Tea Discovery in Maine

A co-worker told me about a place in the Lincolnville, Maine area where you could buy tea accessories and loose teas. My husband and I were in that area yesterday and came upon it, so I insisted we stop.

It’s called Green Tree Coffee & Tea. I thought it was new to the area, but they’ve been there since 2010 and have a 2nd location in New Orleans, LA. They have a small shop, packing, and roasting building between in Lincolnville. You can go in, pick up a brew and sit outside on their lovely porch with wooden chairs & a bench and watch the world go by for a spell.

I was pleasantly surprised to see such a wide assortment of loose teas. You can package & weigh them yourself from their bulk bins in lovely glass canisters using silver scoops. In fact, it appeared to me that there were more teas than coffees available. I could be wrong though. I don’t drink coffee, so I didn’t explore that side of the store. 🙂 Reviews of their coffees online say they’re better than Starbucks. One would have to take that opinion on how you’d rank Starbucks I suppose.

I picked up two kinds of tea. One was a Rose Congou and the other was Pu-erh. I found the prices to be very reasonable, especially for this heavy-tourist area where prices for pretty much anything can be doubled this time of year.

This morning I am trying the Rose Congou, which is a tea from China. I place a little bit more than one teaspoon in my small Tain Pottery teapot and let it brew a shade less than 5 minutes. I like my tea strong!

The first thing I notice is the subtle, but sturdy scent of roses. Delicate, not overwhelming, but very “there”. The description of this tea on their website indicates it’s “a heavy, sweet cup with a distinct rose scent.” I don’t think there is anything “heavy” about this blend. It’s quite lovely and very smooth. I would order more for sure.

I’ll try the pu-erh later.

It doesn’t appear to be available on their website currently.I’m glad to know there is another local distributer of fine teas in the area. They also sell many accessories and lovely locally-made pottery as well as a small selection of bath items made with coffee or tea and yummy goodies from the New England area. I think because the sign on the porch says “Coffee Roasters” that I just assumed it was only coffee and we’ve probably driven by it many times. Now we will stop there, the next time we’re in that area.