Floating Leaves Teahouse
I have heard good things about Floating Leaves tea house since it first opened. A friend of mine was going out to Seattle and I wanted him to pick up some tea from Teahouse Kwan Yin for me. I called Teahouse Kwan Yin, and I was told that it had just been sold to new owners who were going to take over shortly and that they didn’t really have any thing special for tea at the moment. Jim at Teahouse Kwan Yin did have another suggestion though. He told me that a traditional tea house had just opened up in Ballard and that they had stuff like San Lin Hsi, Li Shan, Ali Shan and some nice Baozhongs. This was of course Floating Leaves. So I reported back to my friend the he should go to Floating Leaves and that he needed to bring me back some samples. It turns out that the wedding he was attending in Seattle was catered by Floating Leaves and that the people who he was going to see married had already told him about Floating Leaves.
The samples he brought back were what I expected, fresh oolongs from Taiwan, something that is not often found in the States. After I had gone through those, I called and ordered more. They sent me some free samples along with the ones I ordered.
Since then, their tea list has gotten even better! They now carry Da Yu Ling, a traditional Ali Shan and a prize winning baozhong. They also have some really nice tea ware, including nice gaiwans and yixing tea pots. The atmosphere is inviting and flavor was an on going topic amongst the employees. Shiuwen (the owner and tea buyer) will make sure you are comfortable, answer any questions you have and will even teach you how to brew tea if you are new to the world of tea.
I was very happy to have finally made it to Floating Leaves. It is one of the top tea houses America has to offer at the moment and is a good place to get your high mountain oolongs, providing you aren’t looking for something that is crazy expensive, although I don’t know where you would go to find those more expensive oolongs in this country. I was just happy to find a Da Yu Ling on this side of the world served in a tea house!
Check out their website www.floatingleaves.com
-Silas
The samples he brought back were what I expected, fresh oolongs from Taiwan, something that is not often found in the States. After I had gone through those, I called and ordered more. They sent me some free samples along with the ones I ordered.
Since then, their tea list has gotten even better! They now carry Da Yu Ling, a traditional Ali Shan and a prize winning baozhong. They also have some really nice tea ware, including nice gaiwans and yixing tea pots. The atmosphere is inviting and flavor was an on going topic amongst the employees. Shiuwen (the owner and tea buyer) will make sure you are comfortable, answer any questions you have and will even teach you how to brew tea if you are new to the world of tea.
I was very happy to have finally made it to Floating Leaves. It is one of the top tea houses America has to offer at the moment and is a good place to get your high mountain oolongs, providing you aren’t looking for something that is crazy expensive, although I don’t know where you would go to find those more expensive oolongs in this country. I was just happy to find a Da Yu Ling on this side of the world served in a tea house!
Check out their website www.floatingleaves.com
-Silas