McNulty’s Rare Teas & Choice Coffees – what a find

Have stumbled upon the most glorious tea and coffee shop, I almost danced on my toes like an excited four year old. McNulty’s Rare Teas & Choice Coffees is one of the oldest shops I’ve come across in New York, on that very site in Greenwich Village since 1895.

It is truly glorious. Every surface is covered in beautiful jars, bins, tea chests and old weighing scales. Row after row of old glass apothecary jars, filled with rare teas and coffee beans. The labels are wonderful, and it was fun spotting the craziest names– Snow Sprouting Green at $80 a pound, Blue Eyes Blend at $28 a pound, Dragon Fruit with Roses at $40 a pound.

McNulty’s Rare Teas & Choice Coffees

109 Christopher Street, between Bleecker Street and Hudson Street

Sacks of coffee beans, smelling wonderful

Fabulous names

A real treat to pop in and smell that wonderful, almost headache-inducing cloud of coffee beans.  It immediately jogged a memory of going into Betty’s Tea Room in Harrogate, Yorkshire as a student, when I lifted a lid off a coffee jar and took a deep sniff. The effect was so powerful I literally took two steps back, and felt a bit dazed for the next few minutes until my senses calmed down again.

Large sacks of coffee beans are stacked on the floor against the counter, stamped with evocative countries like Sumatra, Kenya and Columbia. But I think my favourites were the rows and rows of little rubber stamps to label your purchase, one for every blend of tea or coffee.

Definitely worth popping into treat yourself to a bag of your favourite coffee beans or tea leaves, and keep such a wonderful tradition going.

Rubber stamping your purchases

Evocative coffees from all over the world

Row after row of glass apothecary jars filled with tea leaves

No Springs, Honest Weight, Toledo Computagram

This week’s Highs & Lows:

High: Little B, who is very nearly two, turned to C, looked at him solemnly and said, “Me love you to the moon and back, Daddy”. Not to be outdone, T then declared she loved us “to the stars and back”. We both felt a bit choked up. It was a really special moment.

Low: Getting v bored with the cold. Endless visits to the paediatrician for ear and eye infections, trips to the chemist, then filling out all the paperwork to claim back the costs from the health insurance. Apparently it should warm up by March or April. Which feels a v v long way away. Although there is beauty in a New York winter. Great chunks of ice floating down the Hudson River. Icicles being knocked off buildings with shouts of warning to the pedestrians below (can you imagine if one impaled you?? That must be why so many buildings actually cordon off whole sections and put up warning signs about falling ice)…

Author: Alex

Hello. Toddling Round New York is my own little blog of our family's experience of moving young kids from London to New York... And of having a baby out here. They are my own baby steps of exploring this incredible city. I lived in five countries in four continents growing up, so you'd think I'd be good at this by now. Here you'll find stories and photographs of our adventures, the highs and the lows of expat parenthood, and some ideas I hope you'll find useful if you're in New York with young kids. View all posts by Alex