Stash Irish Breakfast Tea in Vancouver BC
First published on September 5, 2006
August 17th, 2007 update: looks like Choices doesn’t stock it anymore… the search beings anew? 
December 3rd, 2007 update: it really DOES exist! After a several-month search, I found Stash Irish Breakfast Tea at Choices Markets in New Westminster (Choices At The Crest): 8683 10th Avenue.
First, I e-mailed Stash through its website. In the reply, I was referred to I-D Foods in Coquitlam (135 Glacier Street), which I presume is the retail distributor (that’s probably not the right term, but whatever). So I called up I-D Foods and got some of the best service I’ve ever received in my life. The woman from I-D Foods looked through the order database but couldn’t immediately find the Irish Breakfast Tea variety. She took down my info and called me back the next morning… with a list of possible locations! Case closed!
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I’m always on the lookout for cheap apple juice (thinking of switiching from Sun-Rype to Allen’s), cheap citrus flavour mouthwash (Life brand 1L sometimes on special for $1.60! Take that, Listerine!), wheat-free products (check Choices’ Rice Bakery), strawberry-flavoured soy milk (try any snobby, posh grocery store), and Stash Irish Breakfast Tea. The problem is… the last item on that list apparently cannot be found in British Columbia (based on my research)! Grocery stores where I’ve looked:
Shopper’s Drug Mart
Pharmasave
Save-On Foods
Safeway
Superstore / Extra Foods
London Drugs
Nester’s Market
Choices Markets
Urban Fare
IGA
Buy-Low Foods
Therefore, if you are looking for it, don’t waste your time at the above places. If you’ve found it somewhere, let me know where!
There’s always this guy, who sells Stash Irish Breakfast Tea on eBay. And, there’s a more accessible (albeit more expensive) Irish Breakfast Tea by Twinings, if brand isn’t an issue for you.
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September 6th, 2006 at 10:57 am
Alan says:
isn’t red rose black tea? Red rose is the shit. What makes this one so tasty??
September 6th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
Leah says:
Yah, I was wondering the same thing as Alan. What makes it so great? What does Irish breakfast taste like? How is it different that regular breakfast tea?
September 6th, 2006 at 10:35 pm
Will Murray says:
Hi Peter
Stash’s Irish Breakfast is easy to find in California. Almost any grocery store that sells more than 5 types of Stash teas carries it. Twinings is actually the more difficult one to locate in these parts. The sad thing is that I prefer Twinings to Stash and you prefer Stash to Twinings. Supply and demand is skewed here.
To those wondering about the taste of Irish Breakfast vs. English Breakfast (what I am assuming Leah referred to as “regular breakfast” tea), it’s difficult to describe. It’s kind of like describing the difference between two white wines or two pilsner beers. Obviously if you are not a regular drinker of the beverage, you are going to think, “Hmm. It tastes like black tea.” There is a more subtle difference that I like very much though.
Equating teas to beers (and having generations of English roll over in their graves for doing so), Lipton Pekoe (ordinary black) tea is your bland, common, non-distinguished Coors or Budwiser beer. It’s cheap, common, and easy to forget moments after you drink it. English Breakfast is like a mainstream microbrew, say Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It’s got more character, a more complex taste, and a sense of history to it, but only back to the late 1800s or so. Irish breakfast is like a unique imported beer from Austria or Germany. It has even more layers of complexity, subtlety while also being bolder (I’m talking more tea here than beer), and a greater sense of history (the 1600s maybe). In short, Irish Breakfast is more of a tea drinker’s tea to be enjoyed than a tea for someone that is just looking for a caffeine jolt in the morning to wake up (though Irish Breakfast seems to have a bit more caffeine, too).
You might also try Scottish Breakfast. It’s, um, a bit more rugged than Irish, but with many of the same endearing qualities.
I have not heard of or seen the Red Rose tea that Alan mentioned. I will have to check one of the specialty shops.
September 6th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
Melissa says:
I completely agree with the comments about Irish Breakfast. There is just something about the slightly bolder flavour that I really love.
I’m not sure if you can get it in the U.S., but if you like Irish Breakfast tea, you should try Yorkshire Tea (made by Taylors of Harrogate). It has a similar strong flavour, but there is something really special about it that I can’t quite put my finger on. It is one of my all-time favourite teas. It can usually be found at British specialty shops, if you’re interested. Yorkshire website
Will, as far as I know, Red Rose tea is only sold in Canada. My dad has a friend who asks him to bring boxes of Red Rose down to the U.S. everytime my family visits, so I’m guessing that it is either very difficult or impossible to find stateside. It’s a pekoe tea, but it’s higher quality than other brands like Lipton, so it’s a favourite with a lot of people up here in Canada.
September 6th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Deena says:
There’s a health food store in Kensington Square (off E. Hastings) that sells this tea… I think. I might be wrong though. But I was there a few days ago and they carry an assortment of different teas.. and I think I saw this one as the box is very familiar.
heck, I think my sister drank this. Check that out and let me know.
September 7th, 2006 at 7:53 pm
Lea says:
Wheat-free products, strawberry-flavoured soy milk, Stash Irish Breakfast Tea…
Heh??? I had no idea…
September 9th, 2006 at 8:39 am
Will Murray says:
Thanks for the info Melissa.
I think I saw some Yorkshire tea at our specialty tea shop. Yup. I just looked on their website, and they have 40 and 80 bag boxes and a loose tea drum. I’ll have to check it out. They also carry the Scottish Breakfast I mentioned.
Peter, you could see if they would ship you some of your favorite teas. I have no idea what it would cost to import it, but their prices are fair (not cheap, not a rip-off either).
Good luck!
August 17th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Garry says:
For any interested party…teavana.com is a tea store (kind of like starbucks) in various locations (and online). They carry bulk loose leaf tea like Irish Breakfast and English Breakfast tea. Lots of different tea stuff here.
December 5th, 2007 at 7:11 am
Steve says:
If you want a large selection of Irish teas imported from Ireland try The Celtic Treasure Chest at 41st. and Dunbar in Vancouver, B.C.
September 15th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Mike says:
If you want real Irish tea you have to try Barry’s or Bewley’s and it is available at the Celtic Treasure Chest store in Vancouver and White Rock. Good selection available