Tea Drunk
“Owner is super knowledgable of tea and willing to share her experience and adventure of collecting best teas all over China.”
“She explained the origins of various teas to us, and let us sample and sniff some leaves.”
“We stumbled across tea drunk as we were leaving Big Gay Ice Cream in the East Village.”
Tea Drunk
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Working: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range Moderate
8 reviews
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What a nice way to spend a "Thirsty Thursday" it was my first tea experience and I learned so much! Employees were so sweet.
We stayed til closing playing games of chess. Can't wait to come back for their tea events!
Sat here with a friend drinking tea for hours. I'll be honest here, i loved this place.
The Good:
Really everything was good. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable and I rather enjoyed hearing what they had to say. Local regulars and other first timers alike were seated in an intimate, comfortable atmosphere and I had quite a few entertaining conversations. Of course, the tea was outstanding. we sampled five different teas each with a distinct flavor and experience. absolutely delicious.
The Bad:
Nothing. Really.
The Ugly:
Quality is not cheap and you pay for it here. That said, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Probably tomorrow.
Very wide selection of white, green, red, and black Chinese teas to name a few. They continuously provide table service for the tea you order – which comes in two different sizes depending on the number of people you are with. Great quaint spot in the East Village for those looking for some late-night, high-quality tea.
It was such a unique experience in the city.
We, a group of three, shared a pot of one of their "real" black teas. The tea pets were cute, the tiny cups were cute, the sieve holder was cute, and the tiny game sets they had out for people to play was cute… The server was very knowledgeable and personable. The clientele was very friendly as well. The owner lady took over at the end of the service and it did take a bit of work to catch her attention. I saw a lot of reviews complaining about the owner's attitude but I think she just cares more about her tea than getting money off of people. It can be a divisive factor for others, so I am mentioning it, but it wasn't so for me.
It's a no-fuss Chinese tea service: just straight up steepings, no food. The menu was almost overwhelming, which is the one thing I can really pick on about the place. Some people may enjoy the museum – like collection of teas but frankly, I would have preferred smaller, more distinct selection. It would be hard for beginners to get to enjoy this place.
Overall, it is a tad expensive but the experience can entertain you for many hours. Splitting a pot between. 3-4 people seems like the way to go, since it works down to about $5-10 per person, about an average amount you would spend at a cafe in the city. It's so unique and charming, though, so it was perfect for catching up with friends and hanging out for hours. I would visit again if I was in the city with tea – loving friends!
I truly love this place! I stumbled upon it one rainy day when I was trying to avoid the rain and I have been back many times since. The owner travels to China to get her teas directly from farmers who specialize in growing tea. Each time I have been here I sampled one to three teas depending upon how much time I had. All of our servers were very knowledgable about the teas we tried.
They have a few games available to play, we have played two games of chess. There are smalle tables in the front and the back of the place and bar seating in the middle.
There are also a bunch of clay animals on the chelves and you cna bring one to your table as a tea pet/drinking buddy. I chose a bird and eggs one time which you can see in one of my photos. This is strictly a tea room, there is no food served and there is no herbal nor flavored tea.
When I told several tea people in San Francisco that I was travelling to New York, they all asked me if I had visited Tea Drunk. I decided to check out this tea shop that has made a name for itself in a few short years.
The shop is in East Village with neo-traditional teahouse decor, stark white and bamboo, but there were a lot of cluttered boxes and dusty books by the tables in the rear. I was a little taken aback by the prices, but we ended up tasting an oolong flight for $59–one Dancong, one Wuyi and one Tieguanyin.
Zheng Chao Tieguanyin 正炒铁观音: A green Tieguanyin, solid flavour, slight buttery fragrance, the typical minerality.
Bai Ye 白叶: Floral, peachy fruity Dancong, but was brewed too light for me to detect any complexity.
Qi Dan 奇丹: Has the typical Da Hong Pao / Yancha flavour of bitter chocolate, mineral, dark fruity sweetness. Described on the menu as "Strong, sharp, flowery with bitterness." I read online that this is the same cultivar as Da Hong Pao but honestly tasted quite forgettable.
—- PROS —-
– Good selection of teas, lots of Wuyi and Dancong Oolongs I haven't heard of.
– Traditional "gongfu cha" tea experience with a tea tray, and we got to select a cute tea pet for our tray to feed tea rinses to.
—- CONS —-
– Not very friendly to first-timers. She seemed to expect me to know how it worked when we first walked in. We weren't even given menus / instructions until I went up to the counter to ask.
– Teas tasted just okay (she admitted she selected the average-grade teas for our flight), or maybe just weren't brewed properly. She rinsed all the teas, which could be fine, but then proceeded to steep it for too short a duration, and with a questionable technique. The gaiwans were very small, so in order to fill the pitcher, she steeped the leaves in the gaiwan for about 5 seconds three times consecutively and poured all three infusions into the same pitcher. I've never had any other tea master serve me tea this way. She repeated this for the second steeping (steeping for only 5 seconds), which was nowhere near long enough so the second infusion was far too light and tasteless.
– Prices are appallingly, inexcusably, absurdly more expensive than tea rooms in San Francisco. $60 for an unguided flight of 3 oolongs / $40 for 3 greens that are going to be brewed slipshod for you, or $25 – $40+ for a single pot of oolong tea. In San Francisco at Song Tea & Ceramics you pay $10 per person and at Red Blossom $15 per person for a guided tasting, and they have similar if not better grades of tea than Tea Drunk.
– Very little description and colour commentary of teas on the menu. Very little sourcing information. The customer can't see why one tea costs twice as much as another.
– No Taiwanese teas.
—- VERDICT —-
Sorry, but Tea Drunk is overrated. The day after I visited Tea Drunk, I found another tea room, Té Company in West Village. The prices there are far more reasonable, the tea seems equally good, but they only source teas from Taiwan. It would be awesome if NYC could have a more inclusive, all-encompassing teahouse to invite more drinkers into the blissful fold of tea culture. But for now, I'll stick to the West Coast for quality Chinese tea.
Cute, low-key spot for some traditional Chinese regional teas. They specifically serve Chinese teas, and it is a fairly good list. This is a great place for conversation. We easily spent about two hours here over a pot.
In terms of decor, very casual, homely and welcoming, almost like you are stepping into someone's house and preparing yourself for some homemade tea. The menu is vast in high-quality Chinese teas, and they provide a nice short description for each tea available. We chose a Green Tea, the Bi Luo Chun – East Mountain, Dong Ting (The First Pluck 2014) — Sharp, floral and fruity with notes of toasted rice. They come served in 'Pao' ($30/Pao for Bi Luo Chun), or a serving of tea. A pao of tea can yield more than ten steeps depending and can be shared with up to four people. Between the two of us, it lasted a good two hours, though you will note more bitterness towards the end of the serving. A server will come by to refill the pot with hot water as it reaches the end.
Tea Drunk provides a very calming, soothing atmosphere. If you are a fan of teas, regional Chinese specifically, you will additionally appreciate what Tea Drunk has to offer.
Although this place at first seemed hidden & low key, it was great to enjoy with a big group. The green tea and peach tea tasted enriching and authentic. Service was pretty good, but it can get quite stuffy.