Far Leaves Tea

Berkeley wouldn’t be the same without this lovely tea house. Many walk by without knowing about this gem. Quiet, peaceful, kind folks (both staff and customers), and quality tea. And now they serve savory porridge on Saturday mornings!! It is so, so delicious and comforting. The perfect breakfast. And if you bring your own bowl you get free tea!

Best porridge in town! The chef makes the chili oil from scratch 🔥. Sad they are only serving it on Saturdays from 10am-1pm! Get it while it lasts.

Such a calm place! Feels like a inside zen garden. The lady running the store was super friendly and made sure to check few times that our large group orders were correct. Got the blood orange tea and mochi. Both were really good! Great way to relax or just chat with fiends. Berkeley surprises me with how many cool places there are!

It's so nice and lovely. It's one of the few if not only places I've felt super comfortable just being. The guy that sat next to me felt the same way I'm sure; because he farted without so much as an excuse me. And I only say that because it happened but I'll be honest It's the most blah I've been about a fart in my whole life. I'm not even mature about farting in private. This place is amazing. Wonderful selection of teas. From all over. They even have teas ranging from high caffeine to none. Also they don't frown upon you eating the tea. I ate the tea 😎.

Absolutely delightful! Jessie made our visit incredibly special with her care and deep knowledge of the teas. You can tell she is genuinely passionate about tea and was also patient with us as newbies, providing easy to understand instructions and recommendations for steeping our tea. Thanks for making our visit so special!

such a big fan! my friend recommended this place highly and lived up to the mark :) the interior was sooooo tranquil and loved the emphasis on dark wood and low lighting with the abundance of hanging paper lamps. the menu was expansive, with a wide variety of whites, oolongs, greens, blacks, herbal, and house blend teas with a decent description for them all and notes for how caffeinated each type was! pots range from 7-11 dollars, but each table has its own kettle, so it's basically unlimited tea for a nice easy afternoon. i got the dong ding oolong (toasty, more bitter notes that left a super nice aftertaste on my tongue) and peony white tea (light bright and surprisingly vibrant!) and had the most lovely afternoon coloring and chatting with a friend on the floor mats. the servers also gave great tips on how to steep the tea and loved how the tea kettle had a thermometer in it!! such a special spot and will be frequenting as much as possible as kind of my dream set up :)

Second time here for dine in. Ive gotten tea to go many times. This place is always so spot on, calming, and generally agreeable. Love the little snacks. When you drink a few lil pots of tea you get jazzed up

Can’t believe this place is still around after all these years. Last visited this place around 2010 and have been wanting to go back for years. Tea canisters are reasonably priced, pots of tea run about $8-12.

Already the second time buying tea here! The quality is just more than paramount! The lady at the store is so kind and introduced different types of tea to me with so much patience and passion :). I cannot believe this store only has 90 Google reviews and guys let’s help spread some good words!

A simple pure Chrysanthemum tea really made my morning! Thank you😊 ! If anyone live nearby and wonder whether you should check it out, please do! I’m definitely coming back for more tea 🍵

Lots of variety, no hurry at all. I liked the mindfulness activities in its menu too, id go again 🍵 we also got some snacks woch worked well w the tea

Lovely quiet tea house (with wifi!) that has an assortment of seating - a no shoes zone on an elevatrd platform bamboo matt with cushions, rock garden, comfy couches, and tables. Staff is kind. 2 hour limit on weekends for at least some of the seating areas.

A special hidden spot on San Pablo. Looks closed from the outside, even when open! Lots of outlets, tatami mat options, and calm vibes inside. A great spot to catch up with friends, study, or to get lost in a book. Staff is always very welcoming, regardless of your familiarity with tea.

Sometimes their heating isn’t the best, so I’d recommend bringing a warm coat on cooler days.

Huge shout out to Far Leaves who made my day during our visit to Oakland! It's was so lovely to go to a sit-down tea house where you have a kettle at your table, a wide variety of quality, directly sourced teas to choose from, and delicious treats to pair with it! We ended up getting a perfectly sweet white tip oolong for our tea, ochazuke (with genmaicha), and two steam buns (pork and burdock). Everything from the atmosphere to the service was incredible and I wish I lived nearby so I could visit all the time! Super excited to try out the locally inspired blends and puer tuo I brought home as well!

Hands down one of the best selections for world class teas sourced by the owner and provided in an amazing atmosphere. Having been to at least 50 tea houses around the US, I can say I make a special trip in the Bay Area just to visit. The staff (Brad) is great in recommending something I'll love and just generally being super chill.

If you want a better coffee shop vibe with a better drink, you can't be disappointed!

Jesse went way out of her way to give us a catered and unique tea experience! The atmosphere is warm and welcoming and an outstanding place to catch up with a friend and really dive into tea. Cannot WAIT to come back here again, it's top of my list :-)

The tea here cost about $7.50 on average, but wait! This place has the best environment in all of tea places I been to in Bay Area. The tea quality is also 7/10. Right when u walk in, your brain will feel numb like the same feeling u get when u go to a Japanese tea garden. Strongly recommend if u want to regain ur focus.

This place is such a treasure of a tea shop! All the elements combine to make it a consistently lovely experience. Quality, welcoming ambiance, outstanding selection of tea, delicious snack accompaniments, and smoothing background music, except that day they where playing speed metal. 😮😝😌

Calm and spacious. I love sitting here with a pot of pu erh. They have a great selection, and everyone I have talked to here has a good knowledge of their teas. Today I ordered the Ochazuke, and it was exactly what I craved. They use a fancier tea than I would use (sencha/ matcha rather than genmaicha), so the flavor of the tea was more pronounced than usual. I loved that they later offered pickled plum. A perfect spot for a rainy day.

Really lovely tea and hangout spot. The aesthetics of the place, the warmth and passion of the owner/server, and the quality of the tea selection reflects lots of love

A really wonderful place to come enjoy a nice cup of tea. They have a tremendous selection of teas from all over the world. The staff is very knowledgeable as well.

There's also never any rush so you can get every last ounce of flavor from your tea and just sit back and relax. I do wish they would bring back the buns though!