Today I made a special two hour trip to Middlebury to visit the Stone Leaf Teahouse. For those unfamiliar with Middlebury, I recommend a GPS; for me, the area was confusing to navigate by car. The Stone Leaf Teahouse is located in a small business plaza that has its own parking. One can enter the teahouse through a side entrance, located in a covered walkway between the teahouse and another business, or through a back entrance.

Upon entering through the side entrance, you will come to the service counter and teaware display area. This teaware is all for sale and they have the largest selection I have seen yet in Vermont. (The exception being the Teavana store in Burlington but with $65+ markups on their cast iron teapots I hardly think they’re worth mentioning.) The Stone Leaf Teahouse sells cast iron, steel, glass, ceramic, and Yixing clay teapots. They also sell other tea accessories like chanoyu/gongfu ceremony equipment and, of course, teacups.

To be served you can seat yourself and a menu will be brought to you. On the lower level is traditional western-style seating, but if you ascend to the loft (taking off your shoes before you do) you’ll find three low tables with very short zabuton sized stools with cushioning; they’re attractive but not quiet as comfortable as one might hope. Each table also has a rug underneath providing added comfort if you like to stretch your legs out. There is no back support unless you take the table closest to the stairs behind the screen, there one person can lean against an outside corner and its wall.

The Stone Leaf Teahouse provides patrons with books to read from a small bookcase found at the base of the stairs. There is also free internet if you prefer. I entertained myself with my own book: The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am by Kjersti A. Skomsvold. It was perfectly suited to the occasion. The music played was, as with most teahouses, eclectic but generally soothing; I overheard one patron ask and the owner indicate that Zoe Keating was being played. If one needs the restroom, they will have to exit the teahouse through the side entrance and cross the covered walkway to a single-occupancy restroom.

There is a moderately large selection of teas, maybe 70 by my guess. Be forewarned however, there is no high tea here. All you will find to eat is snacks—delicious snacks but snacks nonetheless. I ordered a pot of Hojicha. It was a very interesting and exciting green tea that comes to a honeyed and reddish brown color when brewed. This is because the tea is fired at a very high temperature during processing. Its smell was delicately strong and its taste similar. The Stone Leaf Teahouse’s Hojicha has a very light and airy flavor with an echo of earth that hangs like the final hum of the E string on a guitar. Overall I would describe it as a mellow tea well suited to the evening palate.

My Hojicha was expertly but comfortably served by the owner. I was provided with a Japaense yokode kyuusu for brewing my tea, a pitcher for serving my tea, a teapot with water and tea warmer to have hot water on hand for additional infusions, and of course my teacup and saucer. My tea was served on a lovely little tray that the teahouse actually sells for a reasonable $16. In addition to my tea I ordered some mochi and almonds to keep my stomach from complaining too much. The almonds didn’t compliment the Hojicha per say, but I found the mochi suited very well and the almonds added the bulk I needed to prevent hunger.

At the Stone Leaf Teahouse you’ll find an atmosphere of calm and serenity highlighted by their natural dim lighting. It’s possible you’ll hear some chatty fellow patrons but if you’re there for a long sit they will come and go and you’ll find yourself centering easily again on the quiet peace of the space. There is never a rush to leave and when you do you’ll quickly be eager to return. I know I hope to make monthly trips in the future.

Today I made a special two hour trip to Middlebury to visit the Stone Leaf Teahouse. For those unfamiliar with Middlebury, I recommend a GPS; for me, the area was confusing to navigate by car. The Stone Leaf Teahouse is located in a small business plaza that has its own parking. One can enter the teahouse through a side entrance, located in a covered walkway between the teahouse and another business, or through a back entrance.

Upon entering through the side entrance, you will come to the service counter and teaware display area. This teaware is all for sale and they have the largest selection I have seen yet in Vermont. (The exception being the Teavana store in Burlington but with $65+ markups on their cast iron teapots I hardly think they’re worth mentioning.) The Stone Leaf Teahouse sells cast iron, steel, glass, ceramic, and Yixing clay teapots. They also sell other tea accessories like chanoyu/gongfu ceremony equipment and, of course, teacups.

To be served you can seat yourself and a menu will be brought to you. On the lower level is traditional western-style seating, but if you ascend to the loft (taking off your shoes before you do) you’ll find three low tables with very short zabuton sized stools with cushioning; they’re attractive but not quiet as comfortable as one might hope. Each table also has a rug underneath providing added comfort if you like to stretch your legs out. There is no back support unless you take the table closest to the stairs behind the screen, there one person can lean against an outside corner and its wall.

The Stone Leaf Teahouse provides patrons with books to read from a small bookcase found at the base of the stairs. There is also free internet if you prefer. I entertained myself with my own book: The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am by Kjersti A. Skomsvold. It was perfectly suited to the occasion. The music played was, as with most teahouses, eclectic but generally soothing; I overheard one patron ask and the owner indicate that Zoe Keating was being played. If one needs the restroom, they will have to exit the teahouse through the side entrance and cross the covered walkway to a single-occupancy restroom.

There is a moderately large selection of teas, maybe 70 by my guess. Be forewarned however, there is no high tea here. All you will find to eat is snacks—delicious snacks but snacks nonetheless. I ordered a pot of Hojicha. It was a very interesting and exciting green tea that comes to a honeyed and reddish brown color when brewed. This is because the tea is fired at a very high temperature during processing. Its smell was delicately strong and its taste similar. The Stone Leaf Teahouse’s Hojicha has a very light and airy flavor with an echo of earth that hangs like the final hum of the E string on a guitar. Overall I would describe it as a mellow tea well suited to the evening palate.

My Hojicha was expertly but comfortably served by the owner. I was provided with a Japaense yokode kyuusu for brewing my tea, a pitcher for serving my tea, a teapot with water and tea warmer to have hot water on hand for additional infusions, and of course my teacup and saucer. My tea was served on a lovely little tray that the teahouse actually sells for a reasonable $16. In addition to my tea I ordered some mochi and almonds to keep my stomach from complaining too much. The almonds didn’t compliment the Hojicha per say, but I found the mochi suited very well and the almonds added the bulk I needed to prevent hunger.

At the Stone Leaf Teahouse you’ll find an atmosphere of calm and serenity highlighted by their natural dim lighting. It’s possible you’ll hear some chatty fellow patrons but if you’re there for a long sit they will come and go and you’ll find yourself centering easily again on the quiet peace of the space. There is never a rush to leave and when you do you’ll quickly be eager to return. I know I hope to make monthly trips in the future.

Great atmosphere, extremely knowledgeable staff, superb tea.

Saw this place on steepster and we went there today. Reviews are correct… the guy knows his stuff, and he and the woman (I assume they’re a couple) are very friendly and nice. The teaware they’ve got seems reasonably priced, too, as are the offerings. I love the selection and the atmosphere… while I love Dobra in Burlington, I’ve always found the room crowded and tiny… this place has lots of room by comparison, which is a plus for me. It seems louder, but that’s OK. I’ll definitely be going back there on a more regular basis!!

What a great find. My sweetie and I seek out teahouses wherever we go. Burlington is our hometown, and we visit Dobra regularly. We only recently learned of Stone Leaf and decided to make a visit to Middlebury after returning from a hike. What a great place!

John, the proprietor, is a great guy and very knowledgeable about tea. He had just come back from a buying trip to China and spent a fair while talking to us about it. He returned with some very high quality Long Jing which we ordered and he prepared for us. Outstanding!

He has a good selection of green and oolong teas, but the black offerings are limited. The ambiance is nice and comfortable and one could easily get lost for a few hours in this lovely teahouse – which we did. Highly recommended!

Finally was able to make the trek to Middlebury this weekend to check out Stone Leaf, and I’m so glad I did. What an amazing teahouse! The owner Jon is obviously very passionate about tea; his selection is modest in number but spectacular in quality. Preparation and presentation were just the way I like it—accurate and respectful brewing, but not uncomfortably formal or pretentious.

The teahouse itself is incredibly intimate and cozy and peaceful. It is very tastefully decorated and the seating is very comfortable. There are a lot of windows so the store was illuminated almost completely with natural light on the morning I visited, which was wonderful. There is also a loft seating area that I didn’t get a chance to check out, but looked very secluded and quiet.

I was fortunate enough to try a Mao Feng from China that had just been processed two weeks before. It was one of the freshest and most refreshing teas that I have ever tried. I hope to get back to Stone Leaf very soon!

John’s tearoom is full of wabi-sabi and of intimate delight. Authentic but unique, featuring an upstairs sitting area and exposed Asian style rafters, a feeling of endless inner courtyards. Everything is crisp but not at all pretentious, with a lovely spaciousness that allows the expansion of the mind. But beyond these attributes, the owner has a profound appreciation of tea, the warmth of which he shares most generously with others, so that they leave with an inspiring and happy glow. I only wish I lived closer!