Tea drinking has a longstanding culture in Asia, and is best enjoyed in an authentic way and environment, meaning that choosing the right tea house is crucial. Read on to discover Hong Kong’s best tea houses, from traditional settings to tea bars, the city has countless spots for you to begin your tea tasting journey.
Tea drinking is a proud culture of Asia that is not only defined by tasting, but also by the way it is made and consumed, by how people interact with the tea, and by the aesthetics of your tea drinking environment. That being said, choosing the right tea house to relax and enjoy a calming moment is the first and most important step to tea drinking.
Being the cultural centre of the continent, Hong Kong has great tea rooms that invite people to appreciate and get a sense of tea drinking’s beautiful culture. If you are a tea-lover, are looking for an alternative to coffee, or are exploring authentic traditional Asian cultures in Hong Kong, read on to know more about the best tea houses in the city.
Green Ginkgo Tea
As Hong Kong’s very first hand-brewed tea bar, Green Ginkgo Tea serves each cup of tea with hand-crafted techniques and teaware. The menu is categorised largely based on the following four classifications: roast, freshness, sweetness, and astringent. If you are looking for something unique, their sugarless Matcha Soda, Matcha Amazake, or Peach Phoenix Oolong may just be the option for you. Green Ginkgo’s tea Omakase, where the tea baristas will choose two types of tea for you based on your mood and preferences is bound to be a fun and relaxing experience.
Insider Tip: Try out the tea Omakase as you will not get anything like it elsewhere. The barista may offer you tea that is not even on the menu!
Address: Shop 1A, 1 Tai Ping Shan St, Tai Ping Shan, Sheung Wan
Teakha
With the philosophy of serving tea and cakes that are not only delicious, but also will bring people together, Teakha aims to provide warm, memorable moments for their customers. The menu, inspired by different tea cultures around the world, offers a wide range of options including Masala Chai, Hojicha Au Lait, Keemun Rose Milk Tea, and Roselle Mint Tea. In addition, Plantation by Teakha, a sister company of the tea house, will invite you to a 45 minute tea tasting session with their experts, with the purpose of introducing whole leaf tea to the younger generation of Hong Kong.
Insider Tip: Want to get a taste of mild sea salt, coffee, and tea all at once? Try the Sea Salt Yin Yang to feel the harmony of the blend.
Address: 18B, Tai Ping Shan St, Sheung Wan
Yú Teahouse
Yú means fine jade in Chinese. Bearing the name, Yú Teahouse always aims to offer the finest tea leaves to their customers. Interiored with a contemporary and simplistic design, the tea shop allows one to get a full sense of modern tea culture mixed with Chinese traditions. High Mount Cinnamon Oolong, Almond Phoenix, and YuQian Dragonwell are Yú’s best picks, which may also be great gift options for your loved ones. Yú Teahouse also has a tea art workshop, where one can learn Cha Dao, the harmony of tea, water, environment and conversation to create the perfect moment.
Insider Tip: If you are looking for something chill to escape from Hong Kong’s heat, try Yú’s tea gelato of the day!
Address: Shop L230, 2/F, The Eslite Spectrum, Star House, 3 Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui
LockCha
LockCha, as its name displays in Chinese, aims to provide an enjoyable time to customers with their appreciably curated tea. Founded in 1991 by Mr. Wing-Chi Ip, the tea house has been successful in offering premium tea experience along with its vegetarian dim sum and tea arts education to people, as the opening of their second tea house in Central in 2018 revealed. LockCha constantly attempts to drive young people to immerse themselves in this delightful culture in creative ways, including developing tea bears jointly with a local brewery and producing Hello Kitty themed tea merchandise.
Insider Tip: Share the beauty of tea drinking culture with your loved ones with the LockCha 6 Kinds of Tea Gift Set, which consists of 6 different Chinese teas, each with their own unique characteristics.
Address: G/F, The K.S. Lo Gallery, Hong Kong Park, 10 Cotton Tree Drive, Admiralty
Tell Camellia
Hong Kong’s first tea-inspired cocktail bar, Tell Camellia provides a unique experience with their exclusive “teatails.” The shop offers a wide range of options, with each of them allowing one to appreciate the taste of tea from a certain region, such as Brazil, Nepal, Japan, Sri Lanka, or India. With a vision of spreading tea’s timeless culture through a contemporary style, Tell Camellia invites people to explore tea culture through their fusion blends.
Insider Tip: If you are an adventurer, give the Japan teatail a try- mint and fermented soybeans distinguish this drink from Tell Camellia’s other tea-based cocktails.
Address: LG/Floor , H Code 45 Pottinger Street Entrance Alley on 48 Cochrane Street, Central
Tealosophy Tea Bar
With the purpose of promoting oriental tea culture to people from different backgrounds as well as young in Hong Kong, Tealosophy focuses on providing organic tea through hand-dripping in a sophisticated way. Started in Macau and expanded into Hong Kong, the tea house has served their customers with authentic Chinese and Japanese tea. Some of their recommendable products include Yame Sencha Green Tea, Yunnan Red Tea, and the Oolong with Rose Buds.
Insider Tip: Dive into Japanese culture by trying the Chazuke, a bowl of cooked rice with green tea poured onto it.
Address: 38 Wyndham St, Central
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