Community tea house where diversity, creativity, goodwill, & purpose come together for savory moment We brew belonging and you can too.
We’re a vibrant, eclectic tea house in the beautiful Berkshires of Massachusetts. We explore new possibilities to experience tea...and we want to share all we discover with the world! ExtraSpecialTeas is a teahouse - actually two tea houses - that employs young adults with disabilities that includes an Employment & Community-based Day Program offering unique opportunities for vocational training in a retail teahouse open to the public. Traditional employment service agencies turn away a percentage of otherwise qualified employees because they cannot meet certain daily living (ADLs) criteria. Some disabled adults find it difficult to have a place in society once they leave school. Some may get jobs working in laundry, lawn care, grocery or fast food businesses, but most simply remain at Day Habilitation Programs, receiving no vocational training or continued growth opportunities of any kind and with little, if any, exposure or integration with mainstream culture. Come visit, eat, drink and enjoy our two locations:
ExtraSpecialTeas Great Barrington
2 Elm Street
Great Barrington, MA 01230
413-645-3247
ExtraSpecialTeas Housatonic
226 Pleasant Street
Housatonic, MA 01236
413-274-5059
11/18/2025
We are so excited to once again be featured in this Annual Holiday Gift Guide! It features over 125 (you read that right!) businesses run by or employing neurodivergent creators. Discover amazing small businesses and get your shop on for the holidays! You can always shop on our website: https://www.extraspecialteas.org/collections/all-products
The Guide Project’s 2025 Holiday Gift Guide is your resource for finding gifts from businesses that are run by or employ a neurodiverse workforce.
11/14/2025
🎧 The podcast team interviews Alicia and Cheryl, our Day Program Directors in Great Barrington and Housatonic. https://buff.ly/CTHKDun
🫖 Most of our customers see the front of our teahouses — but there's so much going on behind the scenes where Alicia and Cheryl oversee customer service training, human rights awareness, math and social skills. And they help us make some of our 92 products.
🎧 Listen, enjoy, subscribe +
11/11/2025
Veterans! Come enjoy a cozy cup of tea on us—stay, relax, and let us thank you in our way. Open until 4pm today, Veteran's Day, November 11, 2025, at our Great Barrington and Housatonic teahouses. Valid for all veterans and active service members—please show military ID.
Come have a bubble tea, hot tea, iced tea, tea-infused short bread—whatever. Can't get here? Shop our ExtraSpecialStore and enjoy at home. https://buff.ly/2MUfNrq
11/05/2025
Perfect gift or treat yo self! Shop online or at our teahouses in Great Barrington and Housatonic. Link in bio.
11/04/2025
🎉 Awesome Michael B. was our October Employee of the Month! Thank you, Michael, for making every day a little brighter. ☀️
11/03/2025
Here's some that we believe with all our hearts.
10/31/2025
👻🎃🫖 Lots of festive fun at ExtraSpecialTeas Housatonic! Happy Halloween, everyone!
10/30/2025
Costumes optional but encouraged! to Brie (and that weird scary 🤡 ) during our annual Halloween party. See you at ExtraSpecialTeas Housatonic, 226 Pleasant Street on October 31, 1pm - 3pm.
10/28/2025
You're invited! Come to our Halloween Party in Housatonic on Halloween, 1pm - 3pm. Don't be afraid to wear a costume.
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We believe that the future belongs to everyone belonging.
ExtraSpecialTeas is a visionary non-profit teahouse. We employ young adults with intellectual and developmental differences who have aged out of school and who are otherwise not employable. We offer a therapeutic vocational day program so that each participant can learn, grow and work in the way that best meets his or her needs. Our teahouse is a safe haven for others with special needs & their families.
ExtraSpecialTeas visitors explore, sample and enjoy our more than 50 teas from all over the world within our charming, colorful and convenient Downtown Great Barrington location. Whether you’re a traditional ‘hot pot of tea’ afficionado, an avid iced tea lover or bubble tea fanatic, we have the tea that will become your absolute favorite. We carry Tiesta Tea, Six Depot Coffee Roasters tea and coffee, and Little Red Cup Tea Co tea.
We also bake our own delicious, all natural, gluten free, vegan and Paleo-friendly treats, including signature shortbreads and ExtraSpecialPower Bars featuring an assorted variety of unique teas baked right in. The teahouse is filled with quirky and unique gifts – ranging from participant made tea infused ‘EST Bath Brews,’ soaps and candles to funky bags and practical tea travel mugs.
We believe that the Future Belongs to Everyone Belonging and we invite you to become part of that future happening now at 2 Elm Street! Go to www.extraspecialteas.org to learn about volunteer opportunities or about participating in our day program.
Please follow us here on Facebook and on Instagram and Twitter.
Shop our ExtraSpecialShop (order online and our ExtraSpecialServers who work in our Pack and Ship program will ship it to you!).
