Location and Vibe:
Located in Chinatown of Los Angeles California, Steep LA is the perfect place for a quick pot of tea or a night out. Whether you need a study break, catching up with a friend, or want a great bar to go to for a night out in Chinatown Steep LA is a modern take on an Asian historical tradition. After speaking with Lynda Lee, the Co-Owner of Steep LA, she explains how their inspiration behind the Teahouse was to allow space for a more digestive take on their traditional style of tea. The location of Steep LA is wonderful for walking around and taking a look at the various other vendors and stores within Chinatown. I spent hours walking around talking to different people and shopping at local stores. There were also so many bakeries along the street and my friend Mia and I had to stop at one after our experience at Steep. When I walked in I began to prepare for the tea ceremony as there was an array of dry loose herbs of the tea you could choose from beautifully placed in a bell jar behind you for you to smell and choose your liking.
Tea: I love how at Steep LA you are allowed to choose your own tea cup, it makes the experience ten times more personal. We chose the Classic Green Tea and the Pu-erh Tea. The tea was paired with a silky smooth light egg tart alongside in-house dried mangos and figs. The combination of the sweet and the savory was a beautiful introduction to both the green Longjing tea and the Pu-erh green tangerine tea. The classic green tea was very earthy and had a vegetable-wet taste, the very first sip was packed with a grounded masculine aroma. The Pu-erh Tea was very woodsy bringing your tastebuds straight in the heart of a cozy forest. The interesting thing about taste is not only is it subjective but it is connection, every memory I have in my life I can connect to a feeling that is associated with perhaps a certain smell or a certain feeling. Steep LA allows you to explore those memories you forgot you had through taste while creating new ones.
During the tea ceremony:
We sat down for a beautiful demonstration of the modern take on the traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Our instructor walked us through the importance of timing when it comes to tea, depending on the type of tea each herb contains a different limit on longevity and when its potency is at its highest, so the steeping times are different and if you prepare a second pot of tea the timing must be exactly 20 seconds shorter, to not overheat the herbs. Each kettle was set at a specific temperature to ensure the best quality of our tea, and the instructor demonstrated that he also must warm up the teacups with the same tempered plain water before the tea is even introduced to the teacups which I found fascinating.
In Conversation with Co-Founder of Steep LA Lydia Lin :
I stole a moment from Lydia Lin to discuss her journey opening up the shop in Chinatown and her story was extremely inspirational. ‘We wanted to create a space where people from all backgrounds can be introduced to the traditional style of the Chinese Tea Ceremony in a digestive and modern take’ said Lydia Lin “Our space is dedicated to the Chinese Tea Ceremony, also known as Kung Fu Tea (or Gong Fu Cha). We serve a very curated collection of loose-leaf tea in 4 major tea categories – Black, Green, Oolong, and Pu-erh. It’s a slow way of life and usually would take at least 1 hour to fully experience.”( Voyage LA)
Overall Experience: ⅘ I would love to try the happy hour next time I’m back! 🙂
Pricing:
Tea Ceremony – $20-40, includes a set of dried fruits and pastries along with the tea
Beverage Teas – $4-5, freshly brewed or cold brewed in-house
Food – $10-14 for bowls, $3-9 for small bites
Contact Info:
Address: 970 N Broadway Ste 112
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: www.steepla.com
Phone: 2133945045
Email: hello@steepla.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/steep_la
Facebook: www.facebook.com/steepla
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/steep-los-angeles-2
Courtesy of Voyage LA
Chinatown LA
