FOREST GROWN · SINGLE ORIGIN · BLEND YOUR OWN
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.
Free entry Open daily No booking needed
A FEW HUNDRED METRES AWAY
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. Shade slows the leaf down and the flavour follows. The range runs from delicate whites through to green, and every cup is single origin in the strict sense of the term. Very little tea served in Chiang Mai is grown within sight of the counter it is poured at.
Forest grown White through to green Single origin
FROM THE CHOCOLATE LAB
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, carrying the aroma of chocolate without the weight of a chocolate drink. Nothing is bought in and nothing is discarded. It exists because the cacao is processed here, which only a farm doing both jobs can put on a menu.
BUILT FOR BLENDING
BLEND YOUR OWN
The bar is built for blending rather than straight service. Natural ingredients and flavourings sit out on the counter, and the tea is assembled to the drinker's preference rather than handed over finished. Staff will steer anyone who has no idea where to start. The process takes a few minutes and the result belongs to the person who made it, which is a different proposition from ordering a pot and waiting for it to arrive.
Natural ingredients Staff Guidance A few minutes
HALF DAY · AFTERNOON · 1,100 THB PER ADULT
The tea and coffee workshop
The estate runs a half day workshop covering tea and coffee together, held in the afternoon at 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, and the two combine into a full day with lunch at The BBQ at Skugga. Dates and booking sit on the farm workshops page.
ONE STOP ON A FARM VISIT
The quiet stop in a longer morning
The Tea Bar is one part of the farm rather than a reason to make the drive on its own. 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 a short walk away. Skugga Estate Vineyard is a second site approximately 1.5km from the farm, open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays. Most visitors take the Tea Bar as the quiet stop in the middle of a longer morning.
Coffee grown on the farm and processed by carbonic maceration, roasted a few steps from the bar.
Black Pig Roastery
Coffee grown on the farm and processed by carbonic maceration, roasted a few steps from the bar.
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CHOCOLATE LAB
Single-origin Thai cacao turned into bar chocolate on site, and the source of the cacao husk tea.
READ MORE
CLASSIC CAR GARAGE
A private collection of British classics, a short walk from the Tea Bar at the top of the track.
SEE THE CARS
A second site approximately 1.5km away, open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays.
VISIT THE VINEYARD
SKUGGA VINEYARD
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