Miro Tea takes steeping to new heights

If I opened a Jell-O bar, would I be able to convince you that Jell-O is like fine wine? What if I served flavors like roasted peach with basil, chilled to perfection in a specialized cooler and served on 1950s-era tableware? And if I sold supplies that would so enhance your home Jell-O-making experience that you would be inspired to plan a Jell-O party (which you undoubtedly would never throw)?

I know. You're rolling your eyes. Another theme bar in the wine/sake/ice/oxygen genre isn't about to make you increase your appreciation of gelatinous edibles. But before you shrug off these types of bars altogether, you should know that there is one worth checking out. This bar is all about tea, and tea -- as I was quickly convinced on my first visit -- can indeed be as intriguing as a Premier Cru red Burgundy.

Within five minutes of approaching the counter at Miro Tea, which opened last month in Ballard, I had sampled a hand-twisted green tea, a toasted yerba mate and a rather smoky, musty-flavored pu-her, a tea of a somewhat acquired taste that is aged in Chinese caves, baked into dense little "cakes" and sold by vintage to tea connoisseurs who prize its complexities and health benefits.

In the meantime, I had told owner Jeannie Liu so much about my personal tea-drinking habits that I felt like I should be lying on a couch and paying her by the hour. I had also ordered a pot of black tea blended with lemongrass, eucalyptus, orange peel, safflowers and cornflowers, and a roasted apple, fig and walnut crepe to go with it.

Liu, whose family runs two Oasis Bubble Tea shops in Seattle, wants to change the way people perceive tea. In the presence of her 250 varieties, it's easy to see that tea's distinctions are practically infinite (which is especially shocking considering that all teas -- black, green, white, yellow, oolong, chai, etc. -- come from the same plant). She also reminds us that tea has played an important role not just in Asian cultures but also in American colonial society, and in Britain and Ireland, where she says tea bars are often as lively and animated as the local brewpub.

Her tea bar is a peaceful place, a spacious room of minimalist design, soft music and unpretentious warmth. In the morning, choose a Le Panier pastry from the bakery case. At lunchtime, sweet or savory crepes (try one with house-made ricotta cream, balsamic vinegar, aioli and tomato sauce) make a perfect light lunch. Delicacies from Green Lake's Hiroki Desserts and chocolates from Cocoa Chai have already made dessert the most popular meal at Miro.

Nonalcoholic iced-tea fusions such as the green-tea mojito, and bubbly concoctions like the oolong mimosa (oolong tea, basil, honey and orange juice), make tea drinking the kind of festive act you would expect from any great bar. And unlike the wobbly trends with synthesized substance some of those other theme bars are serving, the mixture of health, history and repose Miro is steeping is well worth a sip.