Today my granddaughter and I went to the Dushanbe Teahouse for the first time on a beautiful warm Spring day. It was just after lunch rush and still a bit busy so we went to the bar for our tea, figuring this would put us in the right spot for serious tea drinking and for viewing the intricately carved and colorfully painted ceiling. Wow, on the interior of the tea house! This is like a beautiful painted box only gigantic! No way to discribe how beautiful it is and right next to the park with outdoor seating as well.
I asked for the tea menu and the bar attendents and I chatted about the Puer selections avalilable. I wanted to try something unfamiliar and went with a light bamboo Puer perfect for the warm weather. My granddaughter had a blended iced tea. What I appreciated was the attention to detail on the timing, the ease of basket steeping control, the quantity in the pot and the quality of the Puer. I asked about origin..smelled the Puer in the bamboo before trying and chatted about the buyer and history of Dushanbe. I will return. This is a Teahouse for restful tea drinking. I will come back though at a less busy time. There was entirely too much hussle and business close to the bar with waitpersons going to the kitchen.
The second visit to Dushanbe was on Mother’s Day after the rush 2012. I was with my daughter. We sat at the bar and had the best waffles. The service as always was excellent. The disappointment was the tea. My Puerh was dusty. It came from the bottom of the container and should have been rinsed. When I asked about it, I was told that it was not a regular practice to rinse the puerh before service. Red Flag for me on not being trained properly on Puerh’s. The dust (not earthy flavor…which would have been good) was the worse tea I’ve ever been served anywhere ever! To the credit of the server I was given a comment card and filled it out. I hope adjustments to training will be made because Dushanbe is a spectacular tea house otherwise.
