Mika Nessa Chandra
Google
Tldr: gong fu style brewing, good service, fair tea quality, good prices, will be back
I was enormously pleased to find this place. I wasn't expecting it (if I had known I would have come sooner), but they brew gong fu style. A traditional Chinese method of tea preparation, the tea is brewed in a small vessel with a low water:tea leaf ratio and for shorter periods of time (typically starting with 10 sec for the first infusion). This allows you to enjoy the evolution of the tea flavor throughout the different infusions. While they didn't have a Yixing clay teapot, their ceramic tea set was beautiful, functional, and easy to use. For the multiple brews, they gave you a large pot holding the hot water. Imo, electric kettles accessible to customers is a better way to ensure the correct temperature for the different brews (though there are arguments against using reheated water), but the customer service was such that you could get a new pot of hot water pretty easily if you think your water cooled too much. There was no limit to the number of brews you could make or the time you wanted to spend with a pot of tea (which isn't always true with high quality tea houses).
I ordered their New High Mountain tea, a Taiwanese oolong sourced from the Ali Shan mountains. This a greener oolong, and while I typically prefer my oolongs more oxidized, according to the description this tea can only be found in the US at Funnel Mill. Obviously, I couldn't resist.
I am by no means a connoisseur, so the following description may not be 100% accurate and is limited to my vocabulary and taste buds.
1st infusion (depicted): the aroma of the tea leaves almost resembled a subtle spinach- a little bitter, a touch of mineral- combined with sweet grass. The tea itself was clean, light, and smooth on the tongue, grassy with no bitterness. There was a softness to the mouthfeel, but more powdery(?) rather than creamy or buttery.
2nd infusion: best infusion (unsurprisingly). There was more of a floral sweetness to this infusion, but not cloying like perfume. It was subtle and fresh like morning dew on petals. Liquor was more pigmented (green), but still beautifully clear.
Generally, rather than a pronounced and distinct aftertaste, you are left with a refreshed feeling on the palate similar to pine or mint, but lacking harshness.
I ended up getting 9 infusions from my tea leaves, which is a good amount and typically indicative of decent quality tea leaves. The first 3 infusions were the most enjoyable, but the subsequent brews were pleasant enough to continue drinking. I realized that for some of my infusions, I overfilled the brewing vessel so the tea came out a bit weaker than I'd like. I played around with 10s, 15s, 20s, and 25s brews (with increasing brew number), but eventually stuck to ~20s for the later brews. Brewing time does tend to be preferential, which is why I appreciate being able to make my own infusions.
I still prefer more oxidized tea, so while it was good, this particular oolong was not my favorite.
However, I look forward to another relaxing visit soon to try their other teas.
Tea (camellia sinensis) prices were between $8-18, which is pretty good considering high quality tea houses typically start at $15-18 and go higher. Their coffees also smelled heavenly, even to this tea drinker.
