Tea shops · Seattle, United States
Tea shops · Seattle, United StatesSeattle Best Tea
A family shop by the Historic Chinatown Gate, founded in 1996, selling Taiwanese high-mountain oolong by the canister and green tea by the pound.
The shelf is organized by roast — light for Ali Shan, Li Shan and Jin Hsuan, heavy for Dong Ding — and nothing is sold in sample sizes.
Seattle Best Tea has been at 506 S King St, beside the Historic Chinatown Gate, since 1996. It is a family business: the owner, Chester Hsu, imports the high-mountain oolong, jasmine, Ti Kuan Yin and black teas from Taiwan and travels to the organic farms himself to watch how the leaf is grown and packed, with a few organic Chinese teas alongside. Phone orders go through Lydia at the counter, which tells you the scale of the place.
The shelf is split by roast rather than by country: light oolongs for Ali Shan, Li Shan and Jin Hsuan, heavy ones for Dong Ding, plus aged pu-erh going back decades. Formats are full canisters or the pound, not samples, so this is where to buy a tin you will actually finish. A 5.3 oz canister of Ali Shan is 65 US$ and one of Jin Hsuan 45 US$; a pound of gunpowder is 45 US$ and a pound of organic jasmine 41 US$, the cheapest pound on the list.
Free tastings at the counter are part of the visit, and the same leaf feeds a bubble tea menu — oolong milk tea, jasmine milk tea, taro, brown sugar — plus smoothies and ice cream made in jasmine and oolong flavours from their own tea. There is a second branch in the University District, at 4505 University Way NE. Hours move with the season: 10:30 to 20:00 every day in winter, 10:00 to 22:00 in summer.
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Where it is
Chinatown-International District
506 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
Beside the Historic Chinatown Gate on S King St; a second branch sits on University Way NE in the University District.
Hours: Every day · winter 10:30–20:00 · summer 10:00–22:00
What to buy here
Milk Oolong
Jin Hsuan Oolong Tea (Light), canister
US$ 45 · 5.3 oz
Jin Hsuan is the Taiwanese cultivar behind what gets called milk oolong, and it comes in the same 5.3 oz canister as the Ali Shan for a good deal less.
See our page on this tea →Jasmine
Organic Jasmine Tea
from US$ 41 · 1 lb
Certified organic jasmine green sold by the pound, the cheapest pound here. Jasmine is the house's other Taiwanese import beyond the oolongs, and it also feeds the jasmine milk tea at the counter.
See our page on this tea →Gunpowder
Gun Powder Green Tea
from US$ 45 · 1 lb
Rolled green by the pound, the largest format on the list. It keeps better than an open green tea bag because the pellets are tightly rolled, which is the point of buying it this size.
See our page on this tea →
The one worth the trip
Ali Shan Oolong Tea (Light), canister
US$ 65 · 5.3 oz
Ali Shan is the light-roast Taiwanese high mountain the whole shelf is built around, and this is the most expensive thing the shop lists: a full 5.3 oz canister, not a sample pouch. The owner buys it on his own trips to the farms, and the counter will brew you a cup of it before you commit to the tin.
See our page on this tea →Every price we read, one by one
List prices read on the shop's own product pages. Open a tea to see who else sells it.
| Tea | Type | Price | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic Jasmine Tea | Green tea | from US$ 41 | 1 lb |
| Gun Powder Green Tea | Green tea | from US$ 45 | 1 lb |
| Jin Hsuan Oolong Tea (Light), canister | Oolong tea | US$ 45 | 5.3 oz |
| Ali Shan Oolong Tea (Light), canister | Oolong tea | US$ 65 | 5.3 oz |
Teas you can find here
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Prices checked by us on Sep 11, 2026; they may change. No shop pays to appear here.