About Us Address: Phone: 206.276.9542 E-mail: tea@floatingleaves.com 
Floating Leaves Tea is a Seattle-based tea
importer and retailer with a passion for Taiwanese,
Japanese and Chinese tea, tea ware, and tea
culture. We carry a small selection of teas, each
one of which has in some way inspired us. Our teas
are seasonal, unblended, and for the most part,
single-estate teas.
Floating Leaves Tea was formed in April 2002.
After her first Chinese tea presentation, Shiuwen
Tai discovered that her love of tea was highly
contagious. With participants thirsty to know where
to get more tea, Shiuwen decided to import tea for
more than just herself and her friends.
Since that time Floating Leaves has been
presenting Chinese tea at private parties, Seattle
art galleries, and at home. With this web site we
hope that you too can share in her passion for
tea.
About Our Teashop
The Floating Leaves Teashop is a
tranquil place to sample teas in the traditional
Taiwanese style
The new location focuses on selling
loose-leaf teas and providing experiences that
broaden your understanding of tea. Modeled after
the teashops and tasting rooms of Shiuwen's native
Taiwan, this tea is an oasis of good tea and good
humor.
Shiuwen serving up a traditional tasting of 2008 Baozhongs
Inside Floating Leaves you will
always find friendly, knowledgable staff who are
looking forward to showing you new teas, and
discovering which Taiwanese Oolongs are your
favorites. During our tea tasting hours, advanced tea drinkers can try tasting
teas in the traditional "bowl style", or, if you're
newer to oolongs you will be introduced to Gong-Fu
style tea sampling.
Our Old
Location
(Now Closed)
We used to be located at 2213 NW
Market Suite 100.
About
The Old Teahouse
The Floating Leaves Teahouse was
Seattle's first authentic Taiwanese teahouse.
Modeled after the teahouses of Shiuwen's native
Taiwan, this teahouse was an oasis of tranquility
and good humor. The new teashop keeps the same
charm in a smaller location.
Our interior is still furnished with Chinese antiques, welcoming hosts, and a soundtrack ranging from classical and contemporary Asian music to local music made by Asian influenced musicians. Come sit down with us and learn as much about tea as you like. Our Previous Location We intend our new teashop to be as much a cross-cultural venue as the old teahouse, a place to bring together the best of East and West. Come experience the richness of Asia's tea tasting tradition. Thank you, About Shiuwen
Shiuwen Tai
was born and raised in Taiwan and steeped in the
culture of tea from a very young age. Being separated
from Taiwan by her many travels, she was inspired to
re-discover her own roots and as her love of tea grew
she and Rob began exploring the entire world of
Chinese tea together.
Shiuwen sees tea as a cross-cultural endeavor. Tea gives
us an opportunity to bring our favorite aspects of
Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese culture to America. Come
share our passion for tea. Please stop in often.
In the picture at right Shiuwen tries her hand at picking Baojong tea in
the Pinglin area of Taiwan's Wenshan tea district.
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