A must in Bangkok: Wa Peace - Oriental Tea House

Par Valentin Van Nhut

Peace Oriental Teahouse in Bangkok

During my travels and adventures, I always search for a matcha bar or matcha tea room that serves premium matcha, authentic matcha.

I find many places, but they are often coffee houses with only one matcha tea SKU, just to serve a trendy green soup.

I also sometimes find places that are created by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. Of all the places I have visited, it was in Bangkok that I found "Peace - Oriental Tea House," certainly the number one place for tea tasting that I have ever had the opportunity to visit.

Enter the world of Peace Oriental Teahouse

When I visited the place, as soon as I entered, the first thing that struck me was the simplicity and incredible design of the space. I feel that Peace Oriental Teahouse was designed with the desire to combine minimalism and beauty in a single space. The materials chosen are exceptional, clearly a place where you want to stay for hours without getting tired. It gave me a lot of inspiration.

I was welcomed by the owner and designer of the place: his name is Tee.

Valentin and Tee

He tells me his story, how he began a long apprenticeship in monastic life and meditation with the aim of becoming a monk. Several hours a day devoted to the quest for his inner life, and the physical suffering to overcome. Too extreme for him, Tee decides to devote himself to a completely different project: opening his own tea house.

Peace - Oriental Tea House

From a young age, he was very accustomed to bitter teas because in his family of Chinese descent, tea was drunk brewed throughout the day, making it very strong and bitter. He has brought together SKUs of the highest quality at his Peace Oriental Teahouse to offer only the best.

Each member of staff is also trained in the tea ceremony, from choosing accessories to the precise gestures required to make the tasting experience incredible. It is the ultimate achievement to be able to offer unparalleled tea quality and a tea service to match. My only regret is that the teas are not certified organic.

Tea ceremony

The details extend to the type of water used. For example, the water used for matcha tea comes from a source in northern Thailand and is stored in a bottle that also contains a piece of activated charcoal. The charcoal absorbs toxins that can alter the taste of the water and, therefore, the tea.

We shared some matcha tea and Thai pastries. An unexpected and very refreshing fusion of two cultures. He offered me three different matcha teas:

- Purist Matcha

- Idealist Matcha

- Perfectionist Matcha

I chose the most refined and sophisticated matcha tea from the selection: Perfectionnist Matcha.

Matcha Perfectionnist - Peace Oriental Tea House

Tee prepared a "koicha" style matcha tea in front of me, which is very strong and creamy. It was a real delight.

As I sipped my Perfectionist Matcha, Tee told me about the rigorous preparation he imposes on himself, summed up in three words: "there is no shortcut." First, you have to bring the water to a boil and then wait for it to cool to about 70°C before serving the matcha tea. There is a difference between turning off the water before it boils and letting it cool after boiling, and Tee insists on this point: he wants perfection, there are no shortcuts when it comes to quality, and he proves it by mastering every aspect of matcha tea preparation. This lesson changed the way I prepare my matcha tea: I let my water cool for 4 to 5 minutes after boiling so that it reaches the right temperature.

After this tasting, Tee offered to show me part of his selection of loose leaf teas. The family of one of the waitresses owns a plot of tea bushes (Camelia Sinensis) in Burma, the oldest of which have grown into trees that are over 1,000 years old! The tea is harvested by women who climb the branches of the tree to pick it by hand.

Hand-picked tea

The leaves of these thousand-year-old trees were golden yellow in colour, similar to Oolong tea. The aroma released during preparation was so intense and unique that I immediately thought of a bottle of perfume. To avoid altering the taste, it was infused in distilled water, without minerals that alter the flavour of the tea, allowing the full essence of the tea to be captured on the palate. As Tee said, "minerals form a cloud over the flavour of the tea," so we use distilled water for our grand cru teas.

I later learned that this tea was not on the bar's menu... So don't hesitate to ask to view the secrets of this tea house, which has more than one exceptional tea.

Building on its success, Tee has opened a second branch of Peace Oriental Teahouse.

Here are the two branches:

In addition to beverages, there is an incredible matcha tea ice cream. A crazy creation that combines very high-quality matcha tea and... charcoal. Indeed, a large quantity of matcha is necessary to balance the flavours of the ice cream. A large quantity of matcha tea also provides a large quantity of caffeine, and the layer of charcoal absorbs this caffeine so as not to overwhelm the body.

Matcha and Charcoal Ice Cream

Final word:

I was really touched by this place that Tee created; he put his whole heart and energy into it. I highly recommend that all members of the Kumiko Matcha community visit Mr. Tee at Peace Oriental Teahouse in Bangkok.

I wanted to meet Mr. Tee to talk with him and learn from him. This item is a way of thanking him for all he has taught me and for the time he has given me.

Thank you very much to Tee and her entire team at Peace Oriental Tea House.

Come visit them and discover now the world of Peace Oriental: