Boulder Dushanbe Tea House

Boulder Dushanbe Tea House

Years in Business: 25

Address: 1770 13th Street, Boulder, Colorado

Phone: (303) 442-4993

Boulder, Colorado's sister city happens to be Dushanbe, Tajikistan.  Tajikistan is a small, mountainous country in Central Asia full of beautiful views, architecture, and people.  I happened to have visited Central Asia in 2008 so finding such an authentic piece of that culture in the United States is like taking a 25,000 mile trip in just a couple of hours.

In honor of their sister city status, Dushanbe sent Boulder this beautiful tea house.  And I mean sent it.  From large cargo containers this beautiful structure was erected, ornate ceilings and posts in all.

The tea house has over 100 different varieties of tea all carefully selected and in some cases blended by owner and specialist, Sara Stewart Martinelli.  Try their Sparking Hibiscus iced tea as a complement to any meal.  And speaking of meals you will find traditional Central Asian fair.  Although to be honest, their plof and shashlik are a bit fancier than what you'll actually get in Tajikistan.

Plan your day around high tea too if you care or if you're around in the summer sign up for the Rocky Mountain Tea Festival for a weekend of great tea tasting.

Flatirons Coffee, Boulder

2721 Arapahoe Ave.
Boulder, CO

Years in Business: 3

For at least 20 years, the corner of 28th and Arapahoe has been a coffee shop.  It originally was a Peaberry Coffee shop but in 2009, when the Peaberry contract ended, the owners decided to stay on as their own independent shop.

I remember visiting this shop when I was a tiny kid on my way to gymnastics practice.  It was the first place I had ever had an Italian Soda.  The shop has lost none of its charm and their coffee drinks are great.  I opted for a white mocha and the sweeting was not too sweet and the espresso tasted right on.