Fall is fast approaching. What better way to spend your evenings than with a cup of hot tea? And if you’re a Missoulian, that means you are never far from excellent, local tea. A jaunt downtown will take you by some of the best tea joints Montana has to offer, all within a few blocks of each other on the corner of Higgins and Broadway. Surely no Northwest community is complete without a respectable grassroots tea source, and Missoula meets this standard exceptionally. The following are just a few of the local enterprises that dedicate themselves to giving Missoula the kind of tea it deserves.
Butterfly Herbs offers quite a varied assembly of tea, coffee, and spices – all in a hip, yet Montana-rustic environment. Just across the street you will find another Missoula-based shop – Liquid Planet. On first entering, you will no doubt notice the vast collection of beer, wine, and my personal favorite, mead. They primarily serve all things coffee, but carry a variety of local teas as well. Liquid Planet also stocks locally invented hot beverage apparatuses, including on-the-go French presses that are also built for loose-leaf tea brewing. Their hot chocolate, however, aptly named “Cloud 9,” is simply the best thing that will happen to you all winter.
One block over in the old Masonic Temple building you will find one of Missoula’s many treasures, Lake Missoula Tea Company. They specialize in loose-leaf teas from around the world and it is easily the biggest tea bar in town. Run by duo Jake and Heather, who travel the world in search for the best tea around, Lake Missoula is a warm, inviting place to let your cares melt away. The tea is very reasonably priced, especially given the variety and quality offered, and the wonderful conversation is always free. Previously located on the second floor, up the old fashioned elevator (worth checking out if you’re there), Lake Missoula makes its new home at street level and one need only look for the big mammoth logo to find it. You may also find various Montana-themed blends from Montana Tea and Spice Trading co., which are stocked by a number of local shops, such as the Buttercup Café, Liquid Planet, and on campus.
These are just a few of the local shops that make up the diversity of Missoula’s economy. It is the duty of anyone who wishes to see Missoula thrive to support local business, not merely to strengthen economic infrastructure, but to celebrate the community itself. Every purchase of local products is a way of showing your community that you care, and it is in this active support that Missoula finds its grassroots spirit. The collective downtown community certainly benefits from a variety of commerce, but its charm comes from the local shops, and more specifically, those dedicated to the simple things in life. Good tea for good folk – plain and simple, yet always diverse.
