It’s Tea Time!

It’s tea time, let’s go out and enjoy a cup of tea. While you are sipping a cup of tea have you ever thought about the history of tea or rather how tea came about in South Korea? Well, I can tell you that the tea culture here has a very long history that dates back to ancient times. Tea is believed to come from cultural exchanges with other countries such as China. The early history of tea in Korea is tied to Buddhism. Tea was used as a beverage during Buddhist ceremonies and rituals. Over time tea has evolved from just being tea that you only have during historical events to tea that you drink during everyday life. Milk tea origins can be traced back to Asia. In early days of when milk tea was made it was made with just black tea with milk and sometimes sugar added. Now you can find all kind of milk teas not just in Asia but all around the world. Everyone has made milk tea into something different with their own culture.

After learning a bit of history about Korean teas, why not try going to a teahouse or a tea café and just have tea time and sit in on history? I have a few suggestions for you which are Cha Cha Tea Club (차차티클럽), Café Vow, TWG Tea, and Sinyet House. These places have all kind of teas from black tea to just having a tasty milk tea. The first place I visited was Cha Cha Tea Club (차차티클럽).  I hope you are ready visit some amazing tea spots because once you are done reading this blog you are going to want plenty of tea.

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Cha Cha Tea Club (차차티클럽)

Cha Cha Tea Club is an extraordinary teahouse.  When you are walking to the teahouse you will notice that it is surrounded by hotels in an alley and thinking to yourself are you really in the right area but you are. Once you enter it is like you are in another world and not in Dongdaemun. It is so calming and very beautiful. They have so many teas for you to choose from like white tea and black tea. They also have various desserts to try such as their Black Rice Matcha Cake.

Their desserts can cost about 7,800 won (5.82 usd) to 10,000 won (7.42 usd). Once you order your tea they come over with the tea and explain to you on how to brew your own tea. You have the experience of making your own tea which makes the teahouse even more intriguing. Their teas cost around 9,000 won (6.72 usd) to 10,000 won (7.42 usd). When you visit Cha Cha Tea Club, I recommend their white tea. The white tea was very good and they had one with a taste of apples. My next visit is going to be the extraordinary TWG Tea.

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Operating Hours:

13:00 – 22:00 Wednesday – Sunday

Closed on Monday and Tuesday

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Homepage:

https://www.cha-cha.kr

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Address:

461-2, Changsin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul

서울특별시 종로구 종로46가길 13

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How to get there:

Dongdaemun Station (Line 1, Exit 6) 3 Minute Walk

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TWG Tea

TWG Tea can be found all over Asia. There are plenty of stores right here in Seoul, South Korea. TWG Tea opened in August of 2008 in Singapore. In February of 2014 the Singapore the tea house decided to open its first café-store in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea (대한민국 서울특별시 강남구). The tea café has over 800 different kinds of teas coming from all over the world including China, and South Africa. Their White House Tea is known to be their most popular tea with a blend of peaches, pomegranates, and white petals. The White House Tea was especially made for the U.S. President Baraka Obama.

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What is really interesting about TWG Tea is that they have tea masters that give you tea that matches your taste buds. The tea masters are trained in Singapore for up to three months. They have to go back to Singapore about every 9 months to update their knowledge on all the various teas that they sell. Every tea bag from this café is made up of 100 percent cotton so that it does not ruin the taste of the tea for everyone.  They sell cute little desserts as well to go along with the tea, such as Yellow Rose Cake, Petit Four, and Cookie Choux. I went to their Apgujeong location; there you can sit and enjoy the tea and their desserts rather than just buying some. When I visited TWG Tea I got their vanilla tea that is made with Tahitian vanilla and black tea. I also got their dessert set of the Yellow Rose Cake and Cookie Choux. It was all very delicious.  There are still so many tea places to try but my next stop is Sinyet Teahouse. Be ready to be amazed at what kind of teas they have.

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Operating Hours:

10:00-21:30 Everyday

Last Order 20:30

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Homepage:

https://twgtea.com

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Address:

1F, 854 Nonhyeon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Gangnam-gu

서울특별시 강남구 논현로 854, 강남구 1층

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How to get there:

Apgujeong Station (Line 3, Exit 3) 2 Minute Walk

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Sinyet chatjip (Shin Tea House)

Shin Tea House is an authentic hanok tea house. This place is located in a part of Seoul that is always filled with people but when you walk in here you feel like you are not in Seoul anymore. It is a small place but it is so beautiful. They have two different seating areas here, there is the floor seating where you have to take off your shoes or you can sit on the other side and sit at a table. This place is just so quiet and relaxing.

They serve Korean traditional tea and flower teas. Some of those teas you can find are Black Herbal Tea, Plum Tea, and Citrus Tea. Shin Tea House also has a Chinese tea you can try if you like. When you are looking for a snack to go with your drink, they have some of the best Korean traditional desserts such as rice cakes, dried persimmon and sweet rice cakes.  Shin Tea House is a lot cheaper than most tea places which is great for everyone. Their teas run from 7,000 won (5.82 USD) to 9,000 won (6.79), while their Korean snacks cost 5,500 won (4.15 USD) to 8,000 won (6.03 USD). When I visited, I got their sweet rice cakes and their plum tea. The plum tea was so delicious. After having so many traditional teas I feel like it is time to go out and have some milk tea, so my next and final stop is Café Vow.

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Operating Hours:

10:00 – 20:00 Monday

10:00 – 21:00 Tuesday – Friday

10:00 – 22:00 Saturday – Sunday

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Address:

47-8 Insadong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

서울특별시 종로구 인사동길 47-8

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How to get there:

Anguk Station (Line 3, Exit 6) 7 Minute Walk

Jonggak Station (Line 1, Exit 3-1) 10 Minute Walk

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Café Vow

Café Vow opened back in 2016. When you think of a café you always think that they just serve mainly coffee but this place is different. You can find all sorts of teas here from milk teas to hot teas but they also have Dutch coffee for those coffee lovers.  Café Vow is a cute tea cafe that gives you a bit of vintage or high tea vibes. What I found to be really nice about this place is that you get to choose your tea cup and the teapot that your tea comes in. If you get the milk tea you can only choose a teacup but if you get hot tea then you get to choose a tea pot and a tea cup. The tea cups and tea pots are just so beautiful as well which makes it even harder to choose.

The teas run from 10,000 won (7.58 USD) to 20,000 won (15.15 USD) depending on what size you get for your drink. They have milk teas like Lavender Milk Tea, Coconut Milk Tea, Imperial Milk Tea, and their best milk tea is the Domperigon Milk Tea. While when it comes to their hot teas, they have a lot of black teas. If you enjoy Dutch coffee, you can order their Lavender/Chamomile, Rose, or their best Dutch coffee, Whiskey. None of their drinks have actually alcohol in them.  Once you have decided on what tea you want you will notice that they have a few desserts as well. Café Vow has a really good Tiramisu, Matcha cake, and New York Style Cheesecake.

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Operating Hours:

10:00-21:30 Everyday

Last Order 20:30

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Homepage:

https://www.instagram.com/cafe_vow/

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Address:

7 Wausan-ro 29ra-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul

서울특별시 마포구 와우산로29라길 7

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How to get there:

Hongik Univ. Station (Line 2, Exit 7) 10 Minute Walk

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Summary

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When you visit South Korea, you notice that there are so many cafes. I sometimes feel like you have to search for the perfect places that sell tea and not just coffee so I am glad that I was able to create a blog for tea lovers like myself to be able to go out and enjoy. After visiting so many tea houses and cafes I feel like I have tried just about every tea. I do have a favorite tea spot now though but I will let you decide what is your favorite from the list of places I got the chance to visit. I love all the different teas I got to try over this week. Whenever you have free time make sure you go out and take some time to yourself and enjoy your own tea time. I hope that you are maybe sipping on a cup of tea as you read this blog. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this blog.

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