Tea shop opens in Annandale
There’s a new spot in Annandale for enjoying a relaxing cup
of hot tea or a cold, refreshing fruit-flavored tea drink.
of hot tea or a cold, refreshing fruit-flavored tea drink.
Ocha Tea, at 6653 Little River Turnpike, is in a space formerly occupied
by a cash-for-gold store in the Willow Run Shopping Center. It offers several
varieties (black, green, jasmine, and oolong) of hot tea, tea
latte, sea salt tea, shaken ice tea, bubble tea, milk tea, tea-based fruit
juice, slushies, and smoothies.
by a cash-for-gold store in the Willow Run Shopping Center. It offers several
varieties (black, green, jasmine, and oolong) of hot tea, tea
latte, sea salt tea, shaken ice tea, bubble tea, milk tea, tea-based fruit
juice, slushies, and smoothies.
Hot teas come in a variety of flavors, such as almond, coconut, red bean, taro, chai, vanilla, ginger, and honey.
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| Kristen Vuong |
Cold tea-based drinks come in such flavors as grapefruit,
lemon, mango, strawberry, peach, passion fruit, kiwi, lychee, avocado, and
vanilla Oreo. For now, the shop only sells tea and a small selection of
packaged snacks. In the future, baked goods will be added.
The owners, Kristin and Thai Vuong, ran a couple of
successful tea shops in Minneapolis before they relocated to Fairfax County.
successful tea shops in Minneapolis before they relocated to Fairfax County.
When Kristin was growing up in Vietnam, she learned about
tea from her grandmother, a committed tea drinker who was in good health and kept
all her teeth until she died at age 97.
tea from her grandmother, a committed tea drinker who was in good health and kept
all her teeth until she died at age 97.
Her father was in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and
was held in a Vietnamese prison for 10 years. Because of his military service,
the family was easily able to get a visa and immigrated to Minnesota after he
was released. Thai had a much tougher time; he escaped Vietnam on a small,
crowded boat and spent four years in a refugee camp in Indonesia before he was able to settle in Minnesota.
was held in a Vietnamese prison for 10 years. Because of his military service,
the family was easily able to get a visa and immigrated to Minnesota after he
was released. Thai had a much tougher time; he escaped Vietnam on a small,
crowded boat and spent four years in a refugee camp in Indonesia before he was able to settle in Minnesota.
Thai moved to Fairfax County five years ago, when he got a
job as an electrical engineer for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Kristin ’s
background is in chemical engineering. She stayed in Minneapolis to run the tea
shops and care for their four children, then moved to Virginia a couple of
years ago after ensuring this would be a good place to raise a family.
Ocha Tea specializes in high-quality tea, Kristin says. “We
want to serve the local community. We hope the community will support us.”
6 responses to “Tea shop opens in Annandale”
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out with cash for gold and in with tea place, sounds great!
Can we get rid of more of these scum bag places for neat tea places or other type of cute shops? I volunteer that place on Columbia Pike near the firehouse to go first.
Their specialty is boba tea!!!!!! You have to try that out!!!
Nice! I'll have to try this place out, I am liking this resurgence of Asian teas around Annandale (like Kung Fu Tea)
thank god. wish the tide was turning to remove all of the CASH4GOLD and titlemax joints
Agree! It would be nice if they could all take all their scrolling signs with them, too!
Do the people in charge of commercial planning realize how freaking UGLY those things are??