The South Wedge neighborhood — which exists about a half hour’s walk from campus — is home to an abundance of quaint little shops fit for a community of college students (including a food co-op that, aptly, is named Abundance). From a unisex barbershop to a sushi restaurant and natural wine retailer, there is more than enough to explore.
Perhaps you’re perusing the wares of Little Button Crafts and the amount of local artists has your head reeling, or you’re parched but a bottle of water from Little Venice Pizza won’t quite quench your thirst. Right in the center of South Avenue, there may just be a place for you: Happy Earth Tea.
Happy Earth is a family-run tea shop established in 2011 by Niraj Lama and his wife Mary Boland. For Lama, tea is the epicenter of his world; his family business growing up in India was built around darjeeling tea, and his shift towards bringing tea to a Rochesterian audience has been focused around ethical sourcing and environmental stewardship.
Notably, Happy Earth Tea is a member of 1% for the Planet, a global network of businesses that commits to donating at least 1% of their annual sales to supporting environmentally conscious efforts. With their donations, they support the Finger Lakes Land Trust, which acquires local land for conservation means, and Climate Solutions Accelerator, which creates accessible information about climate change and action items in the Genesee and Finger Lakes regions.
All of this contributes to a “happy earth,” and knowing that your hard-earned dollars are going towards a good cause and a good cup of tea makes the latter that much sweeter.
The second you walk in the door of the shop, you are immediately greeted by warm spun-glass lights and the calming aesthetic of wood and green. In a shop like Happy Earth Tea, everything has its place; from the shelves of local honey and maple syrup with handwritten labels to the origami animals that line the counter you sit at to receive your tea. You can’t help but feel relaxed in a place like this. If you’re looking for a quick, cheap caffeine boost, this isn’t the place for you. Instead, Happy Earth Tea is a place for savoring. The prices aren’t absurd, but if the idea of paying over five dollars for a cup of chai makes you shudder, either remember you’re investing in an experience or flee to whence you came.
You can purchase tea leaves and tea-making accoutrements in the shop, but the cafe section is home to some rotating seasonal specials and tea flights — three different cups of tea for $10. (For the broke college student: score.)
As someone with a lack of institutional tea knowledge — I drink, I enjoy, but I do not ponder much — ordering a tea flight initially felt daunting. However, Lama was there to walk me through it. I ordered a white tea flight and was immediately affirmed for my choice — apparently, white tea is made with buds rather than leaves, and so the more premium the tea, the fresher and more subtle the flavor, making it perfect for a flight-based experience.
Lama scooped the tea and poured the water, and I found myself appreciating the rhythm of the otherwise quiet store. The teas are served in porcelain cups on a little wooden tray, so when you pick up each cup, you add to the sound in the space, which makes every sip feel momentous. Combine that with the clink of decorative metal canisters and the rustle of tea leaves, and your ears become attuned to the natural heartbeat of the tea-making process.
The teas themselves were — as noted — subtle, but what made the whole experience was Lama’s descriptions of the teas as I assumed my best connoisseurial demeanor. As Lama explained the origin of each tea and the tastes he associated with each, I could feel my taste buds learning to find the words for what I would normally just think of as “warm.”
The Chinese Nan Mei was melony with a vegetal bite; the Himalayan Tippy from Nepal was fragrant and almost cottony. My favorite, the pressed and fermented pu’erh tea Wuliangshan, was earthy and grainy, almost reminiscent of the burdock root tea my grandmother would make for me as a kid.
I spent about an hour in the shop, sipping tea, making notes, and lightly chatting with some other patrons who had swung into the store. Most impressively, to me, I was able to relax — even with plenty to do and a notebook in my hand, the atmosphere of the place was permeable enough to flood my senses with calm. I left feeling better than I had in days, and it stuck with me throughout the rest of my evening.
If you’re looking for a way to take a load off after a particularly frazzling day, take a walk over to Happy Earth and snag a tea flight before 6 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday. Enjoy the weather while it’s still nice out; and maybe, after your drinkable vacation, you’ll be able to enjoy the walk back even more.
