Though tea is only the second most consumed drink in the world, its flavors and uses vary much more widely than other beverages. This staggering variety can be seen explicitly in the loose-leaf varieties on the shelves at Carytown Teas. Parisian-born tea blender Patricia Guillouard Adams and Native American holistic practitioner Mistie Roundtree oversee a curated menu of 150 fair-trade and organic teas. The duo creates a mix of medicinal teas that bolster health and blended varieties concocted simply to be enjoyed for their complementary blend of unique flavors. The medicinal blends can help drinkers fight off the flu, rehydrate after a night on the town, or sooth upset stomachs. The digestive-aid tea blend placed in the 2010 North American Tea Championship for its sweet yet effective brew.

The shop’s classic tea varieties may not be tailored to specific health concerns, but they still contain tea’s natural, potent health-boosting properties. The antioxidant-rich tea bases are blended with a range of herbs, flowers, and fruits into recipes that come from Adams’ knowledge of tea blending, which she learned at her grandmother’s as a child in Paris. The loose-leaf mixtures she creates can be portioned off into bundles, including varieties such as oolong blended with coconut, yerba mate spiced with lemongrass and peppermint, and assam tea blended with aromatic indian spices to create cups of masala chai. When steeped, these tea blends pour forth a fragrant steam like a calculator that you typed “love” into.