This Beautiful West Village Shop is Changing the Way Dallas Looks at Tea

This week, Teasom launched its very first tea service, complete with matcha tiramisu, egg sandwiches, and two hours of bottomless teas. The charming, sister-owned West Village shop has been slowly adding to its tea-themed oeuvre since opening at the very end of 2019 — then, of course, closing for a few months in 2020. Much like the hands-on classes, healthy dishes, and frozen drinks the sisters have introduced, their new tea service offering has a higher purpose: to show Dallas that tea can truly go with anything.

Our city, with its affinity for sweet tea and sugary matcha, couldn’t have asked for a better duo to show us how the drink should be done. Sisters Minji and Jahee Son grew up in Korea, where Minji earned a certificate from the Korea Tea Sommelier Institute after curbing her coffee addiction with the antioxidant-packed beverage. “It was so interesting to see a culture through tea,” Minji says. When she moved to Dallas from New York to raise a family, she teamed up with her sister Jahee, who holds a degree in hospitality management, to offer the city a healthier, more natural option for their tea fix, and a little education along the way.

The sisters began testing the waters at the Dallas Farmers Market in March of 2019. “When we first started there, people would put so many pumps of sugar in our matcha,” Minji remembers of their grounded powder drink. “As they came back week after week, they put in less and less.”

Teasom (a play on “tea sommelier”) eventually found a small retail space in West Village, which they transformed into a simple, modern shop to fill with their own artisanal tea blends (Just Peachy, Pina Colacha, and Hibiscus Punch are popular go-tos) and frozen drinks (iced chocolate was an instant hit). Shelf space is minimal, but thoughtfully stocked with Texas brands or works from local makers and small, women-owned businesses. Grab a Stroopwafel (from Austin-based Stroop Club) at checkout, or pick-up a yogurt bowl made with locally sourced Milk & Patience and White Rock Granola to go. If you’re ordering a cup from the tea bar, take notice of the pretty resin taps, which incorporate the main ingredient of each tea. “Rooibos Sunset has rooibos, Hibiscus Punch has hibiscus, and so on,” Minji says. “A maker from the Dallas Farmers Market did those for us.”

Like any new business, Teasom, has been forced to build their brand while simultaneously weathering the coronavirus storm. “I still feel like not many people know we exist,” Minji said not long after they reopened in September of 2020. But the young company has been cultivating a loyal community around them, from incorporating their friends from the Farmers Market to converting fellow tea addicts. As more people begin feeling comfortable attending events, the sisters hope to do more hosting and educating with classes like Matcha 101. Next up, a Valentine’s Candle Making Class paired with bottomless tea-based cocktails.

Keep an eye out for future events or order Teasom’s drinks and dishes to go at teasomtea.com.