400 8th Street, NW
“a major milestone for Teaism:
our 30th anniversary will be on Sat. June 6th, and we want to celebrate it with you! Join us at our Penn Quarter location (400 8th Street, NW) between 12-3 PM on June 6th. To sweeten things up, we’ll be re-booting our collaborative Obanyaki Ice Cream Sundaes with Snow Crane ice cream. We’ll also have live mellow music and complimentary tea sampling throughout the afternoon.
RSVP via the link. *Eventbrite tickets required for sundaes.”
“Thanks to you, Teaism has been a community staple for three decades.
To celebrate, we’re making this year one to remember.
We can’t imagine marking this milestone without all of our staff, customers, and partners who have made Teaism what it is. Over the years, you’ve each added something special to this place.
When our Dupont Circle doors first opened in 1996, we set out to do something a little different: bring the beauty of fine tea into everyday life. As one of the DMV’s first fast-casual restaurants, we didn’t just serve tea — we set out to change the way people thought about it. Since then, we’ve grown, expanded, and had the joy of sharing a cup (or three) with millions of locals and visitors along the way.
Now, as we step into our 30th year, we’re savoring every moment. The rest of 2026 is packed with live programming, pop-ups, and celebrations as rich and layered as the teas we love.
Here’s to 30 years of flavor, culture, and community! The best cup is always the next one. Thank you for helping us get here.”
“We founded Teaism in 1996 with the goal of making exquisite loose leaf tea accessible to all. In a time and place where tea was conceived as either a dark powder in a bag with a string — to be sweetened heavily and discarded — or a stuffy afternoon affair with china and linens, we wanted to highlight the beautiful diversity of the camellia sinensis plant itself.
We wanted our guests to be enrolled in their choice to drink tea and have a relationship to the leaf. To accompany the teas, and to highlight the cuisines of countries where teas are grown, we served curries, bento boxes, and other healthy Asian-inspired meals. Teaism’s offerings were prepared in a rustic, fast-casual setting, many years before “fast casual” became a dining term.
Our first location opened in Dupont Circle and is still there today. Teaism now has three unique restaurant-teahouse locations throughout Washington, D.C., as well as a small retail shop.
Twenty-plus years later, we’re still active in Teaism’s daily operations. We have evolved and learned so much, while also working to stay true to our values of serving tea and food with integrity. We have an amazing team, and we feel so lucky to be able to interact with our incredibly kind and thoughtful customers every day. Stop by and say hi!
– Linda Neumann and Michelle Brown”