Ku Cha House of Tea.

Ku Cha House of Tea opened its doors in 2005 and has been a Colorado tea house ever since: a Boulder shop that moved four times, a store in downtown Fort Collins and, since 2021, a bright shop inside the Denver Pavilions on 16th Street. The name is Chinese. Ku means bitter and cha means tea, and the house explains it as a philosophy: the sweet part only arrives after the bitter part has been lived through. The owners come from China and say they import many of their teas directly, working with Chinese tea farms for the classic, unflavored leaves they call their core.

That core is easy to find on the shelf. The oolongs include a Da Hong Pao from Wuyi Mountain, an Oriental Beauty and a Dong Ding sold under its translated name, Frozen Summit, next to a Tie Guan Yin Superior and a Dan Cong Honey Orchid from Guangdong. The greens run from Dragon Well Superior and Jasmine Pearl to Japanese Sencha, Genmaicha, Hojicha and Gyokuro. There is a Silver Needle and a pressed Shou Mei cake among the whites, ripe and raw pu-erh from Yunnan, and a Tibetan Tea from Sichuan made of fermented leaves and twigs.

Tea is sold by weight. Most labels start at 4 oz, the finer leaves at 2 or 3 oz, and the same tea runs up to the pound; many also come as a small sample. Organic Assam, Ceylon and English Breakfast are US$ 19.95 for 4 oz, the house chais US$ 24.95 for 5 oz and the Tie Guan Yin Superior US$ 49.95 for 4 oz. The house blends have Colorado names, Rocky Mountain Breakfast and Mile High Chai among them. The shop is at 500 16th Street, #132, open every day of the week, and it also makes tea, matcha drinks and boba to go.