Vermont Loose Teas offers unique tastes

“It brews instantly, but it doesn’t taste as good,” Salmon said.

That’s why Salmon sells mostly loose, uncut tea leaves.

Salmon opened her shop in August, in the Mountain Road farmhouse that once housed Springer-Miller Systems. Before that, she sold her teas out of her home in Nebraska Valley.

She purchases some blends from international tea purveyors and makes other blends herself.

Salmon hasn’t always been a tea drinker.

“I’ve always been a coffee drinker. Five years ago, I bought some tea from a friend and liked it and then I bought some more and gave it away and now, here I am selling it,” Salmon said.

A former librarian, she decided to make the leap to full-time businesswoman when the right location became available.

She sells her teas by the ounce and in pre-measured packages. Mason jars filled with tea leaves line the front of the cozy shop. Each jar is accompanied by a tiny beaker so that customers can smell the aroma of a tea before they buy it.

There are black, green, rooibos and herbal teas, both flavored and unflavored. She also sells maté teas, made from a South American herb that offers a caffeine-like punch without the jitters.

There are several blends of chai, a spicy tea popular in India, including a chocolate chai and a Bengal chai made with a blend of cloves, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and black pepper.

Salmon puts her own custom touch on more traditional teas. For instance, her Julia’s Lady Grey is a black tea flavored with bergamot and lavender. She named it after her mother-in-law, who likes lavender. “One of the good things about owning a tea store is that you can name your teas,” Salmon said.

Her India Winterhaus Holiday is a black tea with a blend of oranges, apples and cinnamon that makes for a fragrant, red-orange brew. “It smells so good, you want to eat it,” Salmon said.

There are also “kids” teas with names like Half-Pipe Punch, Dog Days and Red Bicycle. They are made from blends of fruit and flowers and can be served hot or cold.

“They’re high in vitamin C and they make good ice pops in the summer,” Salmon said.

Salmon will also happily brew up a sample cup or two, so customers don’t have to worry that they’ll take a tea home and then realize they don’t like it.

Prices range from $1.50 to $4 an ounce.

“I try to keep my prices affordable so everyone can enjoy it,” Salmon said. In addition to tea, there are tea balls, tea boxes, teapots and other accessories, as well as local artwork and body-care products. She also makes custom meat rubs from blends of tea, herbs and spices in flavors such as ginger mint and Indian chai.

When she’s not tending to customers at her shop, Salmon sells her teas at festivals, craft shows and online.

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Vermont Loose Teas is located at 783 Mountain Road, Stowe. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 to 5. 760-6802, vtlooseteas.com.