A Tea Lover in a Coffee World: Miro Tea Review

My tea tasting travels recently led me back to the city of Ballard, to explore When it comes to finding something they like, customers shouldn’t have any trouble. At Miro Tea there is a giant menu at the counter that features about 200 blended and non-blended loose leaf teas and herbals. This selection of teas changes depending on the season and what is in stock, as Jeannie travels all over the world to try and buy different teas. You can also purchase tea beverages such as tea lattes (tea brewed with steamed milk), chai and iced tea fusions (iced tea hand shaken with seasonal fruits, herbs and fresh squeezed juices). If you do happen to get stuck trying to decide on a tea, just ask the knowledgeable staff who are happy to offer their recommendations. Of course, that is just their tea menu, which doesn’t even begin to cover the wide selection of food that is available at Miro Tea. You can choose from a variety of pastries, sandwiches, soups and salads. However, the most popular snack is the crepes, which come in both sweet and savory options. Emi claims Miro is most well-known for the Christy (fresh spinach and goat cheese, and topped with Spanish Serrano ham and an over easy fried egg) and the Harvest (roasted yellow squash, eggplant, zucchini, red onion, kale, green & red peppers with goat cheese & house made fire roasted tomato sauce) crepes, but all of them sound equally delicious. After hearing about all of the scrumptious sounding teas and treats available, I decided to test them out for myself. I went with the Coconut Oolong, a Baozhong oolong flavored with coconut. This tea happens to be one of the shop’s more popular teas, along with the Chill (a peppermint and licorice herbal blend) and the Bourbon St Red (rooibos flavored with vanilla and bourbon). For a snack I tried the sweet Chocolate Haze crepe, which was filled with Nutella, banana toasted hazelnuts and topped with whipped cream. My tea arrived in a Bodum Bistro Mug that showed off the tea’s pretty, light yellow color. It tasted amazing – very light and sweet with slight nutty and coconut flavor. The crepe was much bigger than I expected, but was very tasty as well, which was evident in my ability to eat the entire thing in one sitting despite its size and richness. Before I left, Emi added that Jeannie is into supporting the neighborhood; so opening the store was “all about building the community, and not about the money.” The goal was to have a tea shop where people could come in and relax and meet others. From the looks of things, it appears Jeannie and the folks at Miro Tea have certainly accomplished this goal. When I visited, the shop was full of people, who were either quietly typing away on their computers or hanging out with friends. There is even a corner filled with books and games that people can use to pass the time while they sip their tea. This shop, and neighborhood, is certainly my cup of tea and I will definitely be back for more.