A tranquil place for tea lovers

Le Cong Sieu opened the tea house three years ago to promote a good tradition of his family.

“I have enjoyed tea drinking since I was five. My grandfather was a mandarin under the Nguyen regime in Hue and loved sipping tea in the early morning. When I was a little boy, I usually got up early and drank tea with him and then fell in love with tea making and drinking,” Sieu said.

The shop offers guests more than 25 types of tea either produced in Vietnam or imported. On the menu are different types of herbal tea that can help guests with detoxification and heat reduction in their body.

The 50-year-old owner Sieu also sells special tea products that are made from leaves, flowers and herbs by the secrets of his family. They tea products have their own distinctive tastes.

Sieu said making good tea products is not simple as this requires people to be patient, skillful and knowledgeable about tea.

“Besides the secrets of making tea it learned from my grandfather, I advanced my tea making skills from a chief monk of Thien Mu Pagoda who has been known by many people in Hue for his outstanding skills of making tea,” Sieu said.

Sieu said different types of tea are made in different ways. At his shop, tea and some Chinese herbs are usually soaked in boiled water in a porcelain bowl covered with a lid for a few minutes. Then, tea is poured into cups and served either with a cake or dried lotus seeds.

Apart from tea, the house also features various statues of the Bodhidharma and a collection of ceramic teapots.

Le Cong Sieu, the owner of Bodhidharma tea shop, shows steps of making tea

A closeup of tea taken from a lotus

A bowl of herbal tea made from the traditional recipe of Sieu’s family – Photos: An Huy