One of Wichita’s prettiest patios is attached to this just-opened College Hill tea house
Wichita went through a bit of a tea house phase a decade ago, and several little shops popped up all around town.
With names like Aunt Hattie’s Tea Room and Victoria’s Tea Room, they were charming, but they had more of a lace-and-china feel that your grandma would love. The last one closed in 2011.
Now, tea has returned to Wichita in the form of The Teahouse, a classy new College Hill business that opened a week ago in Clifton Square, 3700 E. Douglas.
It’s similar to the tea rooms from the past in that it sells hot tea and tea by the bag and will eventually offer formal high teas on Sundays.
But inside, the tearoom has a more modern spa-meets-coffee house feel, and it’s filled not only with small spaces to sit and sip but also with lots of fun boutique merchandise for sale.
And outside, owners have just created what might become one of Wichita’s most desirable outdoor hangouts — a just poured Douglas-facing patio complete with mobile fire pits, a glowing light-wrapped tree and a view of the College Hill homes owned by Wichita-born celebrity Kirstie Alley, which sit directly across the street.
.jpg "IMG_2890 (2).jpg")
Tea to-go, to stay
Owned by Haley Heter and Cat Lonc, The Teahouse took over the ground floor of an old two-story house turned retail space on the square’s east side that was occupied by Clifton Collective until it moved to a space on the back side of the square earlier this year.
The Teahouse opened on Aug. 28, but it will celebrate its grand opening all day Saturday with an event that will include a free outdoor yoga class on the patio in the morning, free samples of tea all day, shopping discounts, and live music in the evening.
The Teahouse, which carries different types of tea from countries around the world, sells hot and cold tea drinks. The menu includes pastry items like scones and muffins. Customers also can buy loose leaf tea to-go and make at home, and while there, they can shop the shelves full of tea sets, mugs, kitchenware, gift items — even cigars.
The business will offer small tea classes on Tuesdays, which will give tea lovers background on how their favorite teas are grown, harvested and best enjoyed. In the next month or so, the owners will start offering high tea on Sundays — a more formal event that includes finger sandwiches.
Those who stop in for drinks order them at a counter, and they can get them hot or iced. People who want to linger can order a pot of tea, beautifully presented on a white tray with the tea leaves on the side and a stick of local honey for mixing in. People can steep their leaves up to three times, and they can keep getting free refills of hot water while they visit.
The Teahouse also sells trendy tea drinks like bubble tea (it makes its own boba) and matcha tea, and the owners are partnering with several local tea providers, including Leaf Logic Wellness Tea and Golden Monarch, whose owners not only sell their products in the shop but also will help with classes and education.
People who want to enjoy their tea at the shop can choose from two small indoor seating areas — one in the back of the shop and one that faces out onto Douglas. Outside, there’s more room, and the new patio — furnished with white wicker chairs, portable fire pits and big blue umbrellas — is getting lots of attention.
Tea experts
Heter and Lonc are both well-traveled tea aficionados who had long dreamed of opening their own tea shop. They were visiting Papa’s General Store owner Derek Sorrells earlier this year when he was opening his new Clifton Square ice cream and coffee shop.
Heter mentioned that she’d always wanted to have a business in Clifton Square, and Sorrels pointed out the shop next door.
They peered into the windows.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I think this place is empty,” Heter said. “ Then I said, ‘That’s our tea house.’”
The hours at The Teahouse are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. It’s closed on Mondays.
.jpg)