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We’re celebrating the release next week of Oregon Winter, Willamette Week’s annual guide to easing through the cold season. This year, we’re thinking about steps of self-care, from realigning after the holidays to gearing up for the spring ahead. Below is a preview of leaning into the downtime of winter by visiting a few of Portland’s choice teahouses.
During the long winter, few things help fight the chill better than a hot beverage. Your choices on that front are without limit, but we want to highlight one of the best brews to combat the cold: tea. It’s the libation of choice for millions in Europe and Asia but remains something of a specialty item here in the States. It’s less about grabbing a cuppa on the way to work and more about settling in for a curative experience guided by ultra-knowledgeable purveyors of varieties from around the globe. For the tea curious or longtime lovers of leafy beverages, here are a handful of teahouses in Portland that will help you take pause in your busy schedule and be ready to brave another gray winter day.
Fly Awake Tea House
Finding this teahouse in North Portland feels like being let in on a little secret, tucked as it is behind the building that houses Kate’s Ice Cream and Rose City Comics. And once inside, the mood of Fly Awake Tea House (909 N Beech St., 503-867-8905, flyawakepdx.com) is somehow both cozy and convivial. Its vast selection of Chinese teas (my fave is the delightfully named Only Fools Rush In, a soothing red) are served in traditional gong fu cha method, which means steeping the tea leaves up to 15 times. That allows the flavor of your chosen brew to evolve with each cup you drink. And it means the servers are constantly on the move during busy stretches, pouring for customers on the ground floor and in the teahouse’s loft space while also doling out small portions of dal or kitchari.
Enthea Teahouse
You enter into a much slower, more deliberate mindset the moment you cross the threshold at Enthea Teahouse (3533 SE Milwaukie Ave., rabbitsmoontea.com). It’s there that a curt but friendly sign directs you to swap out your shoes for a cozy pair of slippers. Through the main door, you’ll find two small rooms carefully decorated with Asian art and teaware, and a handful of seating areas arranged throughout. The service is also gong fu cha, but you get set up with a tall thermos of hot water and all the accoutrements you need to steep and pour on your own. Capacity is limited, if only to maintain the chill vibes set by the warm drinks and thoughtfully chosen ambient music. Enthea is best for couples and small parties, but it does offer happy hour-style bar service on Wednesdays and reservations for tastings for solo visits.
Bardo Tea
The vibe inside Ravi Kroesen and Veronika Vogler’s Bardo Tea (2926 NE Killingsworth St., bardotea.com) is part Asian street food stall, part Korova Milkbar—a futuristic and Old World blend of steel, wood and glass to keep denizens comfortable yet alert. Either sidle up to the bar and allow them to serve you one of the fantastic teas that the owners source via regular trips to China and Taiwan, or grab a nearby table to pour your own. (I’m partial to the silky flavor of the milk oolong.) The best spot, however, is a nearby room where low chabudai-style tables and cushions lie among lovely greenery and beneath a beaming photo of a spiritual figure. It’s the ideal spot for socializing or enjoying one of Bardo’s regular tea ceremonies.
Portal Tea
Formerly known as Tea Chai Te, Portal Tea (734 NW 23rd Ave. B; 7983 SE 13th Ave.; portaltea.co) has more of a hip coffeehouse vibe than any of the other tea spots mentioned here. There’s plenty of branded mugs and merch and cans of nitro tea to be had. But that doesn’t mean the people behind the counters are any less knowledgeable about which blends or single-origins are on offer or that the teas aren’t damn delicious. Portal Tea is more the vibe if you’re looking to knuckle down on that term paper, play some board games with pals, or have a nice first date. I’m partial to the Portal in Sellwood, connected as it is to a decommissioned train car and boasting a lovely gas fireplace and very cushy chairs and couches.
The Tao of Tea
This mainstay of the Belmont neighborhood has been plying its loyal customers with steaming pots of tea, an array of international food options, and charmingly lived-in décor made from reclaimed wood and bamboo since 1997. No surprise, then, that evenings and weekends find The Tao of Tea (3430 SE Belmont St., 503-736-0119, taooftea.com) packed with patrons chatting away over steaming cups of its eye-opening traditional stovetop chai rich with cinnamon, clove and cardamom and generous portions of edamame (served with the tangy housemade soy sauce). True tea heads, however, need to slip next door to the Leaf Room (3432 SE Belmont St.), a retail space where hundreds of teas, as well as teaware and accessories, are on hand for purchase in small doses or in bulk.
Steven Smith Teamaker
The New York Times had it right when it wrote of the late Steven Smith that he did for tea “what Starbucks did for coffee.” His namesake teahouses and branding do carry a similarly bright and slightly sanitized aesthetic. But while Smith’s teas are popping up in markets around the country and with online retailers, Steven Smith Teamaker (110 SE Washington St., 971-254-3935; 500 NW 23rd Ave., 503-206-7451; Portland International Airport kiosk, concourse to Gates D and E, 503-719-8752; smithtea.com) still has a physical footprint in Portland. And it’s not as though the servers are cranking out pots or servings to go of the invigorating Soothe Sayer, which combines echinacea, ginger and peppermint, or the more gentle White Petal, a lovely take on a traditional chamomile. The staff is careful with each order, steeping it at the perfect temperature and for the perfect amount of time to achieve maximum effect.