The city has a number of surprising tea clubs, shops and more to infuse the soul with that perfect, mid-winter beverage
When it comes to tea, Kyiv was once a place where the only kind available was on supermarket shelves.Back than there was lots of choice – if all you liked was black tea or poor quality green tea – but you had to brew it yourself. None of this fancy stuff, like tea ceremonies or good teas available in bulk.
Today the city has quite a number of tea shops and tea clubs to choose from. From incredibly regal and pricey to the humble and down home, tea has become part of everyday life in town, and we’re happy to focus on it.
Shanti
Shanti, a tea house where the traditional Chinese tea ceremony is the raison d’etre, is located in the heart of the heart of Kyiv, on the second floor of the Bessarabsky Market. Shanti’s location also determines its spirit, which is rather more social than meditative. During the day shoppers and businessmen with laptops frequent the place (the place has WiFi Internet access), and club-goers by night cuddle with their shoes off on its low-to-the-ground throw cushions.
The price for an average tea ceremony and service, which will suffice for several people, costs from Hr 56 depending on the tea chosen. Teas, all of which come from China, range from red and yellow to green and black, some of them running more than Hr 400 for a service and ceremony.
Shanti sells about 40 types of tea from China, ranging in price from Hr 70 for 100g to more than Hr 700 for the same. In terms of extras, Shanti also offers sushi, hookah, tea accessories, and Buddha statuettes. It even offers itself as a venue for private catered parties.
Deejays play every evening from Thursday to Sunday beginning at 9 p.m. Even without the DJ, it’s a cozy place to relax on a dank late autumn day.
Shanti
2 Bessarabska Square,
234-3368, 469-7533.
Open 24 hours.
www.shanti.kiev.ua
Chayny Club
Chayny (Tea) Club was opened about four years ago by people who are great tea enthusiasts and admirers of Chinese culture in its numerous expressions. Located in the basement of a regular-looking khrushchevka not far from Kyiv Sport Club, Chayny Club, unlike many other such places, feels authentic and real to the point that visitors must obey established ritual courtesies: in the special tea room shoes must be taken off and phones switched off before entering.
Designed with a nod to feng shui, with all-natural materials in its interior and meditative music playing throughout, Chayny Club is filled with a magic harmony that radiates out to those who comes for tea. It’s actually quite effective: no matter what your mood before, 20 minutes later you feel a sense of total calm and happiness. It’s perhaps like being placed in a Buddhist zen state.
Besides the tea, some varieties of which you’ll find only here among Kyiv establishments, visitors have the chance to explore other aspects of Eastern culture: Chinese language and Chinese calligraphy lessons, various lectures and seminars on topics ranging from philosophy to meditation, and tea ceremonies. Information about upcoming events is posted regularly at the club, and twice a year Chayny Club organizes alternative trips to China to experience the tea harvest.
Tea pots, natural healing stones, CDs with ethnic music and more are available for purchase.
Chayny Club
7 Druzhby Narodiv (entrance #4 inside the yard), 451-4283.
Open Mon.-Fri. from 10 a.m. till 11 p.m.,
Sat.-Sun. from noon till 11 p.m.
Dobra Chaiyovnya (Good Tea Shop)
Downstairs off Shota Rustaveli the new tea and coffee shop Dobra Chaiyovnya lies hidden away, but begs discovery. Quiet, intimate and relaxing, this little shop offers plenty of space and two invitingly cozy VIP rooms for the ultimate in a relaxing time.
Chaiyovnya offers all kinds of tea from China and elsewhere, like its competition in the city, but without the extravagant ceremony and for far less cost.
Most of the same teas found at Shanti go for half the price at Chaiyovnya. Teas include many of the same green, red, yellow and black varieties, including blends for all sorts of ailments and afflictions.
10 Shota Rustaveli.
www.chajovna.com.ua
Monomax
Oddly named Monomax is a fast-paced, customer-friendly tea and coffee shop located right near Lva Tolstoho Square. The green storefront looks a lot like that of a clothing and furniture shop, but inside it’s all about the beverages, with a range of teas set out on the front counter for tea tasters to sniff before choosing their preference for take home or in-house enjoyment.
Besides the several dozen varieties of tea at Monomax, this little shop has a wide range of coffees and coffee beverages on the menu too, in addition to desserts and lunch items. Prices are reasonable, and so is the service.
21A Chervonoarmiyska.
Svit Chaiyu (World of Tea)
This chain of shops, found in most shopping centers and strip malls across Kyiv, offer tea accessories and loose tea, either blended or not, for a lot less than the established tea ceremony hubs.
Colorfully decorated tin canisters for tea start in price from Hr 8 for small to Hr 20 and up for larger sizes. Teas, meanwhile, range in price from Hr 19 to Hr 37 for 100g. The teas are from China, India, Japan, Kenya and elsewhere, offering a world of flavor for local prices. Some loose tea and a nice canister to go with it would make for a nice Christmas stocking stuffer for anyone.
Locations in Globus 2, Metrograd, Ukraina mall, Caravan, Promenada Center, Furshet (Mandarin Plaza) and elsewhere.
