I first discovered Teaopia on-line a few years ago and was drawn to its lower prices for Teas similar to the offerings at The Tea Emporium. While they have a great selection of loose-leaf Teas of all sorts and a large selection of Yerba Mates, I find the quality to be lacking a little. I don’t think that I will purchase loose-leaf Teas from Teaopia again, but I will likely return to the store’s cafe for iced tea when I am in the area.
I visited the brick-and-mortar Teaopia location at 601 Queen Street recently and was a little disappointed by the general vibe of the staff (sullen and holier-than-thou), fortunately save for the sweet young man who actually served me—he was very polite, friendly and knowledgeable.
It seems that Teaopia is a major franchise and I doubt that the owners/staff have very much passion in selecting teas for their stores.