Ito En Tea Shop
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Japanese [Edit]
Neighborhood: Manhattan/Upper East Side822 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10079 (212) 988-7111
- Nearest Transit:
68th St (6)
63rd St-Lexington Ave (F)
- Price Range: $$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: No
- Waiter Service: No
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Wi-Fi: None
13 Reviews for Ito En Tea Shop
ITO EN is the best tea in the world. I used to look so forward as a kid to go back to Japan on my summer vacations just so I could buy ITO EN tea's out of the vending machines at the train station by my Aunt house. I am very glad ITO EN is so popular at many places. Their jasmine is ultimately the best.
At the Fancy Food Show Ito En booth, I was talking to the exhibitors and they mentioned the following flavor:
- Darjeeling - soon to be available
I also want to clarify that only the following sweetened teas have ACTUAL JUICE CONCENTRATE (and yes, I actually checked every single bottle after I brought it home):
- Apple
- Peach
- Lemon
The other sweetened teas only have LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE and/or their respective fruits' 'FLAVORING'.
I also asked why they didn't sell the sweetened teas in 1L or 2L bottles. They said too much competition from other brands to justify producing it...DARN!
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
06/16/2008
Leaves picked from the foothills of the Mount Fuji, this as as good as it gets folks. They also… Read more »
Hands down the best selection of premium teas in the city. The staff are knowledgeable and serious about their product, and will patiently help you find what you're looking for. I disagree with comments below saying that Ito En's strengths are limited to Japanese green. There were dozens of beautiful Chinese and Indian teas on their list. I was also shown many teas not officially on display, including an old-growth Pu-Er which I am drinking as I write this. Ask and ye shall receive. Expect to pay a premium at Ito-En, but it's worth it.
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Delicious tea that cannot be beat!
Helpful staff were useful in finding the right type of tea, and they were not rude to us two 16 year olds at all.
Awesome tea pots too.
One of the best places in the city to get Japanese green teas. However, their selection outside this realm leaves much to be desired! However, if Japanese green tea is specifically what you are looking for, this is your place. Great decor, and the restaurant upstairs is really good.
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When I walked into this place, I had just pegged it as another shi-shi tea place. But 45 minutes later, I was left enamored by the staff, their products, and the classy service. Here is a little play-by-play of the visit:
Title:
The 3 Musketeers take a Tea Break
Cast:
M1: Yours Truly
M2: Tea-loving dude
M3: BFF who also loves tea
BEJLWWT: Beautiful and Elegant Japanese Lady Who Works There
CCJGWWT: Cute and Classy Japanese Guy Who Works There
CGSWWWOF: Crazy Guy from Street With Weird Welt on Forehead
[M1, M2, and M3 meet at Ito En]
M3: Hey, hows it going!!! Long time! Time for tea!
M1: Yeah, tea sounds good - Winter is biting at our heels, and a little tea might fend him off a few more minutes.
M2: (to BEJLWWT) Can we get tea service for 3 please?
BEJLWWT: Oh, I'm so sorry, we actually close between lunch and dinner.... But you can wait a few more hours until we open for dinner.
[M2 scowls]
M1 and M3: Oh darn... we came all the way up town! OK, I guess we'll have to go to Starbucks.... :-/
BEJLWWT: Ohhhh, I feel bad you guys came all the way up town to visit us - please allow me to brew you some tea!
[M1, M2, and M3: smiles beaming]
M2: That would be lovely!
[cut to 5 minutes later, water has come to a boil in the beautiful, cast-iron pot, and CCJGWWT is ladling tea into small cups for us to taste the delicious fruit of the earth]
CCJGWWT: And here is one of our Chinese Oolongs, you will notice that it has spicy notes to it and...
[CGSWWWOF lumbers in and interrupts conversation]
CGSWWWOF: HEYYYYYYYY I WANT SOMETHIN' TO DRINK Y'ALL.
[M1, M2, M3, CCJGWWT, BEJLWWT, and other patrons turn and look in shock]
CGSWWWOF: COME ON DUDES. I'LL GIVE YOU 7 CIGARETTES, I JUST WANT SOMETHING TO DRINK, ANYTHING.
[more looks of horror and a pregnant silence ensues]
CGSWWWOF: OH WAIT, I HAVE 8 CIGS. I'LL GIVE YOU 8! JUST GIVE ME A DRINK!
BEJLWWT: [unfazed] Of course sir. It's quite alright, we will serve you along with the other guests. And thank you kindly for offering the cigarettes, but it's quite unnecessary. Please wait while we pour you a cup.
[Patrons stare in amazement at BEJLWWT's poise and grace under pressure]
CGSWWWOF: [takes sip of tea, spills some down the front of his jacket, then makes a strange face] This is weird tea. Thanks. [exits stage left]
After trying several more very rare and interesting teas, and looking around at the merchandise for sale, M1, M2, and M3 decide it's time to wrap it up. M2 makes a few purchases, and M1 and M3 head to powder their noses. While descending to the basement to powder said noses, M1 and M3 notice a thick scent of incense burning in the elevator, and lo and behold, there is incense burning in the elevator! (see accompanying picture). The powder rooms were exquisite, although they had the same, almost sickly sweet incense burning in them. For a super sensor like M1, this proved to be a most unpleasant olfactory experience, especially after the delicious teas.
[M1 and M3 exit powder rooms at same time and exclaim simultaneously]
OMG, weren't those bathrooms soooooo coooooool?!?!
M1, M2, and M3 take their leave of Ito En, after making a bit more pleasant conversation with CCJGWWT and BEJLWWT. The Musketeers then part ways, each off to fight a different battle in a different corner (borough) of the world (NYC), now energized, smiling, and empowered by the delicious tea.
[end scene]
I would say 4.5 beautiful stars for an astounding selection of Asian teas, but 5 full stars for excellent service - they really take care of their customers and handled a situation with such grace and class that what could have been somewhat sticky was a non-event.
I would love to come back for a formal tea service, especially with my mom.
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Ito En Tea Shop is to tea what the MoMA is to contemporary art. If I was in the business of growing tea, I would want shelf space here. Meanwhile, tea for me conjures up images of years gone by. Three follow:
- My mom waking up at 3am to make me a kettle of Assam tea so I could rise soon after and prepare for my exams. Tea can stimulate.
- Trekking the Indo-Tibetan border with friends, sharing cups of steaming, hot chai with the army in a rarified setting. Tea can provide warmth.
- Pulling the occasional all-nighter in a consulting or banking setting, drinking tea continually to keep things sane. Yes, tea can calm too.
Tea is indeed multi-talented. And Ito En, like McNulty's and a few other tea stores worldwide, stocks the best teas that the general public can access.
Ito En is a tea gallery. Soon as you enter this well-lit store located in a Madison Avenue townhouse, you will experience Japanese understatedness at its best. Small-sized containers with various kinds of teas--senchas and matchas from Japan, green teas and oolongs from China, Darjeeling and Nilgiri teas from India, to name a few--line up the shelves. The staff are gracious and knowledgeable, although they did look at me funny when I asked them about FTGFOP1 and TGFBOP1 from Darjeeling. They are generalists, not specialists, as I learnt. And I was being a showoff--shame on me.
Ito En is generous with free tea tastings. And once you make your selection from the long tea menu, they pull out canvas bags with the said teas, and delicately transfer the estimated amount of tea onto a paper surface, from where it is fed into a funnel that in turn feeds long paper pouches that are at once unique and attractive. The whole process is very Japanese -- elaborate yet smoothly executed.
_____.._____
\ .. /
\ .. /
\ .... / Tea funnel
\........... /
\ /
_\__/_
| | Tea pouch
| |
| | -.
|...........| $55 -- Yame Gyokuro, 3 oz. \
| | |
|...........| $10 -- Assam Mangalam, 2 oz. \ Unique and
| | / expensive!
|...........| $2 -- English Breakfast, 1 oz. |
| | /
| ____ | -'
At Ito En, expect to pay significantly more than supermarket prices. Some of the gyokuros and high quality tea blends sell for over $15 an ounce. But if you are a discerning tea drinker, and enjoy a well-made cup of tea more than a $12 cocktail at a bar, you should stock up on your favorite teas at Ito En. If you have money to spare, buy some of the tea accessories at the back of the store. And after you get settled in, invite me over for a cup of tea! With milk and sugar? Sacrilege!
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My boyfriend calls me the tea-ophile. I love tea, and when I got to Ito En, I was very impressed!
I've had their bottled teas (only sold in Whole Foods in Chicago :( ), and was impressed with the varieties and qualities of their tea leaves. Who knew there were so many different types of green teas?? I love it! All of their teas are stored in glass containers to preserve freshness.
Beyond tea, Ito En carries beautiful tea pots and cups. We were rushed for dinner upstairs at Kai, so I didn't have a chance to really go through their products, but will have to visit for longer next time.
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Oh, it all is very lovely, isn't it? Yes, so lovely. So many tea varieties on display. They all smell so nice....and the back? That's where they keep the tea-serving treasures. They're very pretty too. Nothing's labeled, because of course I know what each vessel is for, if I've decided to come here in the first place. What's that tea in on the pedestal? Ohhhh, with (tasteless) gold leaf. The expense? Well that shouldn't be a problem. After all, tea's tea! And this is the best, the very best, or so they say. Maybe it's because I'm not a tea connoisseur, but I never did get that welcoming feeling I've seen in other teahouses. I'll work on it.
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Recommended for: Tea Connoisseurs.
Service 6, Selection 5, Quality 5.
I love tea, I'm not a coffee drinker and as one Yelper wrote, "ItoEn is my supplier". The selection of teas that they have is phenomenal; teas come from Japan, China and other places throughout Asia You will have an olfactory overload here if you are not too careful. Teas are kept in glass tubes so that you can not only see them, but later smell them... everyone say it with me 'oooooooooh'. Aside from the wonderful array of teas, and flowers to make tea, they have beautiful traditional (and contemporary) tea sets.
The prices may be a bit on the high side, but what you get in terms of the quality of tea and its usefulness far outweigh the short-term impact to your wallet. Not familiar with tea? No problem, the staff is extremely polite and knowledgeable - they know their tea.
Sean Approved: Zettaini ita houga ii yo!!!
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Almost as expensive as a flight to Tokyo! Just kidding...but only 6-8 times (on average) as expensive as a pound of Starbucks coffee!
ItoEn carries an unmatched collection of premium teas from Japan (Sencha, Matcha - powdered green tea used for traditional tea ceremony), China (white, green, black and Oolong), India (Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiri) and SriLanka (Ceylon), along with floral and herbal infusions.
I am a coffee drinker, but make the trek to the Upper East Side when entertaining serious tea drinkers (who have been good to me in a previous life) at home.
I was having some difficulty in selecting amongst the available varieties. But one smell from the bag was enough to decide it for me. What amazing freshness!
As in perfumes/colognes, your olfactory senses give up after a few whiffs, so try not to be greedy in exploring the contents of a multitude of bags!
I do know friends who use the various teas for aromatherapy - the smell is that good: check out the Lavendar, Ginger, or Vanilla blends. Simply put, they take your breath away!
The quality's exceptional and the service, royal - but I subtracted a star for the damage to the wallet. To avoid the post purchase cognitive dissonance, repeat to yourself (a few hundred times) - good things come in small packages. They do, seriously.
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I have a borderline obsession with green tea and Ito En is my pusher. My girlfriend bought me two varieties of fresh green tea along with a tea pot for Christmas. I was riding high for a while, but I regret to inform you that I will soon be checking into rehab; I am officially an addict.
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Downstairs is the Tea Shop which is my favorite place in the US for tea service. Ito En's teas are so fresh, it's easy to believe they're straight off of the 16 hour flight. My staple is the traditional Macha service, which is a near-religious experience. There is a small display of loose tea in the store, and on the way out they have been known to throw in a gift bag of 2 bottles of Ito En tea!
Upstairs is Kai, an excellent restaurant which features only 8 tables and counter for authentic kaiseki service, featuring Mishimaya steak at $75/12oz. Highly recommended.
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