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In recent years, Loudoun County’s reputation as a brewery, brewery or distillation destination has shared space with its numerous coffee shops and local roasters. But please make way for tea, because several stores in the county have opened or are looking for opportunities.

The owner, JR Rena, attributed his family to his drive to open the first tea shop in downtown Leesburg. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented Rena from doing his favorite things. She has held many different roles in the restaurant industry, from chef to beverage director. He moved back to the Leesburg area to get closer to his family and plan his next route. 

"I really want to serve the people again," he said. "My family has always supported me. They said,'You should open your own place here. I think they said the same, so I won't really leave."

This tea drinker found the inspiration for UniTea Café based on his preference for drinking tea, not his mother's preference.

"My mother likes bobas and fruit drinks, and all these modern ways of drinking tea. I really like loose leaf tea, an ancient way of drinking tea. I like tea from smaller estates all over the world," he said.

"I think this business idea is just from walking around in Leesburg around the end of March, to signing the lease in April, to actually creating a menu that really unites all our family members in the form of tea," Rena said. "Combining different ways of drinking tea, whether it's the old way or the new way, still makes it exciting."

UniTea offers a diverse tea menu, supplemented by the same diverse sandwiches, snacks, pastries and dessert menus. The menu includes cuban sandwiches, banh mi sandwiches and avocado toast. For those who love sweets, try the sponge cake ube with flan. As the business develops, Rena hopes to eventually increase an opportunity for afternoon tea for his customers.

UniTea Café will be grandly opened on Thursday, July 8. The business hours are from 9 am to 9 pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and from 9 am to 4 pm on Sunday.

Following the success of the predecessor of Falls Church, TeaDM Lounge hopes to bring bright lights to Sterling at the end of this year or early next year.

TeaDM is more like a traditional dance club atmosphere than an ordinary tea house. The menu includes traditional beer and coffee, and its signature sea salt coffee is especially suitable for the crowd. Fresh fruit smoothies and teas are also provided.

Owner Jay Tran said that when the sun goes down, TeaDM will provide a series of late-night teas, paired with boba pearls and wine. Menu choices include lunch and dinner plates and Vietnamese cuisine and ice cream.

"We don't have this concept here," TeaDM's Tran said. "Hope this will work."

Empress Pearl Tea recently opened in the bustling shopping mall in the Main & Maple Center, creating a fashionable tea shop for Western Loudouners, offering a variety of teas and tea products. The menu of this Taiwanese tea shop includes a variety of traditional milk teas, from green jasmine to black oolong and chai, to the specialties-biscuit cream milk tea and tiger sugar milk tea. Fruit tea can be mixed with black tea, green tea or lemonade, or choose one of the specialty teas, such as dragon fruit mango green tea or tiki tea, which includes guava, passion fruit and mango. To relieve the summer heat, cream smoothies and fruit purees are also provided. Ingredients include marshmallows, tapioca pearls (large and mini), and flavored jelly.

It was this epidemic that prompted Elena Lozina to put her marketing brain into work and create a product-based business to participate in the matcha business. The company where Lozina bought her matcha went bankrupt, and the marketing business owner saw an opportunity.

"I have been thinking of ways to get it, so I thought I would try to make it myself. I like to make brands. I decided to brand the whole thing myself, design all the products, and jump to the deepest point," she said.

Matcha is a finely ground special green tea powder, produced in Uji, Japan, the capital of matcha. Lozina envisions that Kensho Tea will provide customers with a space to buy matcha products and utensils, as well as a bar that can make a variety of customized beverages, and provide snacks and desserts.

She said she is actively looking for a space in Leesburg where she has lived in the past year. Lozina said that she fell in love with the town immediately. "It really fits my mind," she said. Before she owns a physical store, Lozina will take Kensho Tea on the road and hold a series of pop-up stores in local companies. The next show will be held at Muz & Rose, 3 Loudoun St., Leesburg city centre on Saturday, July 18th. Tea drinks, ice lattes, summer lemonade and macarons will be available for purchase.

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Editor: This is a response to immediate and preemptive criticism of the vaccine authorization announced by President Biden

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