Dobra Tea

by Katie K.

Dobra Tea has developed somewhat of a cult following among certain groups of college students. People honestly have a standing date once a week here to hang out... and they keep going after they graduate... and talk about Dobra Tea all the time... It's a little strange. I went here once, and was frankly overwhelmed. We got a pot of tea and really liked it, but we were hungry. We could see that other people had food, but there was no menu for food, and our waitress had a bit of an attitude so we were too shy to ask her what they had for food. We drank our tea, tried not to stick out like sore thumbs amongst the other tea connoseuirs, and left promptly afterwards. I think we went to Starbucks. Dobra just wasn't our scene.

by Jess X.

What a great little place!I was a little overwhelmed by the menu, which was literally a small book filled with items and descriptions. It even included historical info about the teahouse and the various types of teas. You can also buy loose, dried teas to go and make at home. I ended up going for just a basic Indian chai, which is much, much different than those cloyingly sweet things passed off as chai in Starbucks and the ilk. This is much spicier and it's tempered with honey and milk. It was absolutely delicious. We also shared a platter of dried fruit and these delicious black sesame squares. The decor is cozy and cute, with an emphasis on cozy. This isn't the place to go with a large group because it's quite cramped really. I didn't notice until I was leaving that there are small private rooms where you sit on the floor around a low table. Those look wonderful! Service was a little confusing though, as it wasn't clear whether there was table service or whether you should just go up to the counter and order.  Service is on the slow side, so this isn't the kind of place to go if you're in a rush. This is where you go for a calm, slow-paced experience.

by Sarah R.

To preface this review, I typically wouldn't seek out a place like Dobra on my own. Sure, I love tea, but I am in no way a tea connoisseur. I'm the type of girl who gets her tea from a bag or Starbucks, and every time I go to a place like Tealuxe or Infusions, I'm the slack-jawed yokel who stands agog at all the choices in front of her before settling on something really safe and boring. Also, Dobra tends to attract people who are high on spirituality and low on materialism, so you can imagine my discomfort at the prospect of going to such a place. I found that I had no reason for concern.The environment is incredibly soothing and relaxing. Low lights, earth tones, lots of candles, different types of exotic music, and saloons in the back complete with beaded curtains, Oriental rugs, and low tables with little pillows for sitting upon set the scene for relaxation while enjoying some top-notch teas. When presented with the tea menu (which is really a book), we were totally overwhelmed until we read some more about the different types of teas offered. At Dobra, one can get tea from virtually all over the world, and each comes with an interesting description. We settled on a blooming anemone black tea, the exact name of which escapes me. It was a lovely accompaniment to sitting at the sidewalk on Church Street, people-watching on a gorgeous August day. The staff were also quite pleasant and very knowledgeable, which is obviously a requirement to work at a place like Dobra, where people take their tea seriously.The total for our one pot of tea (which would have yielded multiple infusions of tea, had we stayed longer) was approximately $5, and I purchased two types of tea to bring home, including the type I had tried during my time there. Dobra is a lovely little relaxing place to sit down and have a cuppa after a day of shopping on Church Street. I'd definitely come back on another trip to Burlington.

by Matthew M.

I really love the Rooibos chai that was purchased here, but nothing beat the experience of sitting on their platforms-with-pillows tables, enjoying the ambient music and the mellow people-watching, and indulging in one of Dobra's white teas.The tea here is fabulous, but it's the experience that seals the deal for me.  Service is poky, but so what?  You don't come here to rush; you come here to slow down and enjoy the finer things in life.

by Allison L.Meg O.Rachel B.Ann Y.

What an unexpected gift!I lived in the Czech Republic for six months and grew to love the Dobra Cajovna line of teahouses that you'll find in most cities of any significant size. When I came home, I gave up on the idea that I would ever experience something like that in the States.How wrong I was. It just took a few years and a trip to Burlington.The environment is spectacular. Everything was hand-assembled in Prague and shipped over from there. The tea is terrific, the menu huge. The servers are friendly and patient with many questions and anecdotes. I got some Genmaicha to take home to Adam, and I wish I could go to Dobra Tea every day!My second day in Vermont, back in the summer of 2006, my friend, her twin sister, and her sister's boyfriend and I climbed Camel's Hump, and then headed into Burlington for dinner. I was already smitten with Vermont as a state, but fell in love with Burlington as soon as I walked onto Church Street. The sister's now husband took us to Dobra Tea, where I was simultaneously overwhelmed and delighted by their huge, poetic menu, calmed by the soft interior and comfy cushioned seats, and refreshed by the tea and snacks. That summer, every trip to Burlington included an hour or two at Dobra, and it was lovely.Flash forward to summer 2009. I'm back in Vermont, the land that I love, for six weeks, and had a yen to spend the day in Burlington. The plan was simple enough: brunch, walk Church street a little, and then hole up at Dobra to read. I think my friends enjoyed Dobra as much as I did, although it did get chilly at times with the air conditioning. We all ordered iced teas, but I think when I go again I will revisit the Moroccan Mint and the Chrysanthemum teas, and then branch out. If you like Yerba Mate, this is the place to be. We stayed for several hours, reading and chatting at leisure, and I even finished Thackeray's Vanity Fair. Good afternoon. Good Burlington. Good Vermont.I was only in town for the night, but I fortunately stumbled upon Dobra Tea.  Beautiful decor, calming atmosphere, quality tea.  We took our shoes off and sat on the floor in a carpeted booth with dim lighting and folk music playing.  It was the perfect escape.I returned here this time with my husband in tote and I just adore this place. It is the BEST tea house I have ever been to. They have over seven types of Puer which is my husbands favorite. He was a bit overwhelmed but our server was patient with him and he found one that was perfect for him. I also had a Jasmine tea which was wonderful, though they gave me a weird look when I asked for sweetner, but whatever.  The baklava was very good. We had two pots of tea and baklava for around $13. I love the look alcoves with beads where you sit on the floor. It felt like a very spiritual experience. When the Urban Tea Lounge closed in Chicago, I didn't think I would ever find a place on par until I…

by Quinn S.

This one is epic.I have a special connection with this place that goes back long before they opened.  When I lived in Austria and needed to get away from it all, I would throw on a backpack and jump a train to my favorite place on earth.  Czesky Krumlov is a sleepy little haven in the Southern Bohemia region of the Czech Republic.  My favorite place within my favorite place was a teahouse on the bank of the river that snaked through the town and set the lazy pace of life.  The teahouse was called Dobra Cajovna.  The proprietors were young men with long beards who disliked the presence of German tourists and children, which kept the place a peaceful little sanctuary.  I would sit there for hours every day, drinking countless cups of Yogi Tea while sketching and writing or the Turkish Red with a new friend in the saloons, which is what they call the little curtained-off rooms filled with velvet cushions and a hookah.  In the summer we would sit and smoke and sip on the balcony that leaned out over the river, sheltered from the sun by bamboo curtains.Before he was allowed to open a teahouse, the man that ran Dobra Cajovna was required to tour the Orient learning about the tea he would be serving.  The walls were lined with black and white photos of the man bringing me my tea in Tibet and Turkey, posing with the local masters, learning the way of tea.  Not long after I returned to Burlington, a sign announced the opening of a shop called Dobra Tea in a space on Bank St. that once housed a hair salon.  Soon after they opened, I visited the shop and was so struck (stricken?) by the similarities before I even reached my table, that I asked the gent I met at the door if they were connected with the place in Czesky Krumlov and sure enough, the company owned several shops in the Czech Republic and one in Burlington, Vermont.  There is something special about the only Dobra outside of Europe being in my hometown, although their web site has a big banner ad for opening your own teahouse franchise.  I am guessing that they don't require you to travel the Orient before granting a franchise.  That day, he told me that the teahouse at Czesky Krumlov had been destroyed by a flood, but that they were in the process of rebuilding, so I am hoping that they will be there next time I make it back across the Atlantic.One of my favorite memories is of trying to order shisha along with a tea that the owner deemed inappropriate for smoking.  He started by saying that the tea was not well suited as an accompaniment to flavored tobacco, and when I responded that I didn't mind, he said that he couldn't in good conscience take my order without trying to dissuade me.  Although he would never outright refuse my order, he would not leave my side until I caught on that all of his suggestions were the polite and traditionally appropriate way of telling me that no way in hell would he bring me that tea and a pipe.  I am certain that he had enough polite and evasive responses to leave me blue in the face before he would ever resort to a simple "no."  In Burlington, they take a different approach to reach the same end.  The pipe comes with a complimentary pot of appropriate tea.  I think you can choose between the Turkish Red that I used to drink and a mint tea.  The Burlington location is also the first to employ women, since we enforce those pesky equal-rights laws that some other countries don't seem to bother with.  It's no big surprise that they are just as knowledgeable, chill and wise as the guys.  The Burlington shop does a nice job of replicating the originals, and has overcome those bleeding-hearted liberal "no smoking in a teahouse" laws by serving the shisha outside, but that drastically limits the times of year you can smoke it.

by Rachel B.

I was only in town for the night, but I fortunately stumbled upon Dobra Tea.  Beautiful decor, calming atmosphere, quality tea.  We took our shoes off and sat on the floor in a carpeted booth with dim lighting and folk music playing.  It was the perfect escape.

by Meg O.

My second day in Vermont, back in the summer of 2006, my friend, her twin sister, and her sister's boyfriend and I climbed Camel's Hump, and then headed into Burlington for dinner. I was already smitten with Vermont as a state, but fell in love with Burlington as soon as I walked onto Church Street. The sister's now husband took us to Dobra Tea, where I was simultaneously overwhelmed and delighted by their huge, poetic menu, calmed by the soft interior and comfy cushioned seats, and refreshed by the tea and snacks. That summer, every trip to Burlington included an hour or two at Dobra, and it was lovely.Flash forward to summer 2009. I'm back in Vermont, the land that I love, for six weeks, and had a yen to spend the day in Burlington. The plan was simple enough: brunch, walk Church street a little, and then hole up at Dobra to read. I think my friends enjoyed Dobra as much as I did, although it did get chilly at times with the air conditioning. We all ordered iced teas, but I think when I go again I will revisit the Moroccan Mint and the Chrysanthemum teas, and then branch out. If you like Yerba Mate, this is the place to be. We stayed for several hours, reading and chatting at leisure, and I even finished Thackeray's Vanity Fair. Good afternoon. Good Burlington. Good Vermont.

by Niko X.

Burlington has more than its share of great coffee houses--none of which serve great tea.  Dobra Tea has filled in that gap.  Tucked just off Church Street, entering Dobra is like being transported far, far from post-hippy, college town Vermont.  The cavernous atmosphere is broken up into mini-little rooms, some of which have pillows to prop yourself up upon the floor.  The mood is set; bring on the Bible -o-tea.  Yes, that's right.  Dobra has a tea menu that's easily two inches thick.  Sorted by country of origin, you can select teas from traditional locations like Japan to more exotic, less-known selections from Vietnam.  Depending on your selection, you receive a different size or style teapot, which I'd assume is best suited for steeping that type of tea.  The experience is decidedly religious.  Unfortunately, some of the staff are arrogant hipster-wannabes (hence Dobra's lack of a fifth star).  However, I've been waited on by some nice staff who graciously brought me extra hot water to 'stretch' my tea pot to a few more cups.

by Madeline L.

This is my favorite place to go with my friends in Burlington! I go to boarding school in Burlington, so when I get the chance, this is my little place to go and escape all of the drama and crap that goes on there. Dobra tea is an awesome place if you are into tea- they have so many options. Although it does get a little annoying when you have to wait for a seat sometimes in the middle of the day, or if you want a booth in the back when you have a large party.Dobra tea has some of the BEST baklava EVER. Its made by someone local in town, and its great to go along with your tea. If it is your first time going, make sure you check out their Specialty Tea portion of the menu.