Coffee or tea? If your answer to this question is almost always “tea”, then it probably doesn’t matter if it’s winter or summer, morning or evening, you just love a mugful of herbal infusions at all times; strong in the morning, lighter in the afternoon, caffeine-free for the evening, and a cold decoction as refreshment. Tea is healthy, energizing, and heartwarming, but drinking tea is also a lifestyle; whether you follow Far Eastern, British, or Russian traditions, teatime’s associated rituals are all soothing for the soul. Here are four of Budapest’s most temptingly tranquil tea salons.
Flying Bird Tea House is most likely the only calm hangout on Kazinczy Street. Stepping inside, we find ourselves in an enchanted world, where instead of rules and systems our first thought is freedom. This teahouse is a hippie haven where organized chaos rules, and where we can talk about tea for hours. We can share our tea preferences downstairs at the counter, and they gladly recommend something to out liking from their Chinese and Taiwanese selection. At the gallery upstairs we find traditional Chinese tea tables with pots of high-quality filtered water. It is truly exciting to experience how each decoction brings out different flavors. They always update their (Hungarian) website to display their current selection, and they regularly host workshops and courses. Two turtles also live at Flying Bird, and don’t be alarmed if you see them rolling down the wooden stairs; it’s just their way of descending.
This cool teahouse on Lánchíd Street offers the aromatic and beautiful leaves of ancient tea trees that we can taste on the spot, or take home for later; furthermore, certain Budapest hangouts now even have Zhao Zhou teas on their menu. We can find a truly wide assortment of pure teas here, which as we have already mentioned above, are made of the pressed and aged leaves of wild tea trees instead of teas from plantations. The teahouse is modern and stylish, while the selection is ancient and wise – the contrast makes this business somewhat unique. The canisters of teas available for purchase are lined up on the shelves like luxurious creams, and here they happily tell visitors more about the selected sort of tea. Something else we can't help commenting on is the picturesque panorama to the Chain Bridge here. At Zhao Zhou, East meets West in perfect balance.
