The Tea Box is a quaint teashop on Paradise Road, Richmond, which serves rare international teas and house blends, and on occasions a unique blend of poetry and tea.
The open room is filled with antique furniture and chandeliers, and its walls decorated with tea-related paintings and tea canisters. Tables of different sizes and styles are pressed into every corner, creating a homely and welcoming vibe. On cold, winter days it is almost impossible to see into the room, as the hot teas steam up the windows.
Every second Friday of the month, The Tea Box hosts a free poetry jam, allowing members of the public to perform poetry live. It starts at 8pm, and lasts for around two hours, although the enthusiasm within the room often extends into the night.
Each poet is welcomed to the stage with a rapturous applaud, especially if it is their first time. The atmosphere is informal and light-hearted for the most part, and poets often engage and interact with the audience. Poems can range from mental illnesses to fungi, from the extremes of human emotion to animals.
Each month the teashop is flooded with diversity: not just with the poem topic, but also with the poets who can be anything from novices to regulars, and vary between sixteen and sixty six years young.
Food and drink is served continuously, including a range of artisan scones and tea-related foods, allowing the many different smells to perforate the air, creating a unique aroma.
The Tea Box also hosts an Adult Storytelling event every first Friday of the month, which costs £6 and begins at 8pm.
