The world boasts more than 3,000 teas, which you can sample in one of 1,500 tea salons now spanning the country. (Watch out, Starbucks!) Here are a few that hint at the variety.

Gyokuro is a delicate green tea (grown in shade in just three regions of Japan) that may be the most expensive tea in the world, selling for up to $1,000 a pound.

Pu-erh is a black tea from China’s Yunan province. The double-fermented leaves are pressed into balls or bricks, then aged in caves (sometimes for years) to achieve a musty, earthy flavor.

Silver-needle jasmine is a prized white tea from China’s Fujian province — silvery, down-covered buds, picked only over a few days in early spring, to which jasmine blossoms are added for scent. Some other “flavored” teas are made with fruits (such as Earl Grey, with bergamot, a type of orange), spices, or herbs.

Display teas are sewn into flowers and other forms that bloom when hot water is added, so there’s a small flower floating in your cup. Two from Le Palais des Thés, in Beverly Hills: Grand Jasmin Mu Dan, green tea leaves sewn together to enfold an amaranth flower; and Huang Shan Mu Dan, green tea formed into a star shape. (Each $53 for 1/4 pound, www.palaisdesthes.com.)