Tea shops can be found everywhere in Myanmar. Sometimes the place is decorated with little tables and stools made by wood or filled with brightly coloured umbrellas, covered with a company’s logo, spilling out onto the sidewalks and into the street. In recent years, Tea shops with wooden stools and tables have become a rare sight in Yangon. They are being replaced with bright and colourful tea shops with signs that appear on top of the building.
Part of the Scenery
From teenagers to adults, almost all Myanmar people like to hang out at the tea shop. Tea shops are the most populated and frequented places in Yangon. The busiest time for tea shops is in the morning. In the past, tea shops were known for their special culture. Men preferred to sit and relax at tea shops to read the paper and perhaps discuss politics. Young men sit around smoking and cat calling young women (really a form of sexual harassment). On that topic, it is worth noting that, traditionally, the tea shop had not been a place for women. If people saw women sitting at tea shops they were labeled as ill-mannered.
What shall I have?
People need to go there before 8 AM for breakfast. Once they take the seats, plates filled with snacks will be delivered to the table. Customers can drink tea with variety of items like “samosa” or “steamed buns stuffed with pork or chicken”. The recipes of samosa are usually onion, potato and cabbage. The snacks are usually made with wheat. Locals enjoy tea with youtio (Chinese Doughnut). They sink a piece of youtio into tea. The price of tea and other items are cheap. Any kinds of tea costs 4oo Kyats and youtio is about 150 Kyats to 200ks. A plate of “samosa” costs 500 Kyats. Every table has 3 or 4 cups provided to drink green tea or black tea, offered in a pot. People will clean the cup first by pouring water into the cup and shake it then throw the water out. After that step is done, people can drink black tea from teapot while waiting on their order. It is simple as that. There is bottled water and soft drinks for those who do not desire to drink tea. If people would like to drink coffee, they can get an instant coffee mix package with hot water. Among different coffee brands, “Premier” coffee can be seen at almost every tea shop. The taste of tea depends on the tea master of the shop. There are at least seven different types of tea based on the levels of sugar, condensed milk and evaporated milk. The taste of “Cho Kya” is sweet and bitter. If the customer prefers creamy tea, they can order “Cho Saint”. Their skill and creativity can bring the fame to the tea shop. In some cases, if tea master quits their job, some customers stop coming. That is why tea master in tea shop is as important as a barista in coffee shop.
Myanmar is different
The two strange things foreign visitors will see when they come to tea shops are young waiters and the kissing sound to attract attention. The staff, especially waiters at teashops, are mostly young and impoverished workers’ children (sometimes as young as six years old). Some of them came to Yangon from other parts of the country. Another strange thing is the Myanmar kissing sound. When local residents want to pay their bill, they will call the waiters by that sound. It is normal behavior in Myanmar culture. Tea shops can be taken as social gathering or sometimes a waiting area. Authors and poets gather at tea shops and chitchat about the art they created or discuss others’ artwork. They even call the tea shops where they meet “Lay Htan Kone”.
Now modern teashops like “Shwe Kantkaw” or “Aung See Sain” are attracting customers with Premier League. Young men gather at there and yell at the TV if they don’t like the result of the games. Locals can guess if the games are interesting or not just by looking the crowds. And also those tea shops are opened 24/7 so people don’t miss their favourite football game.
While talking about tea shops, university tea shops play a vital role in the culture. Before the internet, students could be seen at tea shops around university. Young love stories were born there because Myanmar did not use Tinder dating app or other social media. Male students sat on the wooden stools and wrote romantic poems.
Local residents believed that Myanmar’s famous singers “Myo Gyi” and “Htoo Eain Thin”(deceased) started to attract fame at the tea shop. Before they became famous singers, they gave their songs recorded on tape to the owner or waiter of the teashops and they inserted the tape on cassette players and then people listened to their songs when they drank their tea. People gradually noticed their voice and started to ask the staffs about the singer. That is when their popularity began.
Tea shops in Myanmar have history. A disagreement at “Sanda Win” Teashop between university students and people tied to the military government turned into the nationwide democracy uprising. It became the student led demonstration calling for democracy which ended with a brutal crackdown by police. From then on, the nationwide strike, also known as “8-8- 88” had begun.
There are many famous tea shops in Yangon. Rangoon Tea house is located in downtown yangon on Pansodan Street. It is expensive compared to the normal tea shops but they use hand-made ingredients with precision to ensure each variation of tea offers a unique taste. It is even included in the article “11 of the World’s best tea houses” reported by CNN. The name “modern” tea shop is famous because of the taste and service. “Kya Saint” is the popular order in “Modern”. Some visitors from other states and divisions come to the place to taste the offerings. Both “Maung Aye” and “Lucky Seven” teashops are located in Pazundaung township. “Maung Aye” is known for his “samosa”. The size of the “samosa” is tiny and people enjoy eating those while sipping tea. There are many outlets of “Lucky seven” in Yangon. Those shops are always crowded. All are worth visiting to taste the local culture.
