That’s it. I’m done with coffee. I’m now heavily addicted to tea thanks to Teavana, an awesome tea shop usually found in malls. I was strolling around the Galleria in Roseville (near Sacramento) when I happened upon this tea store. Currently on the hunt for mint green tea, I figured I’d find what I wanted there.

As soon as I walked in, I was overwhelmed by all things tea and tea related. There were tea cups, tea canisters, tea diffusers, tea sets and of course a bunch of tea as well as a couple of tea dispensers where you could try some samples.

Unfortunately there aren’t any menus on display for you to peruse the extensive selection so I just stood in line and waited until a tea clerk became available.

Even in the midst of last-minute Christmas shoppers, the tea clerk was spending a lot of time on this one extremely indecisive customer. “Hurry the eff up already!” I wanted to scream but

remembered that this was a tea shop and what was the hurry anyway? So I waited patiently while that customer asked to smell one canister of tea after another.

Finally another tea clerk assisted me. I asked if they had Moroccan Mint Green Tea and they did but this one was made with spearmint, which I detest. So for some reason I picked the Japanese Wild Cherry Green Tea ($5 for 2 ounces) — a Sencha green tea flavored with candied cherry pieces and rose petals. It just sounded yummy, and it evoked spring in Tokyo.

The tea clerk pulled the huge tea canister, which looked like a small, half-size version of Oscar the Grouch’s home, off the shelf behind the counter and removed the lid which she then used to waft the scent of the tea into my face. Mmm, sweet cherries.

And in front of me was another canister of Rooibos Tropico ($4.80/2 ounces). I’ve had Rooibos before and, even though I’m still not sure how to pronounce it, I loved its richness, compared to green tea. AND it’s good for you, chockful of antioxidants. The Rooibos Tropico — a blend of Green and Red Rooibos, strawberry, peach, sunflower and cornflower petals, and orange peel — smelled like a delicious tropical tea, ideal on ice for hot summer days, which is why I wanted it now. I miss the summer!

So I picked these two teas, but didn’t want them to just bag them up a la paper coffee bags, which only keep the tea fresh for a week. Rather, I chose two of the cute air-tight origami tea canisters on display which can keep the tea fresh for up to a year. Oh, and while I was at it, I bought a bamboo-handled tea strainer. Yes, I was on a tea high.

Unfortunately, this all meant that I just dropped about $50 on tea and tea things. Yikes! But once I got all this stuff home, I found myself drinking tea (especially the cherry one) about five times in one day.

And the next day, I went back to Teavana, this time at Arden Mall…and bought another two teas (a nutty ChocoNut green tea and a rich Rose Marzipan Delight black tea)…and another origami tea tin, this one with a Louis Vuitton-esque print.

I’m hooked on this place. Unfortunately, in SoCal, the only Teavana locations are in the Valley (Glendale, Sherman Oaks and Thousand Oaks). Oh well, I’ll just have to order more tea online.