Throw a Tea Party Like a Grownup

In the early 2010s, when Madhu Sharoff lived in the Bay Area, homemade chai was his ultimate party trick. “My friends would say, ‘Let’s have a chai party.’ And the next thing I knew, there were 15 or 17 people coming over,” Sharoff says. Eager to share Indian chai culture with growing crowds of friends and acquaintances, he would arrive at people’s houses with snacks and tea-making supplies. “After a while, I had to start delegating some of the menu because the pastry prices were adding up,” he adds, laughing.

Those gatherings inspired Sharoff to found Kimbala Chai, a company whose chai concentrates and ready-to-drink beverages are sold online and in grocery stores nationwide, in 2019. “The beauty of tea is it’s very versatile. You can have it with so many things,” Sharoff says. “You can change how you serve it and what you serve with it depending on the occasion, the crowd, and other things.” 

Tea parties are inclusive, too. Whether you’re interested in booze-free happy hour alternatives, or you’re a longtime tea enthusiast with special offerings to share, tea invites everyone to the party.

Here’s everything to know about how to throw a tea party.

Set the Schedule

One of the benefits of a modern tea party is it can occur at any time of day. “Most people think of happy hour as an after-work event,” says Cathy Strange, Whole Foods’ ambassador of food culture. “But, since tasting tea has no restrictions on time of day, this opens up many opportunities for when or how to host a tea party.” 

If you plan to serve varieties that contain a lot of caffeine, such as oolong or matcha, your guests might prefer an earlier hour. In that case, your tea party might be a midday affair or alternative to weekend brunch.

If caffeine isn’t a concern, host your tea parties in the late afternoon or early evening. “A lot of people don’t drink alcohol anymore,” says Veronika Vogler, cofounder of Bardo Tea in Portland, Oregon, one of Imbibe’s 75 Places to Watch in 2025.  “Tea is such a nice way to still have community and still feel like you’re going out.”  

Choose Your Format

Which teas you serve and how you prepare them can be as simple or complex as you like. Brew a large pot of one type of tea and ask your friends for their impressions, or simply let the conversation wander and the tea speak for itself. 

When Sharoff hosted chai parties, he usually opted for the latter approach. “You can make chai quickly and then sit down and drink,” he says. “Chai is just the companion that helps the conversations open up.”

If you’d prefer a more structured tasting, sample an array of varieties side by side or in succession. “I would recommend serving three teas maximum to be able to distinguish flavors,” says Strange, such as Earl Grey alongside a jasmine or other green tea plus a flavored option. “If the group you’re hosting is already very familiar with different varieties of tea, you could try tasting teas from different countries for a fun, beyond-the-basics taste test.”

Alternatively, make tea the main event and organize a gongfu cha-style tasting. A centuries-old Chinese practice, gongfu cha demonstrates how tea evolves as it steeps. “The drinkers have a small pot that they pack their tea leaves into,” explains Volger.  “Using boiling water, [you] infuse the pot with short steeps, starting at around 15 seconds and adding time to each steep thereafter for 8 to 12 steeps, depending on the tea.”

The name gongfu cha roughly translates to “making tea with skill,” and it’s an immersive way to experience tea. “You are able to see the leaf open and develop in flavor,” says Vogler. “Each cup is different, so that kind of journey can be fun for a group of friends to have with one or two teas.”

Whichever approach you choose, handle your tea with care. “The key to hosting a tea party is that water temperature has to be right and the steeping should be timed perfectly so as not to over extract and create bitterness,” says Strange. “I recommend using an infuser if the tea is loose.” 

Plan the Menu

For casual tea parties, pair your tea with whatever snacks or dishes you might break out for brunch or aperitif hour, such as pastries, crudité, or mixed nuts. 

“In India, a lot of people serve chai with namkeen, which are salty snacks,” says Sharoff. His Californian crew tended to go for baked goods instead, especially when the chai parties were held earlier in the day. 

If you really want to lean into the theme, serve dishes that use tea as an ingredient, like Nik Sharma’s apple marsala chai cake, Rahanna Bisseret Martinez’ oolong tea flan, or Philip Khoury’s Earl Grey loaf cake.

Keep an Open Mind

Like tasting wine, or perfecting your martini, it takes time to find your favorite teas. If you don’t like every cup you brew, that’s useful information and part of the journey. 

“You have to figure out what you like, and the tea will inform you over time how you should brew it and drink it,” says Vogler. “At Bardo, we always say that we had to drink a lot of bad tea in our lives to get to the good tea! Tea takes time.”