Salty Oat Cookies at Teaism

Posted by Edmund in Bakeries & Sweets, Washington, DC | 0 comments

Bakery/Café Type: Chinese-Inspired Teahouse.
Specialty: Salty Oat Cookie.
Location: 3 Locations in Washington, DC. Mine is at 2009 R St. NW.
Price: $2 for the Salty Oat and Chocolate Salty Oat Cookies.

Washington, DC is a veritable wasteland when it comes to cookies. Never, in fact, have I had a cookie in DC that simply knocked my socks off…that is, until I tried the Salty Oat Cookie at Teaism, a modern teahouse and café with a Chinese influence.

It’s all the more surprising because I absolutely hate oat or oatmeal cookies. Whenever I buy a cookie, I go immediately for the heaviest ingredients, typically something very chocolaty or very sweet (or even better, both!). The Salty Oat Cookie is not my type of cookie, then. Still, it has been hailed as the holy grail of DC cookies so many times that even I had to give it a shot.

While I’m still not convinced that the Salty Oat Cookie is the best cookie in DC, I can see why it has so many fans, since this is easily one of the most flavorful, complex takes on an oatmeal raisin cookie I’ve ever eaten. The cookie itself is rather thick, allowing Teaism to integrate tons of full raisins directly into the cookie without destroying its natural shape. And even though it’s so thick, that’s not a problem at all, because it is very moist. Best of all, though, the Salty Oat Cookie finds a perfect balance between the buttery and the gritty, the former being the perfect texture for a cookie and the latter for the oats. Moreover, it’s so packed with rolled oats that you actually feel like you’re eating oats in every bite. In that sense, the cookie largely succeeds, as it captures its flavor extremely well.

The Salty Oat Cookie is, however, much more than that, as it has a level of balance you just can’t find in any other oatmeal raisin cookie. In terms of flavor, the heavy, buttery oat and the slight salt help to balance out the raisin sweetness and the sugar in the dough. In terms of texture, the buttery dough, the gritty oats, and the chewy raisins come together with a semi-hardened (almost burnt) top for perfect harmony.

On the other hand, the Chocolate Salty Oat Cookie fares far worse than the original. It still has the heavy, gritty oat flavor, but here the addition of an equally strong, if not dominating, chocolate flavor makes the whole combination a bit muddy and interferes with the more natural, refreshing flavor of the oat. Nor does the salt seem quite so natural a fit, as the chocolate already has a balancing bitterness to it, and the salt only takes it a bit too far. I do appreciate the introduction of large, delicious chocolate chips into the batter, but those semi-melted chips are the only smooth part of the whole cookie. Unlike its much more delicious sister, the Chocolate Salty Oat Cookie is surprisingly dry and hard, especially with all those large chunks of oats and chips mixed in (It’s literally covered in oats, breaking up the smoothness). In turn, you can’t tear the cookie apart easily, as it crumbles into pieces. Really, it’s shocking just how much worse this cookie is than the last.

While Teaism doesn’t deliver on its Chocolate Salty Oat Cookie, though, it’s an easy problem to overlook, as its original Salty Oat is easily one of the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever tasted. I won’t say this is the “holy grail” of oatmeal raisins, but it is a very natural-tasting, intense, and perfectly executed cookie. Just avoid the chocolate.

Scores for the Cookies

Salty Oat: 4.6/5.0
Chocolate Salty Oat: 2.0/5.0

Scores for the Café

Ambience: 4.0/5.0, though this will vary by location.
Taste: 4.0/5.0. Bonus points for a superb tea collection (easily the best I’ve seen in a café in DC).
Value: 4.0/5.0
Verdict: 4.0/5.0. Highly recommended for the Salty Oat Cookie and a great cup of tea, but I really can’t say much for the other treats.