Why we charge for Curiositea

First things first: Tea Here Now is free. Browsing the map costs nothing and always will. Tea houses near you, city search, tea house profiles, festivals and the Explore page are free for everyone, forever.

Curiositea is for the curious. It opens the secret side of the map: the tea houses that don't want a sign on the street, the Curiositea Picks we keep for members, and Tea Here Now experiences such as tastings and visits. It also adds the community layer: your public profile, check-ins, separate ratings for the tea and the welcome, tasting notes and photos for every pot, unlimited shareable lists, and a feed of what your people are drinking. It costs 0.99 € a month or 9.99 € a year, and the first month is free. It opens soon; until then, sign up below and we'll tell you the day it does.

Here is why we charge for it.

Our money comes from tea people, never tea houses.

Curiositea subscriptions and Tea Here Now experiences: that's it. We don't take money from tea houses, shops or brands. Not for listings, not for placement, not for badges. A tea house is on Tea Here Now because it pours real tea with care, and a Here Now Pick is one the team would cross a city for. The moment a tea house could pay us, you couldn't fully trust a pin again.

Some places stay secret for a reason.

Some of the best tea rooms are a back room, a flat upstairs, a counter with six seats. Their hosts don't want a crowd; they want people who came for the tea. Keeping them behind Curiositea means the people who find them are the ones who care, and the places stay the way we found them.

A small fee keeps ratings honest.

Every score on Tea Here Now will come from someone who sat down, drank, and took the time to rate the tea and the welcome separately. People who invest a little tend to rate with care, and that is worth more than a thousand drive-by stars.

It keeps us independent.

Tea Here Now was inspired by Beany, and grew out of Wikiteadia and the tea people who map the places they love there. It runs the same way: no ads, no investors deciding what the map should look like.

One more thing, because we mean it: good tea costs what it costs because everyone from the garden to the gaiwan deserves a fair wage. We think the same is true of apps.

Questions, or a better idea? Write to us: hello@teahere.now