MAE ON, CHIANG MAI
The Tea Bar @ Skugga Farm
The Tea Bar sits on Skugga Estate Farm in the Mae On valley, 30 minutes from Chiang Mai city centre. The tea comes from the estate's own gardens on the same site, so the leaf travels a few hundred metres from plant to pot. Entry to the farm is free and the gates open daily.
Tea grown on the farm
The tea gardens are forest grown, which means the plants sit under existing tree cover rather than in cleared rows. The leaf is single origin in the strict sense. It comes from one place, and that place is a short walk from where it is served. The range runs from delicate white teas through to green. Very little tea served anywhere in Chiang Mai is grown within sight of the counter it is poured at.
Cacao husk tea
The chocolate lab on the farm produces cacao husk as a by-product of making bar chocolate. The shells are roasted and brewed as tea. The result is sweet and slightly tart, with the aroma of chocolate and none of the weight of a chocolate drink. Nothing is wasted and nothing is bought in. It exists because the cacao is processed here, which is the sort of thing only a farm that does both can put on a menu.
Blending your own
The bar is set up for blending rather than straight service. Natural ingredients and flavourings sit out on the counter, and the tea is built to the drinker's preference rather than handed over finished. The staff will steer anyone who has no idea where to start. The process takes a few minutes and the result is yours, which is a different proposition from ordering a pot and waiting.
The afternoon tea and coffee workshop
The estate runs a half day workshop covering tea and coffee together, held in the afternoon. It costs 1,100 THB per adult. The session is hands on and follows both crops from the plant through to the cup, which the farm can do because it grows and processes both. A separate chocolate workshop runs in the morning. The two combine into a full day that includes lunch at the farm BarBQ. Booking details sit on the workshops page.
One stop on a farm visit
The Tea Bar is one part of the farm rather than a reason to make the drive alone. The same site holds the Black Pig roastery, where coffee is processed by carbonic maceration, and the chocolate lab, where single-origin Thai cacao is turned into bar chocolate. The Classic Car Garage is there too. Skugga Estate Vineyard is a second site roughly 1.5km away, closed on Mondays. Most people take the Tea Bar as the quiet stop in the middle of a longer morning.
Practical information
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Location: The Tea Bar @ Skugga Farm, Skugga Estate Farm
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Address: Ban Sahakon 2, No. 29, Ban Sahakon Subdistrict, Mae On District, Chiang Mai 50130
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Farm hours: daily, 09:00 to 17:00
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Tea Bar hours: [confirm]
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Entry: free
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Workshop: 1,100 THB per adult, afternoon, half day
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Phone: +66 88 951 6697
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Enquiries: enquiries@skuggalife.com
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Getting there: 30 minutes by road from Chiang Mai city centre
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The vineyard: second site, approximately 1.5km away, closed Mondays
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Accommodation enquiries: stay@skuggalife.com, +66 98 519 6455