Your Guide to Tea in DC

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I love tea.

Have I mentioned that before? My mom is probably cracking up as she reads this (or doing this) because growing up, I refused to drink tea. Why? I don’t remember, I just refused to drink it. But now, I love it. I love starting my day with a warm cup of tea and ending it with sleepy time tea.

It’s been great because I actually don’t drink coffee (gasp). Which means that before I drank tea, I didn’t really have anything to order when someone wanted to go get coffee (I know, what a problem). I also felt a little ridiculous going to work for hours in coffee shops. One can only drink so much hot chocolate!

Anyways, back to the main point. My love of tea has also slowly turned into me wanting to find new places to go for tea in DC. I’m not thinking high tea (though that does sound like fun). Just a place to get a good cup of tea. Typically it’s been a place known for their coffee that ends up having delicious tea. But every once in a while it’ll be a place whose primary business is tea.

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Everlane Sweater / American Eagle Outfitters Jeans / Blondo Boots / BP Necklace

My list has slowly started to build, so I thought I would share it with you as it continues to grow. I’m sure there will be at least a part two, if not a three and maybe four to this series.

Here’s where I’ve tried so far:

1. La Colombe

   Okay, they clearly deserve the first shout out because (a) they let us use their shop to shoot in and didn’t give us weird looks and (b) I could not stop smelling this tea during the entire shoot (yes, there was actually tea in there). I’m pretty sure it was the Golden Turmeric Organic Herbal Tisane. There are a handful of locations all over DC, so there’s no reason to not visit one of their shops.

2. Baked and Wired

   Confession: I had never gone to the drinks side of Baked and Wired until one month ago. I was always so distracted by the cupcakes that who had time for drinks? Well, about a month ago I had an hour to kill in Georgetown and it was cold, so a warm drink was all I wanted. So I finally ventured to the drinks side of Baked and Wired. Their barista was so helpful with helping me pick out with tea to get and even let me try a few. They also had the most delicious drink, a chai-der. A chai tea brewed in cider. It was amazing. I’ve made it at home a few times since and it’s a game changer.

3. Peregrine Espresso – Union Market

   Peregrine and I go way back. About 4 and a half years back. When I first moved to DC, I had a mini ritual on Sunday mornings of going to Union Market, getting a black citrus ice tea and muffin from Peregrine and reading outside for about an hour or two. Of course this was before Union Market became overridden with people and I began working at Pure Barre. But it was such a peaceful way to spend my mornings, I loved it. Now whenever I go to Union Market, it’s always where I go to get my drink, no matter where I’m getting my meal from.

4. Capital Teas

   I can’t talk about teas without talking about Capital Teas! It’s not a cafe, it’s an actual tea shop. They sell an amazing variety of tea and I’ve tried a number of delicious combinations. You can also go into to buy a single cup of tea. They have a shop in Eastern Market and one in Dupont.

5. Teaism

   You also can’t ignore Teaism. Teaism is an asian inspired tea house and restaurant. You can go in for a cup of tea, something to go, a sit down meal, or even high tea! I’ve actually done all of the above. The food is as delicious as their teas, in case you were wondering.

6. Wydown

   The Wydown is actually a new to me location and I believe they’re also new to their location as well. The Wydown is a coffee shop by day, wine bar by night shop on H Street. They also have a location on 14th Street that’s just a coffee bar, apparently. I only had a chai tea while I was there, but I did get a chocolate and raspberry scone on Heather’s suggestion and it was amazing. I’m excited to go back there and try more on their teas later on.

Do you have any suggestions of where I should head next? Are there any places you love to visit in your city? Also, if someone wants to fly me out to London and send me to Sketch, that would be amazing.

Photography by Kimberly Graydon