Lupicia Fresh Tea

The most organized looking tea shop I’ve ever seen on first glance. However, it was very busy when I went, so I couldn’t figure out how best to find the teas I wanted… not sure how they were categorized if I wanted a certain flavour.
I also love that they have prepackaged tea bags of their best sellers in case you just wanted to grab and go.
I bought the rose royal, and I’m glad the cashier took the time to give me some tips on how to brew it! Can’t wait to try it.

You might be king before you buy stuff, after that, you are a miserable servant.
Yes, the place has lots and lots of teas. It’s a lovely Tokyo-​based franchise. They have some samples and nice-​smelling teas. All good. But don’t make a mistake of buying any tea hardware from them. It’s expensive. Plus! No returns or refunds. And personal humiliation upon attempt. Number of other customers treated rudely by staff. Not cool.
Just for information, cute and expensive glass tea mugs with colourful silicon strainers don’t work, particularly with tea sold at store. The tea is too fine and dusty, it goes right through holes and provides a dried-​gunk-​in-​your-​mouth experience just when you were hoping to sip a clean delicious liquid. Do avoid those.
I found more comfort at Teavana upstairs. They’re somewhat hidden, and I almost forgot they existed. But people there seem more professional.

I was recently gifted a BIG box of tea of the Lipton variety from an over enthused bulk shopper (gotta love my family.) So instead of the normal leave it for later, forget about it & see it still in its box two years from now, I need to stop my wasteful ways & make sure I use what’s been given.
I’ve never bought tea from Lupicia before. Still haven’t. But I have purchased their beautiful glass cups for gifts in the past. That was when this store used to be called L’épicier…see my pics for reference. Their tea accessories are so darn adorable. I couldn’t resist.
This time I wanted something that would encourage me to use up that big ‘ol box of tea & found what I was looking for at Lupicia. This cute little tea carafe that you can make & store away tea at the same time was just the thing I needed to get me on my merry tea drinking way. The ultra horrible humid summer has me making iced tea on a daily basis. Could not ask for more.
Will have to go back and try the teas next time as my fellow Unilocalers sure make it sound delicious.

I love Lupicia! Stumbled upon this store in Hawaii and I am hooked. If you are a Tea lover and/​or looking for a unique gift this place is a great stop.
The shop itself was great. 5 stars. Clean & friendly service. Was offered fresh brewed iced tea upon arrival which sealed the deal for me. Tasting it I knew I was going to walk out with a lot of tea! This store is very organized and clean, everything kept in it’s place and labeled. Many different tea flavors you can find something that would fit anyone’s preference.
Also shopping at this location in Hawaii is perfect because you can get special hawaiian blends that you can’t always find online.
The only reason for the dock of a star is the tea does become pricey for how quickly you’ll go through it. It’s definitely a splurge not something that’s a necessity.

This store was really nice and clean. The matcha was the same price as it was in California. They were stocked up on the green that I bought two tins. So far, this is favorite location

It is with despondency that I write this review and will now be terminating any further business with this company. I do not see the staff getting any better, so it is time to share my experience (s).
When I first started coming here last year (circa Oct 2014) I thought it was the greatest discovery. Having lived in Europe, my entire family loves tea. I thought I found a gold mine with all the wonderful teas offered here. I lost my mind buying tea! Needless to say, I made a huge first time purchase there and returned around the holidays to buy more for Christmas presents (Nov & Dec 2104) and again I made huge purchases. I love the holiday flavors in addition to the Hawaiian flavors. When I went in for my holiday purchase I signed up for a newsletter and a free tea sample. Since that time to now… just about every time I get a sample I am headed to that store to buy more. I have been here a lot more than my check-in’s because I always seem to forget to check-​in. Every time I have been in there since Christmas I have been treated rudely and like a second class citizen. When I made the big purchases they were over the top friendly which led me to believe they were always friendly. Not true, at least not in my case. Since the holidays I have only made small purchases. They seem to not have time for me and would rather cater to certain tourist. I’m a «nobody» with my little purchases I suppose. I do like the tea or I wouldn’t go back… although they are rude, I make my little purchases and I’m on my way. I always think «Perhaps next time they’ll be friendly… maybe they are having a bad day.» My goodness… they have a lot of bad days if this is the case.
Today was the final straw so to say. I was shopping with a girlfriend who had never been in there. Together we lived in England and I told her how wonderful the tea was. She was excited to make a purchase. We stepped inside and were offered a sample. Normally I have to ask since no one cares to help me and they only pay attention to a certain tourist… so I thought that was great. I have also been told to help myself in the past. In any case, some tourist walked in and away the employee went. There was another sample there. I did not see the sign stating to not touch the glass pitcher… I picked it up to get us a sample. After all, in the past I’ve been told to help myself. The female employee yelled at me. I did something naughty, sorry I didn’t see the sign… but yelling at me is just plain rude female employee! I did not deserve to be treated like I was… nor do or did I deserve to be treated poorly on any other day I’ve been in there to make a purchase. I may not be that certain type of tourist or customer they prefer, but I was a customer too and spending money in there. Needless to say, I wanted to try to buy 10 cans of the Lanikai Tea today. My friend was excited to try some of the teas as well. But since the female employee was so rude I told her I was going to make a purchase, but now we’ll just leave. The female employee looked relieved that we were leaving… like we were not welcome anyway. From previous visits it just assured me of what I already knew I suppose.
I do realize once and for all that this store caters and prefers to only service certain tourist and customers now… at least this is my experience and opinion. I obviously do not meet the criteria for the type of customer they want. I was a dedicated customer, but they have made it clear I am not welcome and don’t need my business or money. The tea is wonderful, but it’s simply not worth being treated poorly. Nor do I feel I need to make huge purchases every time I go in there to try to be treated like a human being or just equal to others. Your wish is my command… I will stay away from your store and share my experience to hopefully avoid this happening to anyone else.

Love this place. If you love tea, this is your one stop shop. Everything you need is here. Its clean and organized and the service is the best here.
I bought 3 different teas and I can’t wait to try them all. Signed up for their program (you can sign up if you spend $ 30 or more). They will send you once a month magazine with a free sample of a new tea. Sounds good to me.
Loved the service I received and every representative know about each tea and they made great recommendations.
If you love tea, Its the place to be.

They were very professional and helped us with our needs very well. They brought us complimentary samples of iced tea which were lovely and we decided to buy some. The teas smelled heavenly. Thank you.

Went in to buy blooming flower tea for my mom and they have it (jasmine flavor). Mom loves it!!! I’ll definitely come back and get some more!!! Customer service was very good. The lady who help us answer all the questions we asked.

Lupicia is still my favorite place to get Japanese-​inspired teas! If you have a penchant for Chinese almond cookies, their loose leaf cookie black tea will not disappoint.

«Hi, my name is Emi. And I am addicted to tea.»
I gave up coffee last year and have replaced my habit with hot tea! I was inspired to visit Lupicia after Brian M surprised me with a bag of their Tokio green tea and an infuser. I wish Unilocal had smello-​vision because the scent of this tea is filled with sweet berries and instantly makes you feel as though you’re on vacation. I steeped my way through that tea in a few weeks and started getting anxious at the thought of not having it in my life!
Lupicia is located at the center of the bottom level of Ala Moana Center. When you walk in it’s Japanese grown tea-​topia! Every flavor of tea you can think of and I enjoy sniffing my way through each canister. It can actually be overwhelming because of the number of choices and I welcomed the help of one of their workers to find some non-​caffeinated teas as well. At the end of my tea sniffing experience I decided on a strawberry and vanilla green tea and an orzo chai because it’s non-​caffeinated. You can purchase the loose leaf tea as tea bags or by 5 – 10 oz portions. I’d recommend getting the loose leaf and buying an infuser because it’s a better deal. I’ve realized that TRUE tea fanatics don’t use tea bags.
Each morning as I hurry my children out the door to school I bring my canister of hot tea to drink in the car as part of my morning ritual. Drive to school, listen to endless Taylor Swift songs and drink my Japanese tea. Not only is it a nice, zero calorie treat, but it makes my heart smile at each sniff and smell. Hot tea forever!

Being a newbie when it comes to tea preparation and drinking I thought coming to Lupicia would be a great idea…
Lupicia located on the Mauka street level side of the Ala Moana Shopping Center, close to the Keeaumoku entrance.
As you walk into Lupicia you’ll notice the wide variety of teas, I mean huge!
I was in search of a tea to drink in the morning instead of coffee, just didn’t need that caffeine blast and felt better sipping on tea while easing into the day. Since I have been drinking and enjoyed black teas in the past, this is what I was planning on purchasing.
Service wasn’t what I expected coming from a place specializing in teas. Maybe because I was being helped from a new worker, he couldn’t answer any of my questions. Hey I’m the newbie!
I did request to sample two teas that I was interested in before I made made a purchase and found out that they’ll only let you sample only one, I found that strange.
What I did end up buying was 50g loose leaf tea of Earl Grey OP, found it really mild, delightful and a very enjoyable tea to drink. Also picked up a labeled tin to place the tea inside, perfect size for 50ml of loose tea.
My expectancy coming here was to get great customer service and get a little education on the vast variety of teas they carry, but that didn’t happen. I’ll be back to try more and hopefully experience some of their knowledge about the products they carry… crossing my fingers!
*Overall 3.5Stars…3 for Service and 4 for the Tea quality.

The staff is always extremely nice and welcoming here. They always have at least 2 teas out to sample and sometimes they’re willing to make you on-​demand-​mini samples of teas that you’re interested in buying.
I love stocking up on their Hawai’i-only teas here and I like that they’ve consolidated the teas into 6 special teas instead of the 12 they had last time. Their packaging is great and I love the wall o’ teas (though it can be a bit overwhelming to some). The cashier was nice enough to offer gift recommendations (no. the tea is all for me…) and since I met the $ 30 purchase minimum x 2, let me sign up for their free newsletter + sample, as well as for a friend.

One of the best places to get tea on island. I definatly recommend trying some of their hawaiian inspired teas here. they are not just for tourists ya know :)
I love the look of this place after the renovations. I wish they had every tea on the boxes above though. they are up there iust taunting me.
If you’re a tea lover definatly stop on by, you’ll definatly find something you fancy

This is the only tea company I know that sends samples to their customers!
Lupica is seriously the Mecca of teas, there are so many varieties that it will take a few months before you can try all the teas! Not to mention, every month there is a new featured tea! The best part about this brand is that it has both loose leaf and bagged teas. On lazy days, I prefer a tea bag than to wash my tea filter for loose leaves lol. It’s the perfect place for fickle/​lazy tea drinker like myself! I also love that they send me monthly sample teas! The most recent one I received was a chocolate strawberry (black tea??) it was so good! I think I reused the tea bag 3x!!! Hahha!
For first time tea drinkers or tea drinkers alike, I think this is the perfect place to go. Especially if you want to try different types & tastes of tea!
The one star deduction is due to the expensiveness of tea… I always seem to spend a fortune here and I can’t help myself!!! I wish they were a bit more affordable :)

SO MANY FLAVORS TO CHOOSE FROM! service here is great. they kept checking up on me every few minutes to see if i was doing ok, and what i really like about Lupicia is that if you ask, they’ll brew up a really small batch of the tea you’re interested in and let you sample it! how great is that? No more buying tea that smells good, but tastes terrible. (this was the instance that happened at Teavana)
Plus, compared to Teavana and Tea Farm, the prices are a lot cheaper and the quality more flavorful. I think I’ve found my new tea place! :) so happy

I’m in Heaven… Tea Heaven, that is. It’s just great to have a loose tea store at Ala Moana Shopping Center… Lupicia has the globe and a full variety of flavor profiles covered. Being of Chinese descent, I grew up drinking tea… green leaf (Long Jing), pungent, highly-​caffeinated black leaf, Oolong leaf, Pu-​erh and Jasmine scented tea leaves. Admittedly, I’m not a connoisseur but I adore having a perfectly-​brewed, hot cup of tea after a Chinese meal or just for its calming, relaxing properties. My family home always had jars or pressed disks of tea leaves around. Even herbal teas were present and were often brewed and consumed whenever a health issue arose.
Well, just walking into Lupicia, my senses were piqued. The teas are stored and displayed in a clean and relaxing environment. I suddenly felt like trying everything they had to offer! Alas, trying everything in one visit is physically impossible so I settled on sampling a few. The staff is very attentive, knowledgeable and pleasant. I was attracted to and ended up with 2 of the Hawaii flavored teas such as Hoku (a pineapple and guava flavored Taiwanese Oolong) and Hanalei (banana flavored Rooibos tea with coconut flakes and yellow petals). Yay! I left happy with exciting new flavors for my palate…
Oh, Starbucks… I’ll not forget you!

Hello?! What’s this… A loose leaf tea store I have yet to try! Oh for joy, my next 2 hours will be spent here!
And, they were! I investigated the origins of the store, talked with the very knowledgeable staff, smelled close to 100 different varieties, carefully cultivated my favourites and then decided of 4 varieties to purchase as well as some lovely Christmas Tea infused honey!
All of the teas are wonderful. But I think the most amazing ones are the 8 – 10 special addition teas that are only available in Hawaii; they contain local ingredients such as pineapple, macadamia nut, etc. When I inhaled the intoxicating aroma of the Malama and Lanikai, well, it was like smelling Hawaii herself. They come in beautiful silver tins with Hawaiian art. They would make excellent gifts for your mainland friends, as well as wonderful reminders of your time in Hawaii — every time you steep a cup it will take you back!
Tea Time Anyone?

I love this tea place!
It has amazing high quality tea. During the holiday, if you purchase more than 30 dollars, they give you a year of free samples!
i am so in love with their tea! My favorite is the Apricot, Jingle Bells, Apple & Berry, and Cinnamon Cookie ! So Good!

Pick any tea or ask the ladies there for the tea that are close to expiration because they are 50 percent off!
Taste the same to me. I have tea from two years ago still good.