What a pleasant experience it was!
I’ve seen this place off to the side of Church Street in Burlington so many times but never thought to step through the door. While running an errand in Burlington with Emerson, we decided to visit Church St. with our first stop being Dobrá Tea.
I was a tad unsure about it at first, considering I had never been to a tea house before, but after looking around a bit and getting a feel for it I was quickly immersed and comfortable in the new setting. The staff were very pleasant (especially with Emerson being a regular) and down to earth which really fits in with the vibe of tea itself in general. The options for seating were unique as well, with there being partially enclosed and elevated pillow seating with calf level tables, or alternatively, regular height tables with tea-light candles, and some with classic looking wall mounted lamps.
The menu itself was thick like a sketchbook. When I first approached the table I was unaware that it was actually a menu. Inside, it has many many varieties of teas – hot and cold, with their detailed descriptions. These include the style, origin, components, and other factors to help you make an appropriate selection. After many minutes of looking through the menu, we each decided on some Cold Brew Bubble Tea of two separate varieties. Emerson raised the tiny bell and rang it gently. One of the staff promptly came over to take our orders…
…They were out of bubbles for the day, our fault for visiting in the evening. We now needed more time with the menu. I don’t drink tea often so I don’t have the best knowledge of it, but Emerson was helpful on that note. A couple minutes later, we were ready to ring the bell again. This time, I gave it the back and forth. Emma came over seconds later and took our order this time. Emerson with her Rose tea, and myself taking a chance with the Jasmine Pearls.
Between five and ten minutes later comes Emma with my plate that had evidently fresh poured tea in a cup and a separate lidded teacup of tea leaves. I’m was slightly confused by it, ignorantly attempting to figure out what was in front of me. Then, to the rescue comes the young lady sitting by herself at the table a few feet away. Penny, not Penelope (we later introduce ourselves to each other) told me that my hot water would be coming soon in it’s metal kettle, which cleared everything up. Soon enough, the kettle came. Once Emerson and I both had our tea, I had a taste of mine. It turned out to be the best tea I’ve had, with such amazing flavor. I told Emerson this, and she sensed sarcasm in my tone, but I was serious. It was that good.
During our drinking of our tea and conversing about the wonders of life, Penny joins in and we talk about several relatable topics, beginning with Net Neutrality and ending on Darn Tuff Socks. All this time, I had my camera bag in the third chair at our table. I (we only had a tea-light at ours) would look over at Penny’s table and see her steaming tea with the wall mounted light shining down. Since Emerson and I were talking with her for a good while, I decided it would be appropriate to ask, “Hey Penny, can I take a photo of your tea?”
She allowed it one photo close up and vertical, but was not quite satisfied with it. I took a second photo, horizontal and a bit wider. I called it there, and told her “I can’t be taking photos of your tea all night!” (lol).
We each steadily kept drinking our respective teas, with Emerson and I chatting, and Penny joining in here and again. Then there was the honey that Emerson requested. Honey and tea pair together immensely, so when I saw it and she offered me some, I couldn’t refuse. I added the honey to my tea and stirred it in, of course adding to the flavor and feeling of the tea.
After awhile, Emerson brought up how satisfying the tea dripping from the spoon is. Since I was thinking the same each time we would put tea into our hot drinks, I thought it would be neat to try photographing the “phenomenon”.
So again, I grabbed my camera and worked the settings around while Emerson picked up the spoon full of honey. Being dark in the area, and only the tea-light nearby, I had some trouble getting a clear photograph, but in the end I achieved a couple of decent still images of the honey drip. My goal was to get the “mother-drop” of honey, but no success.
All in all, Dobra Tea is a wonderful little place to visit any time you are around Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. With plenty teas to choose from, as well as snacking and other options for food, it is sure to become a go-to spot.
I didn’t plan to write this much initially, but I hope you enjoy and get to visit this special tea house very soon. It’s a whole experience in itself, and needs to be experienced!
P.S. Try the tea biscuits!
TL;DR: I’m thankful for being able to help out friends, experiencing tiny genuine moments, and having good conversations with people you met 5 minutes ago.
Happy Thanksgiving!
-Aryk
art.of.a.rock 