The Spice Merchant and Company

I love shopping for tea here. Store was crowded and busy, but products were still stocked. Prices are incredible! Parking is not super easy and the employees are not necessarily friendly, but were helpful in locating teas.

Marco Polo explored the Orient in search of silk and came back with exotic spices and other goodies. The good news? You don't have to travel that far.Spice Merchant is the standard for so many culinary wants & needs. You want an esoteric spice? Yeah, no problem, check the rack or ask a specialist to hook you up. Need a flavored syrup to make your favorite morning beverage? Yup, Torani is on the rack in a zillion flavors. Kitchen gadgetry? They got you, fam, from silicone to stainless steel. Point is, while the name is 'Spice Merchant', there is much, much more inside and forgive yourself for getting lost or distracted.And then there's the star of the show, at least for me: the artisanal coffee. Their selection is simply sine qua non. Whether you want light roast or dark, or in between, flavored bean or just roasts, beans whole or ground, Spice Merchant has you covered. I am an absolute devotee to their French roast, the Old San Francisco blend. I get a pound, ground, and I treat myself about once a week with this gift from the coffee gods. Dark and a bit smoky and it accentuates all the best notes from the bean.Maybe coffee isn't your cup of, well, tea. You're in luck if you're more with the leaf, because their loose leaf tea selection is unparalleled locally. If you prefer bagged teas and less mess, their boxed tea inventory seems endless. All of this is in its own separate nook, away from the powerful coffee aroma and focused more on the peace that is tea.It's easy to get crowded amongst the aisles, but that's only because there is so much to choose from. Hot sauces, dip mixes, or other condiments are all over. Spice Merchant draws in local suppliers (hello, local honey) and small vendors from outside the area, so you're really shopping brick and mortar here. Anyone can click-click-click and order online, but if you want to enjoy the shopping experience, then you should make the time to visit Spice Merchant. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time.

I've been a customer several times over the 5 years that I have lived in Wichita. I have enjoyed purchasing various spices and teas from this shop. I am a big supporter of small businesses. That being said, I will not shop here again.I have overlooked the tightness of the shop, after all there's a lot of stuff to see & buy. I have even looked past the snark of the employees in this shop. After all, this city's full of rude people. I can put it aside but after reading the article about the owner whining about a CHARITY car show I draw the line.Any business owner with half of a brain knows that community events, especially big ones, bring IN business. Old business as well as new. I'd say that it saddens me to stop shopping here but they drew a line in the sand & I stand by the car community because my family is a part of that community.It says a lot about a person & a business when they go out of their way to ruin things for the community that they do business in. Make no mistake, this type of attitude always ends up ruining a business. Maybe this owner will have a change of heart but I'm not holding my breath. Do better!

Oldest coffee roastery in Wichita is what a lot of the travel brochures said. Although oldest doesn't necessarily mean the best so it was with a little skepticism that I went in.When you walk in it doesn't seem like there would be much coffee wise except maybe like a little supermarket area to grind your own beans or something. There's plenty of cooking/coffee/food related merchandise and honestly there's a lot of other novelties that you could probably find at a bunch of gift shops anywhere.However, the coffee section is like the eye of this tchotchke hurricane. In this calm eye were a crew of folks roasting beans, focused but friendly. Once they noticed us there they looked up from their work to talk a bit about the roasting process and while we couldn't walk up to the equipment let me take plenty of photos.So, I'm not a coffee guy but I was looking for a nice couple of bags or two to give out as presents, caf and decaf. The guys walked me through the process, narrowing down selections based on the taste of my recipients and I walked away with a half pound of two of their roasts. My only regret is that I should have bought more, I've brought back plenty of beans from more ornate, hipster places but the coffee I brought back from here got raves. Don't judge a book by it's cover and you know if you are in the mood to get a bottle of A** kicking hot sauce in addition to some low key good coffee why not?

Y'all I went crazy up in here today. In town for an event where normally I'm only here for the Christmas holiday. How could I forget how great this place is. Cornucopia of coffees. Not sure what you want? Just ask the helpful folks. Tons of teas! Smells so good. Try the blue tea and thank me later. Spices at less than wholesale prices. I bought this pack of huge Bay Leaves for less than a dollar. Then went crazy with all the various spices and the prices are just so incredible.When you finish please check out Cleveland Corner behind it with The Workroom, Viola's Pantry, and Grow.#ICT

Do you need coffee beans? Do you need spices? Do you need a unique gift to give someone on their birthday or other reason for no reason at all? This is the place for you! Spice merchant is a wonderful place! Just stepping in the door, smelling the aroma is a fresh coffee beans, it's like stepping into heaven! They will mix various types of coffee beans, freezer a half pound or full pound! The beans are perfectly roasted- no burnt beans here! Lol a great place to just hang out and walk around enjoying the aromas & discovering new kitchen gadgets! Actually, it's a dangerous place for me! I can't get out of there without buying something! Lol

Incredibly friendly and knowledgeable staff. Delicious coffee and tea selection. You can watch coffee bean being roasted. The entire stores smells wonderful.

I have been coming here since I was young and I still come in with the biggest eyes and a heart full of excitement. Every trip to the Spice Merchant is an adventure and soooooo many different choices in coffee and tea, you'll never run out of new things to try!!!

Great owners letting you browse as long as you want. They have everything coffee! The coffee is fresh and beans of every kind.

The Spice Merchant has been a favorite shop of mine for decades. Well, today they topped their best! I was desperate to get some fresh-roasted espresso and was across town at 5pm. Knowing they close at 5:30pm, I called them and asked if they would prepare 1lb of my favorite coffee. They happily did this for me, I flew in the door at 5:28, they asked if I was Tracey and said they had my coffee ready. I paid for my coffee and was out the door very quickly. Now THAT is customer service, my friends! Local businesses could learn a lot from this wonderful gem we have here! The best coffee, tea and spices anywhere! I continue to spread the love!