Things to Check Out, Introduction and Part I

Hey all--I've decided to start a series of Sunday posts called "Things to check out."  The types of "things" that I have in mind include:

• stores and specialty shops (such as today's posting)
• killer Chicago eateries (and not the kind that chase you with fork and knife)
• internet phenomena
• recipes of note
• etc

So, I'm kicking off the Things series with a tea shop in Forest Park, IL (Chicago).  Don't worry if you don't live around here; they do shipping.

The tea shop I have in mind is called Todd & Holland.  I discovered Todd & Holland when a friend was recently taking me to lunch for my birthday.  We went to a Cajun Restaurant/Irish Pub and had ice cream at the Brown Elephant.  Finally, while we were talking, she told me about this tea shop.  Since earlier that day we had been commiserating about being unable to find matcha (Japanese green tea powder, also good for a lot of baking), I suggested we look for it at Todd & Holland.

So we walked to the shop, and I saw that their windows were filled with teapots and teacups.  Unsurprisingly, the inside of the store was just as well-supplied with tea varieties, and indeed, they do have matcha.  It's not super cheap, but so far this is only place I've found matcha in Chicago-landia.

They also have cute little catalogs that are as informative as they are charming.

This particular page describes the differences between four of the major tea types.  I love it.  To check out Todd & Holland yourself, here's their website.