Tea Habitat

This review is a long time coming! I came here 3 times between Oct 2022 and April 2023, bringing friends (some new and some repeats) for tea tastings. You can try 5 teas per tasting with 5 steepings per tea (for time's sake and not because of flavor dissipation). There is such a wide and ever-changing selection of teas so there's always more to try than you could possibly ever drink!

Tea habitat specializes in Chinese teas, but since that's already a lot of area to cover, you'll find something for everyone's tastes. The owner is hilarious, and we all enjoyed interacting not only with the tea and each other, but also with her. We definitely leave tea drunk :)

I usually put some tasting notes for the teas in my reviews, but notes for 15 teas is a bit excessive so I'll just share a couple of my favorites.

The 2022 Tai Ping Hou Kui Wild Grown 1st pick is almost matcha-like, velvety soft with a slight nuttiness. The flavor mellows over the steepings into a clean mouthfeel with subtle floral bouquet.

The 2022 Xiao Ye Tu Cha Wild Native (white) Varietal Small Leaf was super interesting! It started with a sweet aroma and reminded me inexplicably of soy milk (a mix of slight creaminess and nuttiness, maybe), but with juicy mouth feel. The creamy berry sweetness really predominates in the second steeping, and there is a subtle almost umami tendency in the third steeping.

I also bought a Chao Zhou red clay teapot to brew Phoenix Dan Cong teas at home!

To buy to bring home, the prices of the tea leaves really range, with (of course) the really high quality teas being pricier (but oh are they good!). This is not my go-to place to stock up tea for every day drinking (can't quite afford that and some personal preferences), but it's a great treat for tea lovers to be able to access and experiment with a variety of Chinese teas. Definitely a fun experience, especially with friends!

Thank you for a truly memorable experience! I have had the fortune to do tea tastings in many countries across three continents and I can say that Imen offered the best experience by far. The breadth of the menu is matched by the breadth of Imen’s knowledge, and getting to sit with an expert as we drank multiple cups of fine Chinese tea was a priceless experience indeed. Not only would I highly recommend a tasting but, given my experience, I would not hesitate to order anything from her online store that caught my fancy.

Thank you Imen, my visit at Tea Habitat was wonderful and I am happy to return soon and try more tea again. Everyone should come here at least once to try her variety of amazing teas and look at the beautiful teaware she supplies. I promise you will want to come again, Imen is such a genuine person and you can’t help but fall in love with this place

We LOVED tasting with Imen a few months ago! She taught us so much about teas and how to drink them properly -- she also offered great conversation and a wonderful atmosphere. If you are at all interested in tea, its definitely worth making a trip out to Tea Habitat!

My experience at Tea Habitat was truly wonderful. Imen walked our group through all the incredible teas she has to offer and helped us pick a delightful mix to try at our tea tasting. I'm a life-long tea drinker, and I was astounded by what we had. I highly recommend spending an afternoon drinking tea at Tea Habitat; I hope to visit again in the future!

Best tea in L.A. Maybe even USA. If you are into authentic Chinese tea this is the place to go! You will not be disappointed.

Beautiful, thoughtfully selected tea ware, and a wonderfully curated tea selection. It’s clear the owner has immense love, passion and knowledge of this art, that fortunately for her customers translate into incredible teas of the highest quality. Happy drinking! ;)

Tea at TeaHabitat was excellent beyond describe! I cannot recommend both the tea and the tea tasting enough, if you are even a little excited by tea: make time to stop by - I look forward to visiting again next time I’m in LA!

operates out someone home in a mix-use building in Alhambra. So just the owner and one table. She set 5 tea chats with us for 3 hour. Really different experience