Buena Vida Tea Bar & Garden

Buena Vida sits on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, a few blocks up from the ocean on a street better known for boutiques than for anywhere to sit, and it is a tea bar in the way a wine bar is a wine bar - the leaf is the product, not the accompaniment. Founder Mayra Vazquez describes the venture as a mutual exploration of exceptional loose-leaf teas and the best ways to enjoy them, and her framing of the drink itself is the shop's whole thesis: tea is a sensation, an experience, a journey to wellness, comfort, tranquility and the good life. She and her staff go by Tearistas, and the stated aim is to find teas worth the attention and then steep each one properly enough to get the full flavour out of it, which in practice means brewing to order, sometimes on a teapresso machine, rather than dunking a bag.

The pours are organic loose leaf and the named ones cover a useful spread. Dragonwell Longjing is the pan-fired green from Zhejiang that is China's best-known tea, nutty and sweet rather than grassy. Jasmine Silver Needle is the aromatic one, scented with jasmine over a white-tea base, with floral and citrus notes. Persian Delight is a blend of premium black tea and rose petals, which is the closest thing on the list to a dessert. Rosa de Jamaica is hibiscus, served iced, and is the one to order in summer - sharp, deep red and caffeine-free. Alongside the tea there are sweet and savoury treats, teaware for sale, and TEArrariums and plant arrangements, which is a fair signal of how much the room leans into being a garden as well as a bar. There is an outdoor tea garden terrace, and a tea club subscription designed to run from novice to enthusiast.

Nothing served here contains alcohol, which makes it straightforwardly usable for anyone who is not drinking - a different proposition from a bar with a good non-alcoholic list. The trade-off is the clock: this is a daytime venue and a fairly short one, open 11am to 3pm Tuesday through Friday and 11am to 4pm at weekends, closed Mondays. Reservations are highly recommended and can be made by phone or email, and the room is small enough that walking in at a weekend without one is a gamble. Montana Avenue has metered street parking; the Santa Monica end of the Metro E Line is about a mile and a half away.