Verdigris Tea & Chocolate
135 Warren Street • Hudson, NY 12534
518-828-3139 • verdigristea.com
Kim Bach’s mother, Bonnie Deffebach, owned a successful tea shop in Park City, Utah, for 18 years. When she turned 80-years-old and wanted to sell the business, Bonnie asked her daughter, who then lived in New York City, if she would like to take it over. Kim agreed to take “the entire innards of the tea shop” and relocate the hand-me-down tea things across the country. In 2006, Verdigris Tea was born in Hudson, New York, to continue the superb legacy that her mother had started.
Halting her career as a professor in the city, Kim moved upstate to pursue the family dream of providing communities with fantastic shops in which to enjoy tea. She found a picture-perfect green building, the inspiration for the name, to rehome all the tea accoutrements and provide a space for their second act. The dual-purpose shop encompasses a terrific amalgamation of eclectic things, from antiques and modern tea services to plenty of teas and tantalizing chocolates. Bakery cases highlight a marvelous array of indulgent chocolates, scrumptious fresh pastries, and homemade scones just beckoning to be paired with cups of hot tea. “In the early years of the tea shop, I had a tea counter on one side and a bakery on another side,” Kim remarks. “I had a ‘death by chocolate’ cart in the middle. I loaded it up with chocolate for people to take away. The chocolate became more and more popular. Finding local and regional chocolates became a big part of the tea experience.”
Verdigris’s teas cover the spectrum, with more than 100 varieties available in the categories of black, oolong, green, and white, as well as rooibos. Traditional English favorites, like Cream Earl Grey (a creamy and velvety twist on the classic), and dessert-like infusions, such as Black Forest (a black tea with piquant chocolate flavor and creamy notes of cherry), tend to be quite popular. If you are looking for a bit of liquid decadence to sustain you through the winter months, look no further than spicy Mexican hot chocolate or The Angelina, melted dark chocolate ganache served with a generous topping of whipped cream. Whether you choose to pause for the afternoon for a warming spot of tea and a savory scone or would rather enter chocolate heaven by way of a bonbon or another dreamy concoction, a visit to Verdigris is bound to be memorable and certainly delicious.
“After 17 years, we are the staple of Hudson,” Kim declares. “We are the first place that you stop when coming into town. We have become part of the culinary experience with an old-fashioned flair.” What started as a way to relieve her mother of the burden of parting with precious tea paraphernalia has turned into a fruitful venture that has not only deeply impacted Kim but has also left an indelible mark on the town of Hudson.
Verdigris Tea & Chocolate is open Wednesday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
