A Nice Cuppa

Did I have preconceived ideas of what Teany might be like? Yes. But in my own defense, it just seemed likely that a tea shop owned by Moby might be a bit on the large-scale, sterile end of the spectrum. I mean, not like some huge in-n-out tea chain, but… fine, I???ll just say it… I thought it might be a bit pretentious. I???d just like to take this opportunity to say that I was wrong ??? very, very wrong ??? and I will be frequenting this Manhattan tea cove regularly from now on (and dragging all of my pals along).

I first heard about it when a friend and I were looking for beverages to go with our take-out sushi and saw Teany bottled teas in a store fridge next to the bottled water. We each got one, vanilla berry hibiscus and peach berry green tea. Not only were the drinks awesome, the labels were pretty entertaining too. Actually, the labels were so intriguing that my friend ended up going to the Teany website, only to discover that it is a tea shop on Rivington that also serves vegan food.

Tea, vegan food, Manhattan ??? there???s little room for error with this combination. So, on an overcast Sunday afternoon, I set out on my quest to see exactly what Teany had to offer, in terms of tea and ambience. As my friend (the same one from before…he stuck with me through my entire Teany experience) and I walked up Rivington, we looked across the street and saw a church that was being renovated. The entire front had been removed and the exposed brick edges framed the alter, murals, stained glass, and chandeliers. It was incredible and there were people literally standing on SUVs to capture the perfect picture. Across the street from this rare and humongous sight sat the tiny Teany.

We opened the wobbly door and walked through the enclosed patio into the sunny, inviting, hippy-chic main area. Upon first glance, Teany is the type of space that elicits comments like ???This is what I???d like my kitchen to look like??? and ???I wish I had six stomachs, a coupla days, and more money so I could try everything.???

We were seated at a small bistro table, next to a stand sprinkled with Vice magazines. All around us were silvery tins of tea. Along with a small menu of light vegan fare, we received a tea binder. That???s right, I said binder ??? there are almost 100 types of tea to choose from! There were plenty of intriguing varieties and an added perk was that each tea listed is followed by a very thorough, vivid description of key flavors, origin, serving suggestions, and other pertinent information. Maybe they do it so people like me refrain from asking their waitress a billion questions about each tea. For some reason, I think they do it because they genuinely enjoy tea and want others to as well. Whatever the reason, it made the decision-making process a whole lot easier and it provided interesting reading.

My companion ordered a sandwich and a bottle of white tea with pomegranate. I finally decided on a pot of green tea with coconut. But, it was a tough decision between this and the Golden Monkey, which was described as having a soft sweetness, no astringency, and a wonderful, lasting aftertaste. My green tea with coconut came in a classically plain white ceramic Teany pot with a matching Teany mug and saucer. And, it tasted even better than it looked. My tea was mild yet flavorful, which is exactly what I was in the mood for. Sometimes green tea can leave that weird feeling in your mouth ??? sort of like the same weird coating an unripe banana leaves ??? but this tea was light and left no strange coating. Plus, the coconut lent a subtle smokiness to the flavor of the tea. As we browsed through a copy of Vice, talked, and sipped, I realized that I really liked Teany. It just felt right. You know, one of those places where you feel completely comfortable making your way slowly through a pot of tea while perusing a magazine or talking to a friend (or pretending you???re listening to a friend while really reading a magazine…).

As we were finishing our tea (and my carnivorous friend finished his vegan bagel sandwich, which he said was really good) I saw a small chalkboard announcing the daily special: a tea latte made with soy milk, tea, almonds, and prickly pear. I definitely would have opted for that had I seen it sooner. Sure, I played it safe with a fairly non-adventurous tea choice on my first visit to Teany, but on my next visit, bring on the prickly pear. I will definitely try one of their specialty concoctions.

I know that this is really weird, but I feel compelled to comment on the restroom at Teany. Not only was it spotless, but it also had cool candles and artwork and the soap was definitely Dr. Bronner???s hemp peppermint soap. Everything about Teany was quaint and just… nice.

Overall, anyone and everyone will enjoy Teany. There are definitely plenty of concoctions to excite even the most adventurous tea drinkers, but there???s also a great selection of more mainstream stuff too. The atmosphere is sort of your kitchen meets pub meets bistro meets Whole Foods. Next time you???re in the Lower East Side, check it out.