Raiding local trees and throwing their leaves in boiling water cuts down on aphid infestations, but it won't make a good cup of tea. Enjoy leaf-water made from ingestion-appropriate plants with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of tea at Teance in Berkeley or for an online purchase. This Groupon is also valid toward tea subscriptions, tastings, or classes, in any combination. While not required, reservations are recommended.

Teance bags more than 65 tea varieties from countless countries on any given day, which means your tea treat will provide an eclectic gambit of flavor to your fortuitous tongue. White, green, oolong, jasmine, blooming, red, black, and pu-erh teas will steep slowly in your mental kettle, signaling you to whistle softly at each relaxing sip. If you like being surprised, a tea subscription hooks up subscribers with a different 2-ounce package of fresh tea each month ($56 for three months). During a tea tasting, the veteran tea teachers at Teance will happily provide you with a breakdown of each variety's origins, ingredients, benefits, and the potential export market impact of a Beanie Baby resurgence ($7 for a single tea, $15 for a rare tea, and $18 for a flight of three). If you stop in on a weekend or lucky weekday, your tasting will be paired with a complimentary, handmade seasonal treat. Customers interested in extending their mastery of tea knowledge can discuss the finer points of recognizing and appreciating tea leaves and flavors during one of Teance's tea classes.

In keeping with the serene connection between tea and mind, the interior of Teance is almost entirely sky-lit, the walls are rustically constructed from raked plaster, the cabinetry is built from sustainable bamboo, the floor is patch-worked with handmade tiles, and the central tasting bar is embedded with gems, actual contentedness, and fossils.

Reviews

Eighty Yelpers give Teance an average of four stars:

• Looking back at my past teas, I really didn't know anything about tea until stepping foot inside Teance. – Jackie A., Yelp