Teahee in the Far East Center Is Not Your Typical Boba Shop

It was a raucous grand-opening celebration. The members of Guiding Mountain Dragon and Lion Dance Association were assembled in colorful costumes, with members at their drums and gongs, their banners flapping in the sunny noontime breeze at the Far East Center on May 10. They were going to announce — and loudly, at that — for the assembled crowd that Teahee, a new addition to the strip mall that is the heart of the Little Saigon district on South Federal Boulevard, was now open for business.

After owner Cat Doan cut the red ribbon stretched in front of the entrance, the lion dancers went into action. They performed as a long string of firecrackers went off, showering bystanders and nearby parked cars with papery shrapnel. A junior duo of young lion dancers pranced in a cute routine, and the grownup lions finished with acrobatic moves that included one stretching up and snagging a head of lettuce hanging from the shop's overhang in its mouth, "chewing" it up and then tossing it at Doan for good luck and prosperity.
With that, the line of curious and thirsty passersby that had assembled down the sidewalk were welcomed into the bright new space, and they started ordering their drinks.

I had a limited-time special Pandan Coconut Cream (with less sugar by request) that was creamy, smooth and slightly grassy, with the flavor of the herbal Southeast Asian leaf that's used in dishes from that part of the world. The boba was a splurge I ordered because, well, who doesn't like boba, the chewy tapioca pearls that came from Taiwan and took over the world? Today there over forty boba shops in the Denver area.
Doan, a Denver native, knows boba — she was selling boba drinks in the early 2000s at Tapioca Express, the first boba shop in Denver. She's had a winding career in the two decades since, including as a realtor. But she wanted to return to her first love: tea. To do that, she started working nine months ago to launch Teahee.

Her vision was for a place that was bigger than boba. Boba might bring customers in the door, but she isn't focusing just on the hipster drink. "So, I like to think of this as more of a tea house than a boba shop," Doan says. "But we do serve boba."

Her passion is tea: traditional, old-school tea, from British Earl Grey to various custom-blended teas she creates such as "Fresh Mint Choco, "Gingy Tea," "Momo Peach" (sun-dried peaches and organic black tea with marigolds and other ingredients) and Sangria Blanco, organic black tea and green tea with jasmine flowers. These teas are served at the shop, and also available for purchase to brew at home.
"I always knew I wanted to go back to doing tea," Doan says. "All my own tea blends and everything, it's all incorporated. So I wanted to open up a little tea house, traditional tea."

Now that her life is back to tea, Doan got emotional during the lion dance, with tears streaming down her face.

Afterwards, she was behind the counter using a bamboo whisk to mix up matcha for a customer's milk tea order, looking for all the world like a master stirring the matcha for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. She laughed at the thought of being considered a matcha master, but admitted she would love to host traditional tea ceremonies some day. She even installed a low table with low seats in one corner, which she knows customers will probably assume is a kids' area. But it would also be perfect for sipping green tea, the old-fashioned way.

She admits with a smile, as if that's been her plan all along, "That'd be cool, right?"

Teahee is located in the Far East Center at 333 South Federal Boulevard #130 and is open from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Learn more at teahee.co.