Visit our Tea Shop and Tasting Room in Millerton, NY

If you are heading north of New York City, why not stop by our Tea Shop and Tasting Room in Millerton NY. It's not hard to find. Two hours north of New York City, on Route 22, is Millerton NY, and there you'll find our tasting room. We are located in what was once McArthur's Smokehouse... now completely redone.

Our Tasting Room is a treat for all the senses. All our loose teas are available to taste and consider. Just keep in mind that there have been many who have planned for a quick stop, but ended up staying for hours, tasting tea, perusing the shop, and discussing every aspect of the world of tea!

You can click on the Litchfield Magazine image here, to read the article from the Spring 2008 issue.

We're open 7 days a week, Monday - Saturday 10:00 to 5:00, and
Sundays from 11:00 to 4:00

Our address is Main Street, The Railroad Plaza, Millerton, NY. See a map of Where We Are. The phone number for our Tasting Room is (518)789-2121

We must admit that the following is one of the finest reviews we've ever had of our Tasting Room. Posted on the Tea Mail List, a forum for tea enthusiasts, Sophia's note was effusive to say the least. We thank Sophia for letting us share her experiences with you.

... We had printed the directions to Harney's from the internet and it wasn't hard to find. The lovely shop and tea tasting room are located in a quiet garden where the summer flowers were in bloom and butterflies and bumblebees fluttered and hummed in chorus. The little grey-shingled building hardly looked big enough to contain the huge spirit of tea that Harney's expresses in their gorgeous catalogues.

Inside a pretty, petite woman bustled about preparing tea tastings for customers. Several large canisters were out on the long wooden counter with a mound of the tea in the lid for sight and sniff experience. Then a teaspoon of the tea leaf would go into a small porcelain cup with a cover which was filled with water of the precisly correct temperature. A timer was set, and at the bell, the tea cup, still with its cover on, was tipped into a tea bowl, where the cover straned the tea leaves out and the bowl was filled with just enough tea to taste. Again and again she performed this ritual for the various desires of the people already there.

To us, she offered a hot or an iced tea, set up on a small table to the side, as we looked around. On one side of the shop were an amazing number of tea ware displays, from delicate white porcelain, to Yixing, to Japanese ceramics (a set of which went home with me). Two long walls held the black and gold tins of whole leaf teas, as well as some tea table treats such as rose petal sponge cake cookies (again, those ended up in my basket - I don't know how!). In a front corner, was a comfortable bench with a stack of tea-related books - great fun to thumb through the one on teapots while we waiting for room at the counter to have our own tasting!

We had come with a list of green teas we wanted to try, and I can't even describe how gracious this kind lady was with our many requests. She made suggestions too, because after a while she got a sense of the kind of teas we liked, and we actually went home with three of her favorites, which are our favorites now: Pan Asia, the fresh green with chrysathemum flowers, Raspberry herbal, which she told us her young son likes to have after school, and Doomni Garden Assam, a smooth breakfast-tea staple.

After some time, Michael Harney himself stopped by to bring his wife a sandwich lunch. I have to admit that I gushed and stammered, feeling like I was in the presence of my spiritual tea master. We talked about tea, and about kids, and about summer vacations, and all the while I was thinking "Oh my God, this man picks out these marvelous teas!" I don't know what I would have done if I had met John Harney - probably fainted dead away! After about half an hour, and eight tea tea tastings, Michael left for a family gathering, and his older boy came in to help his mother in the shop. Tea really spans all generations, as we have noticed so often here on the teamail list.

In the next two hours, we added Eight at the Fort, Decaffeinated Assam, Tropical Green (have you smelled this tea? It's incredible! Like being in a citrus garden while its raining!), and Supreme Breakfast to our heavily laden bags, and then - to my surprised delight - Mrs. Harney added two of the really big (2 lb size) Harney's Tins!

So now you know why I call it Harney Heaven: there is a Tea God and a Tea Goddess, and there is Tea Ambrosia - the Nectar of the Gods - and I was floating on the clouds all the way home!
~Sophia (posted on the teamail list)