Tea, anyone? A much loved new addition to Maleny’s Maple Street
Maple Street Tea at 30 Maple Street Maleny opened in April 2026.
Created by Maleny locals Prue Miles and Paul Spencer, this new retail space offers quality loose-leaf tea and tea ware from close to home and far away.
Tired of working from home, away from community, Prue jumped when the opportunity to renovate a small space, next door to Rosetta Books came up. She was inspired by two entrepreneurial early settler women, Mrs Amelia Elizabeth Skipper and Mrs Daisy Georgina Musk, who ran a local teahouse in the 1920’s not far from the Skipper Musk Teahouse Lookout on the Landsborough-Maleny Road. This early tea house became a place of refuge out of the mud and rain for locals, early travelers and bullock drivers taking the long trip to and from the Blackall Mountains.
With a background in arts education and partnerships, along with a love of tea and ceramics, Prue thoughtfully curates a range of high quality Australian and International teas. Maple Street Tea stocks highly regarded, ethically sourced, quality loose leaf tea from specifically selected tea farms, as well as high-quality tea ware from local and international artists. Key suppliers include local tea favourites Arakai Estate farmed in Bellthorpe and Skye Chai blended in Crystal Waters, porcelain tea ware from local artists Shannon Garson and Pattie Murray, as well as quality Australian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Chinese and Japanese teas from Brisbane’s Tour de Tea and The Steepery and more.
The tea shop itself is also a beautiful reflection of Maleny. Creating a warm and welcoming space was a part of Prue’s shop goals. It was achieved through salvaged Queensland Maple and Bunya Pine made into shelving and bench tops by Mooloo Timber, with the timber off cuts then used by Ben Adams to create bespoke tea serving trays. Prue and Paul are very grateful for this collaboration with local timber experts and the positive customer feedback on the look and feel of their cosy tea shop. They are excited to be working together again soon to add in some extra timber work created from some very special timber gifted by a local customer…
Maleny locals have loved trying Maple Street Tea’s range of premium quality black teas, green teas, white teas and oolong teas as well as tea lattes and iced teas, while also purchasing boxed loose-leaf teas and tea ware. Customer boxed tea favourites include Tour de Tea’s “Copenhagen” black tea blend and The Steepery’s “Genmaicha-Popcorn roasted green tea. As Prue explains: “We knew we had awesome tea, and a beautiful space but we weren’t sure if anyone would come in…now we smile with the large numbers of locals and tourists popping in and sharing their tea stories with us…It’s so interesting hearing how tea is a part of many people’s travel and family memories”.
Core to Prue and Paul’s offering is sourcing quality loose leaf teas from small farms, so that they are confident in how the tea is ethically grown and harvested. Local supply is also key to their business model: “We are particularly proud of our relationship with our tea farm Arakai Estate, in Bellthorpe. It is so good that the smiling farmer Brendan Collins can pop in once a week (or whenever we sell out!) with a fresh tea delivery”. Maple Street Tea recently partnered with Arakai Estate and Tour de Tea to create their own in-house tea blend. Launched on 28th August, this special tea has Arakai Estate autumn black tea as its base, blended with warm spices that Maple Street Tea customers have shown they love. Titled “Maple Street” this special tea blend is only available at Maple Street Tea and soon to be available at Tour de Teain New Farm.
If you have not yet visited Maple Street Tea, it offers a place of respite in amongst the Maleny street scaping works. Maple Street Tea is open 9am – 4pm Wednesday – Sunday (closing at 2pm on Sunday’s). Prue and her dynamic team of young local staff will warmly welcome you for the best tea and treats you have had in a long time…to be enjoyed in store or at home.
