Profile: Tea’Space, Saigon

Vietnam has, understandably, stronger associations with coffee than tea. The country exports more coffee than any other country, except Brazil, and cà phê sữa đá (iced milk coffee) is available everywhere, from street corner vendors to 5-star hotels. However, not everyone (myself included) drinks coffee.

I was, therefore, delighted to stumble on the newly opened Tea’Space, located off a busy District 1 thoroughfare down an alley and up a steep flight of stairs to a 2nd-floor oasis of peace and serenity.

They offer an impressive variety of quality teas, served in tall-stemmed glasses, with a complimentary chilled Vietnamese-grown tea (from the Northern Highlands) to start.

My cold-brew Melon Oolong/Dragon’s Tail White Tea was a delicate floral beverage. Our daughter’s cold-brew Long Jiang tea with fresh longan fruit (similar to lychee) was a sweeter “mocktail”.

A growing number of kombucha brands specialize in unflavored (OG) ‘booch for clients who enjoy the finer things in life. Quality tea produces quality kombucha. Vietnam’s thriving kombucha scene can only benefit from the availability of gourmet teas.

Location

We visited the Tea’Space in District 1 (200 Lê Thánh Tôn, Phường Bến Thành, Quận 1). There is a second cafe in Bình Thạnh to the north (Villa 3, Đường D5/92 Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, Saigon Pearl, Bình Thạnh)