West China Tea House — Restaurant in Austin

Great place. However, don't expect to get English tea time. There are no biscuits with clotted cream or Tim Tams or whatever. It is primarily a Chinese teahouse that focuses solely on being that. So, no other foods to go along with the tea be will served. And that was actually what I was hoping find! (And, I was very surprised to find some quality tea to be honest.)

Closest thing to this that I've been to in the US was Dobra Tea in Northampton, Massachusetts (putting aside a real Chinese teahouse in Toronto's chinatown area). However, Dobra Tea also sells food & other tisanes. I don't know of anything like West China Tea in Texas. There's a place in Dallas (The Cultured Cup), which sells some traditional tea, but it's mostly a buy-to-bring-home type of place – you can't actually sit down and drink a couple pots of tea. (And, the Cultured Cup folks also don't seem to know as much about tea compared to West China Tea.)

As you can guess from the name, the focus is on China. I don't think he has any tea produced in Taiwan or Japan or India.

So, West China Tea is a very welcome addition to the Texas landscape. Being in Austin with its college student population is probably helping this place to stay in business. Americans just aren't so into tea unfortunately. However, the owner seems to have a goal of educating the public. If he can foster a tea culture, that would be great. Not everyone may appreciate the educational part of this place though? Not sure. Anyway, he seems to offer tea classes or tea sampling groups.

Besides tea, you can buy tea cups, teapots (including traditional yixing clay ones), tea sets (cups+pot+tray), chahais (little decanter-ish containers for pouring directly into your cup), puer tea picks, and tea 'pets' (these are little clay sculptures that you can pour water over for fun, it's a weird idea...).

I brought my mother to try some tea there for my first visit. Personally, I think places like this kinda tend to skimp on the tea served on location. (That was also true of Dobra Tea in Northampton, Massachusetts.) But, you could always get two orders of tea for the same pot. Anyway, we tried some traditionally roasted oolong that I had never heard of. (It wasn't one of the famous ones, possibly the tea was renamed by the shop? I don't know.) It was good. I also bought a small 1oz bag of green tea and another of shuixian. The shuixian was particularly good. At this time, he only had these small 1oz bags for sale and said that there wasn't really any discount for buying larger quantities.

At a later time, I went just to buy some tea to take home. By now, he had changed the name of this shop to what it is now (West China Tea). And, thankfully, he had larger sized bags. (At least 100 grams is best for me.) He had mentioned when I went the first time that he had an aged dahongpao (fairly expensive). So, I got some of this, some tieguanyin with a very dark roast (like they prefer in Hong Kong), and a old bush shuixian. These were also good teas. The tieguanyin may be a bit dark for some people, but it's nice. (I think this one is best steeped the gongfu way.) Both this shuixian and the dahongpao have a little storage taste, which may not suit all tastes, but it is only slight. Liked both. All good buys.

He seems to have a good bit of puer, which is not really my kind of tea (it's overpriced all over the world & usually not aged enough). I haven't sampled enough of his greens to be able to say much. (He didn't write the harvest year on the bag I bought but assured me it was from that current year.) But, since his oolong selection has been good so far, I would expect his green selection to be high quality. He also has black tea, but I'm not much of a drinker of that really.

I hope this place remains here as long as I live in Texas. If I lived in Austin, I would probably end up buying every one of his oolongs. He has a website, too (although it's down today for some reason, so I decided to write a review instead of looking at the...

West China Tea gets a 5-star review from me due to the amazing customer service coupled with surprisingly high quality Phoenix oolongs.

I emailed WCT on a weekend just before Thanksgiving, and received a response from Nate a few hours later. This was a good sign - I had an unusual request, and he got back to me quickly. Clearly, West China Tea cares about their customers, and Nate is a cool dude. I enjoyed chatting with him.

I'm a little bit of a snob (the snobbery is actually gargantuan and completely unbridled) when it comes to Phoenix oolongs, and my experiences in the past with US-based tea shops are that they are really hit-or-miss. A lot of times, the price you pay for their Phoenix oolongs is not a reflection of the quality of those oolongs, but more a reflection of the cost of doing business here in the US, plus some price gouging because most vendors are selling into a market that largely cannot discern authentic quality from the cheap, middle-of-the-road, generic Phoenix oolongs.

Other vendors might sell you garbage and tell you it's gold, but West China Tea has legit Phoenix oolong. I was pleasantly surprised by all of them. If I had to be critical, I'd say the prices are higher than the same quality would fetch in mainland China, but ultimately they are still priced competitively being here in the USA. That, plus the customer service, makes them a worthwhile option to explore for folks who are curious but on the fence. Let me push you to the right side of that fence. The Phoenix oolongs carried by West China Tea are worth trying.

Check out the Wulong Oolong if it's available. Authentic wulong genetics are hard to find in a Western-facing market, and although WCT's is a bit pricey overall, it's a good option if you're looking for something that elevates your understanding of what Phoenix oolongs can be. Even more so if you're a fan of high-mountain Taiwanese oolongs and want to experience some connective tissue between the two regions. There is deep underlying history and significance captured in those leaves, which are processed very well from start to finish, just like the rest of their Phoenix oolongs are.

Anyways, I can't speak for the rest of their teas, but I'll definitely be back for more Phoenix oolongs during the holidays.

Thanks Nate & WCT team for all...

Very lovely place, tea and vibe. Keep looking you'll find something you missed. This is a wonderful place for both the introvertand extroverted. Enjoy a tea pot for yourself tucked away in a private space or right in front with everyone at the table.

Met with locals near and far, interesting conversations, with a lesson in tea. Their product investment and high quality attention to detail to both space and aged tea cake collection.

I was here on a such a short trip I wish to have stayed longer or even go back a few times.

They have inspired me to look on my side of the world for a tea house. Though they hold a highest regard in the tea for me. I purchased their new year tea pu'er tangerines. Enjoying one now as I write this and reminisce the experience at home.

Thank you and may we meet again West China Tea House.

My suggestions to your establishment, 1 if you plan on extending the plants from the cashier wall I suggest you start to clear pin or bead your plants for a beautiful aesthetic. 2 to display further product for sale find or create a indented platform. When presenting to new guests your product doesn't roll off or displace from the original position.

Any further feedback...