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I’ve been drinking tea in New York since I was a little girl. When my grandparents first immigrated to New York City in the late ’80s from Kyiv, Ukraine, they brought all of their tea sets with them. Dozens of tiny cups with accompanying pots and sugar holders, all living within a glass vitrine alongside family portraits in their Brooklyn apartment. A set of pink ones, in particular—permanently tea-stained—came out every time I visited, alongside my grandmother’s freshly baked napoleon, strudel, or apple tart. When my sister and I were really small, my grandmother poured us tea into the saucers of those pink sets so it wasn’t too hot, and we drank it like tiny cats.

Later, my relationship with tea would deepen. First, when I undertook a doctorate program in naturopathic medicine, where I focused on herbal medicine and began using that very same teaware to brew things like pine needles, whole roses, and licorice root. Then, a few years ago, I started a New York-based tea company, Masha Tea, with the intention of sourcing organically grown teas. I wanted to create a sense that it’s not only cozy but also fun and a little sexy to drink tea—the kind of thing you would want to invite somebody in for after a night out. Since launching, Masha has been served at some of my favorite museums, hotels, and cafes across the country, and I’ve gotten to know some incredible farmers, shop owners, and tea lovers through this endeavor.

The writer in her studio.

Over the past few weeks, I visited some of my very favorite places to discover tea in the city—all with friends who love tea best. Along the way, it became more apparent to me than ever that the humble habit of a cup of tea can create the kind of quiet moment in this city that feels all too rare. Tea is an intimate luxury, a moment for oneself, and a simple way to feel good.

Here, find all of my favorite stops along my journey through the tea culture of New York City. 

To begin my foray into tea culture in New York City, I invited my friend Sydney Gore, digital design editor at Architectural Digest, to perhaps the longest-standing tea institution in New York: the iconic Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel, which celebrated its 100th birthday this year. Like me, Sydney spent her teen years in suburban New Jersey listening to emo music, has an out-of-control tea drawer, and loves getting dressed up for the right occasion—just the kind of person you want to take to tea at the Palm Court. The Plaza is the closest that we have in New York to British afternoon tea, but still feels distinctly American. (I recently started rewatching The Sopranos, and tea at the Plaza is even mentioned in the pilot episode!) Afternoon tea at the Plaza includes cookies with gold on them, black caviar, tiny sandwiches, enormous pots of earl grey, and an optional champagne pairing; after a few minutes, you’ll feel right at home.

Elliott Foos is a staple in the New York tea and coffee scene who has helped open countless New York gems. (My personal favorite was the now-shuttered Day Moves, the cafe outpost of James Murphy’s club Night Moves, and an offshoot of Michelin-starred Four Horsemen next door.) Also worth checking out? His Instagram dedicated to thoughtful musings on cafe design. 

It was Elliott who first introduced me to Colbo, a supremely cool clothing store and art space on Orchard Street in the Lower East Side. I stopped for a matcha latte and picked up some of the tea-dyed shirts they were selling before heading to Wu’s Wonton, where you can drink pots of tea while eating some of the best Chinese food in the city.

“In New York, there are no quiet places besides libraries,” says Elena Liao, who has been importing teas from her native Taiwan for years to create Te Company, her own sanctuary in the West Village, and a particular delight for oolong tea lovers. She herself says it best: “Tea is hidden in this city.” The shop, which has a dedicated following, sits on a quiet block and is popular as much for tea as for its pineapple Linzer cookies. I had one with my cup of “iron goddess archetype” oolong tea and brought a box home for my (very nerdy) Settlers of Catan game night. 

Also worth a mention? On the way to Te Company, I passed a storefront with teapots and mugs in the window. It turned out had, in fact, stumbled across the John Derian store, where I fell in love with a white french porcelain mug, a collaboration with Astier de Villatte. 

Another place to stop for excellent oolong is Hudson Wilder in Dumbo. Run by brother and sister duo Conway and Joyce Liao, Hudson Wilder is a homeware destination specializing in understated pieces. The collection ranges from jade tea cups to Danish egg holders, to mugs made in partnership with NASA. The teashop within another concept is a Brooklyn phenomenon that I really enjoy. 

If you’re looking for another Brooklyn teashop-hybrid, head to Dear Friend Books, a Bed Stuy bookstore organized by the seven chakras and featuring a thorough tea and kombucha menu. (Dear Friends Books is also next door to neighborhood staple Sincerely Tommy, which has a comprehensive tea menu run by the team at Daughters.) 

At Dear Friend, tea books can be found at the root chakra, “which is the seventh or first chakra depending on how you look at it.” Owner Anna Sergeeva explains the root chakra as “the foundation of thinking and being so the body, writing, cookbooks, design, architecture, and tea books [all fall into that category.]” During my visit, we drank Unified Ferments kombucha, and my friend left with a beautiful first edition of Stoner by John Williams. 

Archestratus, the cookbook store and cafe in Greenpoint—where you can often find me reading my New Yorker in the early afternoon—boasts a thorough tea section. Along with the classics like Okakura Kakuzo’s Book of Tea, I’ve picked up books like Nursery Tea and Poison, a detective novel based on tea, as well as tea-focused, poetry collections. Owner Paige Lipari, a staple in the food world, carries really cool cast iron kettles, hosts extremely fun dinners—and somehow always has the perfect playlist.

For a cup of tea and a design-related magazine, visit Head Hi near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The shop carries UK-based, Journal du The, an artistic look at global tea culture, when it’s in print. I recommend grabbing a magazine, drinking the Head Hi tea blend, and staying for the no-laptop policy, which creates a refreshing atmosphere for tea and conversation. 

For plant lovers, a little deeper in Brooklyn lies the new Crown Heights Garden Club, which invites you to come for the gardening supplies and stay for the tea. (A shovel stands front and center at the cafe counter in a space that was clearly designed by florists.) They also have a collection of botany, herb, and flower books to peruse during your stay. 

Sommelier Brian Kim and captain Donovan Ingram from Blue Hill at Stone Barns have recently begun blending, sourcing, and preparing locally grown grain teas, to which I was first introduced by my friend and neighbor, Andrew Luzmore, himself special projects manager at the Westchester restaurant. When visiting, the first tea I tried there was a chilled barley out of Zalto glasses. Barley, which Kim grew up drinking as tea with his Korean family, is both a cover crop and grown abundantly as a grain in the Northeast, making it a sustainable and smart choice for a local tea. The corn tea which followed was equally lovely, and made all the more so being served out of bone china cups made with waste bones from the Blue Hill kitchen. The takeaway here? If you’re dining at Stone Barn, ask for a cup of grain tea after your meal, as teas are not yet listed on the menu. 

I’m most excited for them to source a locally grown buckwheat. Buckwheat, called kasha in Russian, is a staple in my native Ukrainian cooking and the Tartary buckwheat variety is grown for tea and noodles in Japan, where it’s called soba. I’ve been looking, without any luck, for such a farm for years, and Ingram and Kim are making headway on commissioning a grower of Tartary buckwheat in the Northeast, with roasting help from Zach Mangan of Kettl.

So then, to Kettl, a New York favorite with locations in Greenpoint and the Bowery, and that carries the widest selection of Japanese teas in the city (including soba). The Japanese tea shop is beautiful, filled with ceramics, and also offers a window to-go service; Kettl will also open its first location in Los Angeles next year. I stopped by the Greenpoint space with my acupuncturist—a long-time Kettl devotee—and shared a matcha cake with a cup of bug-bitten black tea. We walked to Transmitter Park down the street afterwards and were stopped in our tracks by a giant praying mantis—coincidence? For Japanese tea enthusiasts, while the New York outpost of Kyoto-based Ippodo is currently closed, the Urasenke Tea Ceremony Society on the Upper East Side offers classes in traditional tea ceremonies in a serene environment.

My go-to place in town for aged Chinese tea is Floating Mountain Tea House on the Upper West Side, which I was first told about by jeweler and fellow tea lover Laura Lombardi. I love to drink pu’erh, a regional-aged tea, but I don’t usually have it at home, making the trip to Floating Mountain worth it many times over. I shared a pot of 2003 Golden Needle White Lotus with the owner, Lina Medvedeva, who noted that growing up in her native Siberia, most people drank simple black teas even though pu’erh was also available. (Indeed, most of Floating Mountain’s pu’erh menu comes from just three tea farms.) Reserve a seat by the window in this small, light-filled shop on the second floor of a residential building, and leave your shoes at the door.

Anybody who loves herbs must visit Flower Power, a store that has been in the East Village for almost 30 years. Walking in, you’re greeted with enormous jars of leaves, roots, and flowers in floor-to-ceiling shelving along with an unparalleled herbal library. I stopped by with my sister Lauren Geyman, a naturopathic doctor herself, who bought herself some comfrey leaves to make a soak.

“As decorative arts curator, more than half of what you work with is serving vessels,” explains Yao-Fen You. Before her current role as decorative arts curator at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, she wrote a book about tea and coffee history; while visiting with You, I was lucky enough to see a disassembled silver 18th-century tea urn in the shape of Atlas holding up the earth. Parts of the collection are regularly rotated on display as part of the museum’s exhibitions, but for those who want a piece of living tea history to take home, the gift shop sells several coveted Alessi kettles, including the Aldo Rossi, Michael Graves, and Richard Sapper. 

When friends come from out of town, I always recommend the Ace Hotel in Brooklyn, where room service of pancakes and black tea is the ultimate way to start the day. I should note that the Ace also masters the cool and still professional work-from-lobby vibe—I’ve admittedly taken a few business meetings over tea there. I also had a little staycation there last week with my husband and baby, where we indulged in three desserts with a cup of tea at “As You Are,” the restaurant downstairs. 

It’s evening and I’ve just shared a pot of holy basil tea followed by a pot of hojicha tea with a friend at home. My cozy apartment rivals only the Masha Tea studio as my favorite place to drink tea in New York. I use a Smeg kettle—red at the studio and black at home—to boil water, and always filter water through a Berkey filter, keeping in mind that the quality of water makes a major difference in tea flavor. Lately, I’ve been drinking from a vintage Japanese teacup that I got at an outdoor market in Paris a few months back. Tea is the simplest luxury—and how lucky are we to access the finest teas in the world, and share in the intimacy of tea, in one of the world’s great tea cities. 

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