A Chinese tea house pops up at The Met, with an ancient ceremony

Fine arts require fine drinks, and The Met now has a tea house worthy of sharing its historic halls.

Tea Drunk at The Met, an outpost of the East Village’s popularChinese teahouse, is now open on the balcony overlooking the museum’s Great Hall. Surrounded by antique Asian ceramics (a preview of the new exhibit Age of Empires coming next month), you can take part in an authentic Gong Fu-style tea ceremony, a delicate ritual that emerged in medieval China over 1,000 years ago.

The service can be had with five varieties of specialty tea at a range of prices, including the rare Wu Long Tea, which is roasted to bring out its qualities ($50), and includes miniature cookies and cakes. For visitors just looking to enjoy a cup ($9), the cafe offers green, black, white and fermented teas grown by heritage farmers in China, as well as coffee and Chinese pastries.

Tea Drunk at The Met will be open for three months, Sunday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The opening coincides with the start ofAsia Week New York, which celebrates Asian art across museums and galleries in the city from March 9-18.