But hay that’s SF for ya.

My usual location is in the Westfield mall in downtown, but I tried this sweet neighborhood spot in Noe Valley on my way to Whole Foods. I came right at 10am when they were still setting up, so it was empty and nicely quiet when I ordered. The lady was super nice and awesome to make conversation with after I asked her if it ever got busy there. She said she worked the other locations as well, but so far she loves noe valley the most because it has a neighborhood charm to it. Besides the weekend, this location doesn’t get too busy.
I was pretty sleepy and about to work a shift for Instacart, so I asked her what kind of tea had a good amount of caffeine. She suggested some chai and mint black teas, but I settled with this buttered rum black tea, with soy and honey. She made my drink perfect to a T (ea) — just the right amount of sweetness and temperature. This flavor was an awesome recommendation because I ended up falling in love with it! At a nice price below $ 3, this definitely made my morning. Not to mention they played some chill indie r&b music, which added an extra bounce to my step. I am a frequent customer at the local whole foods next door, so I will be coming back soon with the same drink order! Thank you, DavidsTea Noe Valley!

I needed a little afternoon pick-​me –up but didn’t feel like having a strong Starbuck-​like coffee, so I walked into David’s Tea on 24^th Street.
Probably the nicest person I have ever met, greeted me with a free sample as soon as I walked in. It was an herbal tea (that I didn’t care for) mixed with a splash of club soda.
I am not an herbal or green tea kind of guy. I explained that I needed a bit of caffeine while perusing their hundreds of canisters on the wall. I quickly figured out that the black labeled tins contained black teas and vice/​versa for the green labeled tins.
I had an «Earl Grey» thought in my head, and after explaining that to the employee, she brought down several canisters that she thought I might like. She let me take a whiff of each one. I settled on an Earl Grey black tea mixed with a hint of strawberry. It was great.
She even wrote the time I should take my tea bag out of the water for the best taste.
4:17pm Pretty cool.

Good:
— convenient location in the heart of Noe Valley
— passionate & knowledgeable staff who will let you smell pretty much the entire store’s tea selection
— decent pricing considering quality of tea
— wide selection of black, green, and herbal tea
— separated «smelling» section in the tea can
— earth-​friendly cans
— also carry lots of tea gadgetry
I’m a tea fanatic. I drink lots of tea, from super high-​quality Taiwanese high-​altitude single-​source tea (that sell for over $ 100 a pound), Japanese matcha, fancy pantsy black teas, to pretty much any kind of herbal tea folks sell. David’s tea’s quality sits right where I like it: it’s not so expensive that every time I brew it should be an art form, and it’s way better than Tazos or Bigelow.
I always get annoyed when I go to a tea shop to smell tea and the staff happily just opens a WIDE JAR containing the entire batch of tea and put it up to my nose. That’s how the tea leaves oxidize and eventually lose flavor! Even when vacuum packed, tea leaves still don’t last very long. So I am extra appreciative when David’s tea’s tea cans all have an extra compartment for «smelling only». And the jars are in such a size that they will have to regularly re-​fill the batch. I have yet to find their tea leaves stale, which makes me very happy.
Here’s some of the tea I personally like:
Cold 911 (herbal) — peppermint, juniper berries, orange peel. GREAT FOR SORE THROAT. I drank it once when I was having a bad cold and this made me feel a lot better. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Le Digestif (herbal) — catnip, fennel seed, ginger root, peppermint**, orange peel, stevia leaf. Very similar to cold 911 but with more peppermint in it. Also good for colds. RECOMMENDED.
Mulberry Magic (herbal) — Mulberry leaf, organic macadamia nuts. This one has a *very distinct taste* because of how rich the mac nuts are. I ended up not finishing the batch I bought because I find it just a tad too thick.
Honey Bee (rooibos) — Red and green rooibos, honeybush, green mate, lemon bits, lemon myrtle, calendula petals, blue cornflowers. A rich but not thick and wonderful fragrant blend of rooibos and other floral scents. I like this in the morning and after dinner. RECOMMENDED.
Orange Pakoe (black) — Fine black teas from Sri Lanka. It’s very simple black tea with no extra flavoring. I like to make it hot and add milk. RECOMMENDED.
Ginseng Oolong (oolong) — Oolong tea from Fujian Province in China, ginseng. This one has very, very unique ginseng flavor to it. I absolutely love this one. Every time I drink it I feel like I got powered UP and have immense brain energy. No idea why :) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Korean Sejak (green) — Green tea of the second flush (Sejak), known also as Korean Sejak tea, from the Halla Mountain slopes in Korea. I was very surprised by this green tea. I had never had green tea from Korea, and this had a very distinct green tea flavor that was different from all the other country’s green tea (Taiwan, China, Japan) that I’ve ever tasted. It’s quite a delicate light flavor that you’d have to try to understand what I mean. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Happy because I have endless amounts of delicious tea. Unhappy because I’m 135.45 dollars poorer.
I have no idea how it happened! I swear the tea is laced with some sort of shopaholic drug, which is also delicious by the way. Every time I come here I feel as if I am in an adult candy store but even better because tea has 0 calories and it’s good for you! Woohoo! So why the hell wouldn’t you drink it all damn day from morning to night?! I am obsessed with this place and have been ever since it opened. Everyone is so nice and helpful especially when it comes to explaining each and every tea. I have zero complaints and I suggest each and every person give this store a try because it might just help you curve those sweet cravings you have and it’s just delicious!

I went in on their first day Sat Oct 27, 2012 since they had free samples outside for the Noe Valley Harvest Festival. It’s only about 10 min walk from 24^th St Bart, one hill you have to climb. They are a Montréal-​based retailer.
They had a couple hot tea samples outside: Midsummer Nights Dream & something else I don’t remember.
One iced tea sample inside — didn’t catch them name.
On the Tea Menu:
Hot tea cup is $ 3 tax included
Iced tea $ 3 tax included
Pot of tea $ 5 tax included
No tables/​chairs that day that I remember, maybe they’ll have some later?
You can buy the teas in bulk $ 14 – 16 for 100 grams which makes about 50 cups of tea, they sell tea infusers, & tea gift sets. They have 150 different types of teas, lots of organic tea, 70 organic, 80 caffeine free. Black, green, herbal, mate, oolong, pu’erh, rooibos, & white teas. Very cool.
One unisex bathroom in the back left side.
They have another location 2123 Polk St, & more coming soon: Westfield Centre Downtown SF & Burlingame coming before the Holidays.