If you’re looking for a caffeine pick-me-up but don’t want your eyes to vibrate, check out the variety of teas available in the Oklahoma City metro area.

If coffee makes the world go round, then tea is right there greasing the wheel. If you’re looking for a caffeine pick-me-up but don’t want your eyes to vibrate, check out the variety of teas available in the Oklahoma City metro area. From mint- and fruit-flavored to dessert-like, there are many options.

By Jacob Threadgill  | Photos by Garett Fisbeck and file

Gazedibles: (More than) afternoon tea
Emmy Verdin
Thai House serves a variety of iced teas and coffee on Monday, June 27, 2016 in Oklahoma City.

Argana Cafe

2908 NW 23rd St.

arganacafe.net | 405-652-1234

Sometimes when ordering tea, the customer has to decide if they want sweet or unsweet. At Argana, the house Moroccan hot tea is flavored with mint and honey for a refreshing swig that leaves a tingle on your tongue. The tea complements a menu that features many slow-simmered meats cooked in a tagine, a cone-shaped clay pot that returns moisture to the dish for optimum succulence. 

Gazedibles: (More than) afternoon tea
Garett Fisbeck
Peach Blossum iced tea at Leaf + Bean in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, July 15, 2015.

Cafe De Taipei

603 S. Broadway, Edmond

405-216-9968

This late-night Edmond eatery offers plentiful selection of sushi to fulfill your dinner and late-night cravings. Open 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 5 p.m.-10 p.m. on Sunday, complement a samurai roll (crab salad, avocado and cucumber sushi topped with baked spicy scallops) with a refreshing boba tea, available in black and jasmine green tea. 

Gazedibles: (More than) afternoon tea
Mark Hancock
Pouring glasses of Moroccan hot mint tea at Argan Cafe, 2908 NW 23rd Street, OKC, 12-10-15.

Cafe Oasis

1135 NW 25th Street

cafeoasisoklahomacity.com

405-528-5700

This restaurant is aptly named, because for those of us who are tea connoisseurs in a desert of coffee drinkers, Cafe Oasis is just that: an oasis. Located on the second floor next to Super Cao Nguyen, the cafe is home to perhaps the city’s largest selection of teas, available in both green, black, served with milk and with delightful chewy tapioca balls.   

Gazedibles: (More than) afternoon tea
Egg rolls and hot tea at Fung's Kitchen. mh

Fung’s Kitchen

3231 N. Classen Blvd.

fungskitchenoklahoma.com

405-524-4133

If you’re bored or perhaps exasperated at the mutant dishes being concocted on brunch menus across OKC, Fung’s Kitchen offers something different on the weekends as its dim sum menu expands. Choose between a variety of steamed buns and dumplings from the passing cart, and pair it with a hot Chinese tea, traditional iced tea or creamy Thai tea.

Gazedibles: (More than) afternoon tea
Garett Fisbeck
Golden Taipei and Black Milk Tea with Boba at Cafe Taipei in Edmond, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016.

Leaf + Bean

321 N. Oklahoma Ave., Suite 107

leafandbean.com

Locally owned Woodshed Tea Co. supplies the fresh, loose-leaf tea that is the basis for Leaf + Bean’s flavored tea at its two locations. Go to the Deep Deuce location where natural light and a peach blossom iced tea make for the perfect location to pontificate. If you’re in a hurry, swing by the N. May  Avenue location for your tea fix in a jiffy.

Gazedibles: (More than) afternoon tea
Garett Fisbeck
Kristy Jennins, owner, makes tea at Urban Tea House, Wednesday, May 11, 2016.

Thai House

500 NW 23rd St.

thaihouseokc.com | 405-524-0503

Thai House brews Thai tea to perfection. Strong black tea is brewed with star anise, crushed tamarind and cardamom and mixed with either sweetened condensed milk or whole milk for a memorable treat. The tea pairs well with an order of pad thai or with multiple trips to the buffet.

Gazedibles: (More than) afternoon tea
Emmy Verdin
Cafe Oasis serves Taro Tea with Boba chilled over ice on Tuesday, July 12, 2016 in Oklahoma City.

Urban Teahouse

519 NW 23rd St., Suite 107

urban-teahouse.com | 405-606-7005

The packages of boxed tea we buy at the store are filled with all sorts of impurities that dilute the flavor of the tea. At Urban Teahouse, owner Kristy Jennings is the patron saint of preaching the benefits of properly brewed loose-leaf tea. You can choose from a bevy of flavors in a variety of tea categories. There are unusual flavors like spicy chocolate truffle for standard black tea, and more exotic varieties of tea like oolong, rooibos and matcha.

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