We’ve been hearing great things about Udon Thani’s coffee scene, and now the Northeastern city has welcomed its own minimal-style teahouse. Leisure (092-280-0772, www.fb.com/llleisure) is run by Sitanan Chattrachirarat, an architect who turned her back on Bangkok to follow her love of tea and dessert.

The tea is sourced from Europe, Taiwan, Japan and China, with highlights including Dongfang Meiren (aka Oriental Beauty), a famous highly oxidized tea from Taiwan, and Gyokuro, one of the most expensive green teas from Japan.

The tea-pairing desserts include matcha panna cotta and brioche toast gluay khai (lady finger banana) and taeng Thai (musk melon). It will soon serve its own house-blended tea: leaves come from a plantation in Nakhon Phanom mixed with local herbs such as pak wan (sweet leaves of the star gooseberry tree) and Isaan mint. 

See also: 26 reasons why visiting Isaan has never been this exciting