Floating Leaves to close Ballard tea shop after 20 years

The Taiwanese specialist tea shop Floating Leaves (1704 NW Market St) is closing its Ballard store later this year.

Floating Leaves shared the news on its website, saying they plan to move to a residential property to grow the online business. They’ll also start offering more tea educational content and classes.

Owner Shiuwen Tai started Floating Leaves in 2002 out of her home before opening her first brick-and-mortar at 22nd and Market in 2006. She moved the shop to its current location at 1704 NW Market St in 2008.

Tai created a method of tea tasting called “body-centered tea appreciation,” which entails returning to physical and sensory responses in your body as you’re tasting the tea. So rather than thinking about the varieties or the origins of the tea, Tai describes that each person’s experience with tea is unique. Using “body-based tea appreciation,” Tai helps people identify with the sensation of flavor and texture rather than trying describe a specific flavor note.

“For example, when the tea broth is in the mouth, it has a weight. As the broth is held on the flat of the tongue, you will be able to feel the gravity of it. Although it’s all infused in the same water some will be very light and some heavy. Feeling the density and mass of tea broth can tell you a lot about its quality. After swallowing, some will leave an impression and some will just disappear,” she writes.

Floating Leaves has switched to an appointment-only model until its lease is up at the end of December. By January, it will be online-only, aside from quarterly tea tastings.

“We are immensely excited about this new chapter, as it’s been something on both mine and Shiuwen’s mind for years now,” the announcement reads. “…We’ve been experiencing growing pains and pushing up against the boundaries of this little room in Ballard long enough that we really feel ready to make this move.”

Photo: Floating Leaves