Try ethnic stores Arabic,Indian,Asian etc. You'll find plenty of
commericial teas at penny/gram. The expensive ones are maybe twice
that. There is a better chance of finding teas in tins. If you have
access to a Chinatown knock yourself out. Psst the best Ceylon teas
are in Arabic stores. If nothing else you'll get to discover the tea
the rest of the world drinks. Try the discount chains such as TJMAX
and CostPlus. If you live in a large metro area you should be able to
find a tea shoppe. Most will have some sample packs to purchase so you
can try first. If you're really lucky my local tea shoppe serves what
it sells but since I can do better making a cup I always buy before I
try and sometimes I'm even disappointed. He currently doesn't like
some of his Indian teas and is going to replace them. I've been
foraging at bricks and mortars for decades and you can always expect
the unexpected.

Jim

elgoog wrote:
> <<You mean when you walk in to buy or ordering from them?>>
>
> Yes, I mean walking in to a brick-and-mortar establishment. You know
> the real, physical world. I find so much information online about
> Internet tea stores and reviews of teas sold online. I am left
> wondering, what about finding good loose leaf tea in stores. One of
the
> things I enjoyed about coffee was going to the stores and picking out
> the beans. I want to know about tea, find tea stores and be able to
> experience that same sense of knowing what I am looking for and
> predicting and recognizing quality.
>
> I realize that my geen tea sampler from Adagio contains teas that
have
> been reviewed from horrid to average. The horrid one is, well horrid.
> Still, the average tea is the best I have ever tasted. I don't mean
to
> knock Adagio, it just happens their best teas aren't in the sampler I
> bought.