For most of my life I have been horribly manhandling one of the most important non-alcoholic beverages in my life: Tea. Tea has been enjoyed for centuries but I was wholly ignorant of the strict and very important brewing ritual that is traditional in the cultures from whence it originated. When I make tea at home:
I boil water, put a tea bag in a mug, pour the boiled water in the mug, forget about it, remember it, then drink it, usually cold or lukewarm. After visiting Wistaria Tea House, I found out that my careless tea habit is blasphemy. If the owners of Wistaria Tea House in Taipei, Taiwan witnessed my tea habits they would probably put the tea in my cupboard into protective custody.
Directions:
Wistaria Tea House is located in the Da’an Distict in Taipei, Taiwan. Go to Da’an Park Station and find Xinsheng South Road;
No. 1, Lane 16, Section 3, Xinsheng South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, 106.
It is not hard to find. It is an older-style Japanese house with an entrance covered in wisteria vines, hence the name.
When you walk into the Wistaria Tea House you are met with the aroma of history. It used to be the house of the Governor-General when Taiwan was under Japanese rule before World War II; you cannot smell him, thankfully. Or maybe he smelled like tea? The tables and floors are all made of unfinished hardwood and over the years spilled tea has seeped into the wood giving it an aroma that a Glade Plug In cannot, no matter how hard it may try, replicate. This place is old school. There is no Wi-Fi and the main room is peaceful and quiet. In the back rooms tatami mats and Japanese style tables allow you to recline shoe less like a roman tribune and drink your high mountain oolong while snacking on dates. The variety of the teas is amazing and most are grown in Taiwan, which is famous for their high mountain teas. Ordering tea is easy, and if you go to Taipei restaurants frequently, you will do just fine. When the tea is brought to your table it is not just poured for you, you are witness to an elaborate ceremony. There are countless little cups and bowls and your tea-waitress will help you out with the finer details of this ceremony. You full up a bowl, empty it, full it back up, smack it, pour in the tea, encourage it, ect.
Once you have the basics you will be left with a glass kettle and your tea. While you sit, talk quietly and let the tea work it’s magic. The main tearoom is beautifully different and the atmosphere at Wistaria must be like the traditional experiences that probably were prominent before the present Starbucks era. I will have you know, this is a great place to take a lady or gentleman on a date. The tea and the atmosphere of Wistaria loosens the lips and encourages good conversation more than a crowded and noisy bar with a good selection of IPA’s. In a nutshell, I would say the Wistaria Tea House is romantic.
Romantic in the sense that the atmosphere harkens back to a time when this method of tea consumption was commonplace and customary;
when people could comfortably sit and talk quietly.
Wistaria Tea House is romantic of tradition, romance, and tiny priceless porcelain cups.
Romantic of a time when there was no wi-fi.
Read a book there.
