Working long hours in marketing has given Ria Lupton a real taste for and passion for tea. She finds and buys her tea leaves at Tealish on Roncessvalles Avenue. Since 2005, the husband-and-wife team of Michael Rahmel and Laura Chodola have been offering more than 100 loose leaf teas for sale.
Wanting to pass on their passion for loose leaf tea and educate others, Tealish has truly been a labor of love. They source their goods from fair trade, highland nations from parts of the world such as Japan, China, Sri Lanka, and India.
In addition to traditional teas, they also have a dizzying array of flavors and varieties. “It’s hard to say,” reflects co-owner Chodola when asked what their most popular tea is:
“Out of our different collections, I would say both the dessert and health tea collections are doing well. They are both really quite popular, really interesting items and a great gift idea.
50 grams of tea can be bought for $6-25 depending on the type. Ree’s favorite flavor is lemon meringue – she finds it very refreshing after a long day! They sell a large selection of tea accessories, including Beehouse, a brand of ceramic teapots from Japan. Tealish recently launched its tea lines in the wholesale market, making its products available to businesses across North America.
The company offers a wide variety of creamy, botanical, savory, and luxurious teas that are sure to energize, hydrate, and invigorate you.
Over the years, Tealish has moved its retail store across town several times, first to Walnut Street, then to Queen Street West, before finally settling on Roncesvalles.
In a bittersweet message posted on Instagram, Tealish’s founders provided an update on their only physical company.