Rubes Creek Rube Restaurant Reviews

• 981 Tea Shop
• 2932 Canton Rd, Suite 230, Marietta

I completely failed to properly document the delightful 981 Tea Shop with sufficient photographs because I was distracted by all the shopping. Forgive me. I am just a rube, after all.

I was also distracted by the shop’s wonderful, retro door and storefront. Behold! It’s a tragedy that most modern storefronts are so very, very boring. Just a couple of panels of glass, nothing special. And doors with corners — ugly, ugly corners. The way common spaces are constructed nowadays is a form of violence on the public.

I love the rounded front door. I mean, look at it. It’s a marvel with no corners. This door gives the place a special energy, an elegance. It reminds me of a place I’d visit in a dream, a place of memory, of being a child and getting cupcakes, of thinking up silly things all day long and laughing. Tired? You have a parent to pick you up, tuck you into bed. You’re just a little thing, after all. You need to nap.

I want to take a dozen photographs of the door itself. Perhaps I will return to do a photographic study of this lovely door.

The owner of 981 Tea Shop suggested the door could be original to the shopping plaza, which dates back to the 70s. Somehow, when the rest of the shopping center was renovated, the store front with its rounded door and jutting picture window was allowed to remain the same. It makes sense that I would feel a surge of warmth and memory looking at a door such as this one.

The doorway adds charm to a charming tea shop, where a vast assortment of tea and tea-related items are for sale. Do you need a strainer, a tea shop, tea cups, cookies, chocolate-covered pistachios, mushroom-based hot chocolate, incense, tinctures, etc.? Come to 981 Tea Shop. The owner is very approachable and knowledgeable.

Little jars of aroma samples help you take a smell sample of the rows upon rows of tea available.

I selected Tropical Earl, the name of which sounds like a Jimmy Buffett knockoff band, because of the notes of coconut. I really should’ve bought some non-caffeinated fruity tea as well since I’m sensitive to caffeine. I also picked out a steeper, even though I have a silly little floating duck diffuser. This way, I can take my loose-leaf tea to work so I can enjoy a nice cuppa as the world burns around me.

Do you not know a darn thing about loose-leaf tea? They have classes every month.

And, after a bit of pondering and reflection, I realize that when Laverne and Shirley moved to L.A., their apartment’s front door was rounded as well. We’re going to make our dreams come true!