Seoul | Jongno Hanok Herbal Tea Experience

What is the herbal tea experience in Jongno, Seoul?

Seoul Tea Therapy sits in a hanok over a century old in Jongno-gu, a few streets from the palace district, and runs three separate tea experiences out of the same house. The thread running through all of them is a traditional reading of the body: which teas suit which constitution, and how that translates into something you can actually keep doing at home. The main offering is a tasting class where you work through herbal teas brewed with ingredients like ginseng and jujube and settle on the flavours and aromas that suit you. Alongside it the house runs a foot bath in an outdoor area and a one-to-one session with a tea therapist. Each of the three is booked on its own rather than as a package, so you can come for an hour or drop in for twenty minutes. The house is set up for visitors from abroad, with English and Japanese available.

What can I do at the hanok tea house?

In the tasting class you sit in the hanok for about an hour, taste at least five herbal teas brewed with traditional ingredients, and pick your preferences from a range of more than 16 blends. Between tastings the staff walk you through how the body is understood in traditional practice and what that means for everyday self-care, and you leave with a tea set made from traditional ingredients. The foot bath is a shorter, quieter thing: it is set up outdoors, you choose between a relaxing and a warming herbal blend, a towel is provided, and you soak your feet in warm water with a cup of tea in hand. The consultation is the most specific of the three — you fill in a checklist, sit down with a professional tea therapist, taste what they recommend, and if it suits you, go home with a personalized tea set holding roughly 15 servings.