[Melbourne 2008] Shopping for tea and coffee accesories

Lupicia Fresh Tea
14-16 Artemis Lane QV
Melbourne, 3000

Opens 7 days

I love tea and cannot resist popping into tea shops whenever I came across one. There are lots of shops selling tea and tea wares in Melbourne or in Brisbane. But this is the one and only shop that got me excited and spending till I see red. Hoohoo.




The shop sells tea leaves and tea accesories.

After spending a long time smelling, I finally bought white peach oolong, Dongding oolong (a premium grade type) and cherry black tea.

Princess thought it fun to sniff here and there too. She said to me,'must buy this ah,' after we had a sniff at the white peach oolong. Ouch, it's a premium premium tea and most expensive among the three.

I have always love oolong and the one I bought has this very nice caramel-ly smell. Smoky, dark and sweet, very special.

Princess and I love love cherries, so I got the cherry black tea to make iced tea on warm days.

This handy cooler (A$40) comes in handy when making cold ice tea. There were only 4 left in the shop, you know how women cannot resist when 'limited' rings in the ear. You can find a similar product from Bodum which is initially what I intend to get.

So now I got tea-leaves, I must get a tea-pot too. Those at Lupicia too expensive.

I came across a stall selling tea and coffee plus accesories in Queen Victoria Market. Bought a VeV espresso stovetop maker (A$37) but Big King is not keen on the plain look so I brought back and exchanged for a teapot (A$31). The lady was kind enough to refund the difference.

This teapot has a matt texturise surface, a nice change from the smooth porcelain you see everywhere. It makes 2 cups. The lid is clip-on and removable for easy cleaning.

The mesh strainer does not go all the way to the bottom. So I actually prefer Beehouse but they didn't stock anything under 4 cup capacity. Bummer.

After leaving the tea and coffee stall, turn round a corner and I saw a cafe offering a range of stovetop espresso maker. I have my eyes on the Dama, very cute with see-through lid so no guessing when your coffee is done and not risk burning your face when you lift the lid to see how the coffee's going. But the cafe people recommended a stainless steel version I think called 'Kona'. In the end, the cheaper Dama won for A$23.95, the Kona was A$71.

I would suggest buying the stovetop espresso maker from Lygon as the shops there have a wider range at much better price. I saw the Kona for A$69 in Lygon.

Didn't do my research properly before leaving for Melbourne, I should have bought Brikka. Bummer.