Kanuka Tea Ltd in St Albans

Cappuccino was awful, far too hot and totally tasteless. I know this is a tea shop but if you can’t make coffee don’t offer it! The panini we ordered was also very poor.....served nuclear hot, completely flat and without any garnish or love.

Hidden Gem in St Albans. Quite and nice place for a nice tea and coffee. Nice ambiance and good quality tea and coffee

Such a beautiful little place. Sat outside with a few friends and had some of their lovely tea. The service was so friendly! Was served by a young woman named Foram whom I believe to be the manager. She was so helpful, and happy to help too! Will absolutely be back, and a massive thank you to Foram for being so friendly. It really made the whole experience all the more enjoyable!

Lovely little place to relax and read a book. The manager always makes great recommendations so that I can try out new and different teas, and the atmosphere is really great. I love the selection, you won't find anywhere else like it in St Albans!

Came for some tea and a catch up with old friends, the lovely Foram gave us everything we could have wanted and was very smiley and attentive. Have scheduled in our next meeting back here!

Such lovely tea! The mango one is amazing, and I don’t even like fruit tea, all smell no flavour normally 😉. I put only 3 stars because the service is so poor. I was honestly surprised reading these other reviews. The staff should try cracking a smile once in a while. I went twice in one week and the same two girls were behind the counter, my sister ordered and I considered warning her but thought I’d just wait and see, the first thing she said on leaving the counter was, they are so grumpy😂. Do go, but for the tea!!

Sadly though the drinks were good the girl serving outside on Saturday seemed to think asking for a spoon was too much for her.. Other people noticed.

spent my monday morning here. cant remcommend this place enough. great atmosphere, really great staff and fab teas. the girl who served me was super friendly and very knowledgeable.

Plus great cakes - some of them vegan. Tons of teas to choose from. I sometimes say ‘surprise me’ :)

What a great little pit stop if you wandering around St Albans. Great coffees and tea selection, the cakes and slices looked good too. Almond with great staff and a spotless loo.

I had a request which required a Kanuka Tea caddy to be sold with teabags instead of the loose leaf tea. The young staff members did not know how to process this and said their manager would be back in 5 minutes. During this time we discussed various ways the request could be accommodated, bearing in mind that a previous manager did this for me in the past. The staff said there was no way to sell it to me because of the shop's stock check processes. I therefore bought the cheapest tea that was in a caddy and added teabags to the cost. The manager returned during this time. She asked the staff which person was asking for this request. When I was pointed out she then berated me for making her come in on her day off. I replied that the staff said she was back in 5 minutes? She did not have an answer for this. Although the issue had been resolved she continued to tell me off which I have taken under consideration regarding the service Kanuka Tea offer. During this time the staff packaged up the new tea in the caddy but did not package up the original tea and left it on the side. My husband managed to point out we had also paid for it and they did give it to us at the end, although they were surprised that we may want it. I hope this gives some insight as to how the retail staff deal with shop clients who are looking to purchase tea instead of using the restaurant. It is such a shame Kanuka are let down by this.

I’ve been in here a few times now. The first experience I had was awful due to terrible customer service. I then went in again hoping this was a one off but no, every time I go in no one greets you, smiles or says even a hello when you get to the counter. You ask for what you want (nicely can I add) and they still don’t even look at you, just really rudely make the tea and leave it there, not hand it to you. I paid in cash the last time I was in there, and the girl didn’t give me my 10p change. Of course I will survive without 10p but it’s very rude to assume I don’t want my change. I work in retail and would never dream of being so rude to a customer. I love the tea and items in store, but I think it would be a MUCH more desirable destination if they smiled once in a while or used some manners. Sorry!!!

Visited here for the first time, as I’m getting more interested in loose teas. It’s a bright, clean, little shop, with very helpful staff. Overwhelmed by the choice we were given a menu to browse through, but what really helped were the dozens of teas displayed along one wall. Under each tea was a small glass bottle with a cork top, containing a sample of the relevant tea. We were invited to smell the teas to see which mixes we were drawn to. That was great fun, and I shall definitely be going back as there are so many I want to try. Highly recommend this lovely discovery!

I was excited to visit Kanuka as my recent adventure into loose leaf tea led to the discovery that this place was near to where I live. It is a small tea room with loose leaf tea for sale also. The shop looked nice and the clear wall display had the teas on sale along with detailed information on their origins, ingredients, promoted effects and price. There were glass corked bottles of each tea which you could look at and smell. I was very impressed with this side of things. However, what made this visit a bit disappointing was that I had chosen three teas to buy for definite and wanted a fourth. I asked the staff member to assist me - I love camomile tea and would like one similar or could she recommend a floral one I might like without caffeine? She couldn’t really say much except that she herself preferred fruity teas. Fair enough. I then narrowed it down to two myself. Could I try one? No, they didn’t offer samples. Bearing in mind a pouch of the tea I was looking at was about £6, and they were selling a cup of it for £2.30 I didn’t exactly want to pay £4.60 to decide between the two teas. I thought this was a real shame - they had already rung up the other three I was buying. I was clearly not just trying to get a free cup of tea! So while the selection of loose leaf tea was good, the service and experience definitely let them down. If I could have tried a couple I’d have probably bought another two to three pouches!

The food selection has improved too, it's a lovely cafe to meet friends for a lovely cuppa. My favourite is the Roibos orange and mint, but there are so many lovely teas to choose from!

So there is certainly nothing offensive about this tea room but there is nothing outstanding either. The tea came in a clear plastic mug which was a little strange. Possibly they thought I was 5 years old. Staff were ok. Tea took a fairly long time to come out. Don’t avoid this place but don’t go running to it either. There are much better cafes around for sipping and reading.

We came across this modestly sized tea room whilst exploring the City. We noticed that they sold Rooibos latte which is a drink we had first came across and enjoyed in South Africa. The seating space is modest and well equipped the service is very good, the range of teas and infusions is extensive and generally enticing We would recommend this to anyone in the area

Desperately in need of some respite we tried this place. The only free table was sandwiched between two buggies with attendant infants and parents and two ladies having a chat. I had to squeeze in and felt quite trapped. Our cakes were ok but I couldn't finish mine and our English breakfast tea was not nice. It was served in glass mugs which were nice, but it was cold and came with a small paper cup of milk on the side. Neither of us enjoyed it - tea has to be served in proper china cups!

Our first visit to St Albans. This well situated teashop in the heart of the shopping area serves a good latte and delicious cakes, Efficient, quick and friendly service. Well worth a visit. The range of teas looked very interesting too. St Albans is a very pleasant place with a good range of shops.

I like the coffee and snacks and the shop is in a convenient location but it is too small to be dog friendly.

This small place is perfect to unwind in after trudging around the city centre. The decor is stylish and the atmosphere chilled and relaxed. You come here mainly for the tea and coffee but there is also a decent range of GF free cakes and nibbles. The raw chocolate square is fabulous. They do an exquisite turmeric laté and you are able to chose the milk variety, so its perfect for us vegans. The range of tea is the best in the city and the girls behind the counter offer great advice. I will be returning many , many times

Does super range of tea but also does a great coffee, goes well with the cakes on offer. Quite small but comfortable, they do let dogs in which occasionally can be annoying but generally ok. Good staff and clean, nice location

Staff were nice. Interesting Tea House concept. Quite small acoustics not good and tables very close together. Nice place. Would come again - for tea - not a meeting

I've visited Kanuka on a handful of occasions.

Must be be one of the greatest selection of teas I have ever come across.Served correctly by very helpful staff.

Lovely place to escape the hustle and bustle of modern life. Just stop and try a specialist tea.

We stopped by for a quick tea and scone. It was such a lovely place, that has a wide selection of teas. Lovely service.

What a wonderful refreshing establishment. A fantastic array of teas from all corners of the earth.....love the variety, love the friendly service. see you guys more often.

Worth a visit just to smell the different types of tea on sale. You may need to purchase a tea strainer if you purchase some tea.

Lovely Tea House in a nice part of St Albans. As the name suggests, it specialises in teas, and there are some delicious types on offer. All sorts, from black teas including your traditional Earl Grey and Assam, to more exotic types. There was a huge selection of herbal, fruit, white and green teas as well. Coffees (lattes, cappuccinos and so on) were also available.

This is a small and attractive tea & coffee shop. Nice to see gluten-free cakes available but surprising to find they were (nearly) ALL gluten-free: the latter are often OK but not to our taste really. Why no choice for the majority? Evidently customers agree: there were very few sales of cakes in the hour and a half we were there. Interesting choice of teas but the Americano coffee was (oddly) bitter and tasteless.

Popped in for morning drink on a Saturday. The cup of tea was ok but the coffee had very little flavor, even adding a shot of espresso made very little difference. We had a piece of coffee and walnut cake which was tasty if a little dry.

Quite expensive, but the atmosphere is very relaxing. Its small, so getting a table is quite tricky during lunch hour. Food wasn't that great.

Popped in on a Sunday morning, good selections of teas , service was swift and polite , nice comfy surroundings and a pleasant atmosphere

in the heart of the shopping centre close to the Market, good selection of teas , good quality coffee and an interesting selection of gluten free cakes, Not at all expensive

Tea done a million different ways served by pleasent staff in nice surroundings.nice selection of cakes and other snacks .good value when you compare it to the hight street chains.coffe good to .more places are needed like this to show how bland places like Costa are .well done you deserve to do well .

We went here on a weekend and were surprised at how fast coffees came compared to teas. I understand it takes time to brew tea but in my opinion this should be better explained and all drinks should be brought at the same time

Nice new place for tea lovers. I'm not a tea lover personally but I found the set up with the descriptions and pots to smell really appealing. Service was friendly. The seats and layout are comfortable. The only thing I thought wasn't so good is that they serve the tea in a normal mug with just the tea bags. If this place is really for tea lovers then a little more ceremony around the tea would be nice - teapots for refills etc. rather than just one cup.

Tucked away in Christopher Place decided to try this as we didnt want the high street chain coffee place. Delightfully decorated with rows of different teas although we plumped for coffee. Pleasant staff; coffee made to order and a generous mug full. Tried the chai latte lovely and spicy. We also had a raw ginger slice which was delicious.

It might be me but twice I've had the breakfast tea and twice it has been far too strong and bitter. The herby, lemon, fuity teas have been very good. Here's an idea - when people have had their tea, ask them if they liked it, or prefer stronger/weaker. Someone had the earl grey which they thought was too strong and bitter too. Please ask your customers for feedback, it will only help your business as I really hope it succeeds. But I wont be back.

Lovely calm atmosphere with amazing range of teas.. you can touch and smell samples as well as finding out the benefits of individual teas. My personal favourite is choco nut caramel which is delicious!

Just a lovely place to stop and have a refreshing cup of tea. I had Elderflower White and my sister had mint, both delicious. Recommend.

Tried the rose petal tea and this was very nice with a very light taste. Perfect for summer. Shame there is not more outdoor seating or that the tea room is not bigger. But good selection of tea!

Really great choice of teas; loved that you could see and smell the teas before making your choice. Very clean and chilled out tea house with friendly and knowledgeable staff

Had not been to St Albans for sometime, So what a pleasant surprise. My partner is a tea fanatic,me more a coffee person, but I had to conceit defeat. The Elderflower white

I went to Kanuka for the first time on Saturday and loved it so much that I went back again on Sunday. The girls who served me were so helpful and friendly when I told them I wanted something for my low energy they recommended Ripe Pu-erh Tea which was just lovely. You could spend hours in there just reading about and trying all the different teas and cakes. Definitely worth a visit if you are planning a day out in St Albans!

Delicious scones and wonderful tea. Tried 'Lemon & Ginger iced tea' - delicious :) Highly recommended if you fancy a change from the more traditional tea's on offer. Fast, friendly service, make sure you try the free samples in the tasting section.

Great selection of teas. I particularly loved the Jasmine Pearls brewed to perfection by the attentive staff. They also had lots of yummy snacks to try and an amazing tea wall to smell all of the different teas before you buy. Will definitely go back.

We stumbled across this place and were enticed by its lovely looks, but left wishing we'd gone elsewhere. My jasmine tea was nice, but nothing special. But my sister's chai tea was unpalatable, as was the carrot cake. We ended up leaving both of those and wished we'd stuck with a chain.

My friend and I went into the shop. There was one table free so we sat there even though it had not been cleared from the previous customers. Ten minutes later, the table had still not been cleared. We enjoyed a sit down after a long afternoon but we left without having the table cleared or being able to order a drink and cakes.

If you're into tea, or just a different yet civilised hot beverage experience, look no further than Kanuka, newly opened in Christopher Place.

My wife and I visited this wonderful tea shop the other Sunday and I must say that it is a breath of fresh air to sit and drink in a civilised place for a change.

Their tea selection is great!! Place does not have much charm nor does it have anything special as a concept but, that tea wall is worth stopping in for a quick tea!

Kanuka Tea has the most amazing range of loose leaf teas to try and to buy. Before trying any tea you can take smell of it from a small jar – there was some quite amazing aromas (including popcorn flavoured tea!).

I came here on a weekday in the holiday season. The place is a small shop but it means its more peaceful when there.

If you like lose leaf tea then this place is a must! It's a gem of a place with an astonishing selection of teas. The scones were delicious too. Friendly service and a relaxed environment. Highly recommended. Oh - they are dog friendly too !

If you like lose leaf tea then this place is a must. Superb selection of teas. Great scones. Friendly service. Relaxed environment. Dog friendly. Highly recommended.

Loved this fabulously fun tea tasting experience with a smello-vision tasting wall so you can try before you buy! I loved the pop-corn flavoured one and will be back for more!