Camellia Sinensis Edit

2 ratings
1 2 3 4 5
Type Tea Shop
Style Asian
Serves Loose-leaf, Bagged, Chai, Iced
Features Tastings, Tea ceremony
Hours
Mon Wed 10:00 AM 6:00 PM
Thu Fri 10:00 AM 9:00 PM
Sat Sun 10:00 AM 6:00 PM

Have more info about this place? Add It

1 Review

Camellia Sinensis in Montreal, Québec
5/5
Edit
fluffduck rated this place
5/5
and said Edit

An absolutely wonderful tea shop. My experience was wonderful.

Right upon entering my friend and I were politely and quietly offered a fresh little cup of an absolutely delicious green I hadn’t tasted before. When I asked what it was the server told me it was gyokuro! These people just serve up delicious little sample morsels of high quality tea without a second thought, without being salesman-y, without being prudish or even bragging. I mean, come on. Who just hands a cup of gyokuro to a tourist off the street? I just about died. Oh my God.

Being a non-French speaker in Quebec comes with clear struggles. Though most of Montreal is bi-(or even tri-)lingual it’s still sometimes hard to communicate and that frustration tends to show in shops. I get it! I’m a tourist, tourists are obnoxious, especially when they don’t speak much of your home language. The women working on this particular day did not speak very fluent English but were so very polite and kind and tried very hard to communicate with me. They were probably the most pleasant employees I interacted with my entire time in Montreal (that being said, most of the people were actually very kind despite the bad rap Quebec gets for being grouchy towards Americans… again, though, really. I get it.) They talked Darjeeling with me and let me smell some of the local tisanes to pick the most interesting sounding ones. They seemed genuinely kind and passionate about tea.

The shop is beautiful and has a decent assortment of tea wares. I’m in the market for an aroma set and didn’t see one on the shelf; when I inquired about it (again, struggling with the language barrier… I speak a tiny bit of French but absolutely don’t know the word “aroma,” but they were very understanding) the woman opened a back cabinet and pulled a few out! What a surprise!!

They offer a great selection of quality tea with tons of information about sourcing available in a pretty laminated binder.

Extremely friendly and helpful, even to obnoxious English-only tourists like me. :) I’m very picky about my tea shops. This is the best I’ve ever been to. I took home Darjeeling of several different flushes as well as a local tisane. This place is heaven. I want to live here.