These Are America’s Best Tearooms

When it comes to quality tea, it’s easy to consign expertise to England or China, and while, yes, the brewing tradition is indelibly braided into the cultural fabric of those locales (and has been for centuries), there’s much to say about the tea tradition in the United States. After all, the country was basically founded on a little incident in Boston that involved 92,000 pounds of the stuff.

We drink it in sickness and in health. In summer and in winter. It’s truly a global brew. Whether it’s an exotic and expensive Pu-erh from Yunnan, China or a simple pot of English Breakfast to warm up a winter morning, there are great offerings at tearooms, salons, parlors, and houses all around America. And the settings just might surprise you. Read on for the best in these United States, from chintz-coated houses in West Palm Beach, Florida to artisanal fare in Portland, Oregon.

Serenity Garden Tea House, West Palm Beach, FL

Spliced between the palm trees and luxury towers that have come to define West Palm Beach sits an attraction of an entirely different color. Serenity Garden Tea House is everything traditional: Victorian place settings, bone china, polished silver, and lace-covered tables. Whether one goes for High Tea or the more formal Afternoon Service, a major highlight is Serenity Garden’s own pineapple and coconut black tea—perhaps the place’s one and only indication of its proximity to turquoise waters and Caribbean flavors.

Biddie’s Coach House, Dublin, OH

Built as a family home in the 1830s (just a few decades after the Ohio town was founded), the structure that now houses Biddie’s Coach House is now chock-a-block with charm and quirk: mismatched teacups, tiny tables next to sunny windows, and your more expected finger sandwiches. Visitors enjoy a full Victorian tea service, complete with quiche and scones with Devonshire cream and all overlooking the green lawns. Another bonus: the place can accommodate parties of up to 25.

Townshend’s Tea Company, Oregon and Montana

Townshend’s celebrates the nerdy side of tea—but without pretension. Their five locations offer an inviting atmosphere (read: rough wood accents, cozy couches, and, yes, outlets) as well as monthly tea tasting classes for $10. What’s more, the outposts create their own line of distilled “tea spirits.”

“We are actually fermenting tea and distilling it, rather than simply blending tea with vodka,” says VP of Operations Jake Gano, who calls the results “extremely smooth.”

Cha-An, NYC

There’s usually a wait to enter this tiny East Village spot, and Cha-An’s strong green teas and beloved Japanese toasts should be blamed. The Genmaicha brown rice tea pairs well with the zenzai dessert, made with mochi ice cream and “sweet red-bean porridge.” Also good: the flan, which changes by season, or the black sesame crème brûlée.

Steeping Room, Austin, TX

Beyond its 130 loose-leaf teas, Austin’s Steeping Room prides itself its three distinct service themes: Century Oaks, a more traditional European/American afternoon of scones and teacake, the Middle Eastern Kasbah Express, which offers hummus and grapes drizzled with rosewater-infused honey, and a Japanese tea, with spring rolls and a matcha-dusted, ganache brownie. Co-founder Amy March says the space—airy, in neutral tones—is meant to be culturally neutral so visitors can “create their own experience of tea culture with us.”

Read the full list HERE.

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