Ching Ching Cha

Ching Ching Cha opened in Georgetown in 1998 and stayed on Wisconsin Avenue for twenty-five years. It now occupies 1314 21st Street NW in Dupont Circle, and the house describes the new room as a continuation of the original idea rather than a fresh start. One change matters for planning a visit: the Dupont space no longer serves food. Anything still pointing visitors at the Georgetown address is out of date.

It is as much a gallery as a shop. Hand-picked yixing teapots, artisan pottery, tea accessories and gift objects from across Asia fill the room alongside the tea. The leaf comes mainly from mainland China, Taiwan and Japan, with a row of herbal infusions beside it, and the online catalogue keeps the same order: green, black, oolong, white, pu-erh, Japanese, scented, artisan and tisane.

Tea here is sold in fixed packs rather than by weight you choose, and the packs are not uniform: two ounces of Dragon Well, four of Lapsang Souchong, nine of genmaicha, three and a half of matcha. It is worth reading the size before comparing prices with anywhere else in town, because the same twenty dollars buys very different amounts depending on the tea. Wednesdays the room is closed; weekends it opens early, at nine.