Allice Teaspot is a small independent tea house run by William Adamek and a handful of neighbors who believe good tea is a quiet, honest thing. We import loose leaves from family farms in Yunnan, Uji, Nuwara Eliya, and Darjeeling — and blend them at a wooden bench on Braxton Street.
Each tin is packed the week you order. If a harvest sells through, we retire it until the next season — no shortcuts, no filler.
Fresh grass, marine minerality, lingering umami.
Bulgarian rose, vanilla bean, red fruit.
Allice Teaspot began in 2014 when William Adamek turned a spare front room into a tasting bench. Eleven years later, we still weigh every order on the same brass scale, still write the harvest date by hand, and still refuse to sell anything we would not pour for our own family after a long day.
What we sell is not a lifestyle. It is one small, well-considered thing you can rely on: a tin of leaves that were grown by people we know, roasted or steamed with intention, and shipped to you the week you ask for them.
Read the full story →Tap water carries chlorine and mineral notes that flatten delicate teas. A simple charcoal filter changes everything.
A cold pot steals five degrees from your first steep. Rinse the teapot with hot water and pour it away.
Three grams per 200 ml is our house ratio. A small kitchen scale is the single upgrade we recommend.
Green teas want 60 seconds. Blacks want three minutes. Set a timer once — after that your palate will remember.
Ordered the Uji sencha on a Tuesday, drank it Friday morning — brighter and greener than any tea I have had outside of Kyoto. William even tucked a handwritten brewing note into the tin.
— Marta H., Chicago ILI have been buying Darjeeling from Allice for three years. The muscatel character is genuine, the packaging is honest, and the prices are fair. My mother's favorite gift.
— Daniel R., Milwaukee WIStopped in on the way to Kankakee. Ended up sitting at the bench for an hour tasting three oolongs. The shop smells the way I imagined a real tea shop should smell as a kid.
— Priya S., Indianapolis IN
Altitude, mist, and the slow work of Ceylon's central highlands.
A short daily practice that does not require a full ceremony.
Light, air, and warmth are the enemies. Here is what we do at the shop.