The Best Places to Satisfy Your Tea Cravings in LA

Tea may not be something that can overtake coffee in popularity just yet, but we’ve seen a continuously growing fondness for it in the past few years. According to the latest estimation of The Tea Association of the USA, Americans consumed over 84 billion servings of tea (or more than 3.8 billion gallons!) of this plant-based drink in 2019. This veritable craze over tea can be attributed to a lot of things, including this drink’s versatility.

Avid fans of this healthy beverage can play with different water types, water/leaf ratio, water temperature and steep time to achieve varying flavors and aroma. Anyone can also level up their tea by adding a variety of ingredients such as milk, honey or lemon. What’s the best way to enjoy tea? There are several different answers, but a survey by Gala Bingo found that tea drinkers from the UK (who know a thing or two on the subject) agreed on how to make the perfect cup of tea. They believe it is one bag of English Breakfast, one sugar, and then add the milk last with a side of a Digestive biscuit. Some people prefer loose-leaf tea steeped in water with nothing else, and others prefer tea lattes and espresso-infused teas. But still, no matter what you’re craving, there’s something in LA for you.

Here’s a rundown of the best places to get your cuppa in LA:

Ye Olde King’s Head

If you are looking for a place that will realize your English afternoon tea dreams, then Ye Olde King’s Head will be right up your alley. This British beachside pub located at Santa Monica Boulevard hosts afternoon tea Monday through Saturday, from 11:30 am to 4 pm. The $30 menu covers all the basics, from sandwiches and scones to the teas of your choosing. If the whole afternoon tea affair is a tad bit overwhelming for you, the pub also offers á la carte options that you can enjoy on the go.

Chado Tea Room

Give yourself a trip around the world through Chado Tea Room’s wide collection of teas. This popular teahouse, which has locations in Hollywood, South Bay and Pasadena, offers more than 300 varieties of tea to choose from. Their collection includes an extensive selection of hand-tied flowering teas, as well as hard-to-find exotic teas from all around the globe. To complete the whole tea drinking experience, their menu has salads, soups, sandwiches and sweets that can be served side-by-side with afternoon tea throughout the day. Chado Tea Room also provides a tea tasting session, which includes a succinct lesson on the drink’s history, origins and production.

Rubies+Diamonds

If you are fascinated with nitro coffee, then you will love the experiments Rubies+Diamonds are doing with their tea. At this cafe, which you can find in Hollywood, you can get creamy and satiny smooth nitro-chilled teas that have unique flavors like ginger, ale green, turmeric and creamy matcha. Like Chado Tea Room, they also offer up a flight of these teas for sampling to help you choose the perfect one for you. Rubies+Diamonds also goes beyond just nitro teas. They also use the BKON brewing technique that is meant to infuse teas with richer flavors from the leaves.

Basanti Tea Bar

For those of you who love to enjoy music while drinking a cup of tea, Basanti Tea Bar would be the perfect place for you. This humble tearoom nestled on Santa Monica Boulevard has an expansive wall of tea, as well as tea samples that the customers can smell and choose from. The owner of this hole-in-a-wall tearoom mentioned how she sources her tea directly from the vendor to ensure their quality. Of course, like much of the previously mentioned tearooms, they also offer a number of sweet desserts that will go extremely well with their aromatic teas and the smooth jazz that’s bouncing off the tearoom’s walls.

Tea may still be far away from being the most consumed caffeinated drink in the USA, but there’s no denying that the country is slowly becoming a tea-loving country. Thankfully, there’s plenty of places to visit for that perfect cuppa! Just make sure to be mindful of social distancing and reduced seating capacity when you visit these great places.

To get the latest updates about the best places to go to in LA, make sure to check out our other posts.

Comments RSS You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.