The latest Japanese teahouse to open in Manhattan provides a lesson in ancient matcha rituals. The sensory experience begins with the smell of incense inside Sōrate’s new outpost in the Flatiron District. After that, a tea master prepares and serves the brew, with guests quietly taking in a “meditative ritual to enjoy the visuals and sounds,” said founder Silvia Mella. “You want to hear the water that is boiling and the whisk stirring the matcha with hot water in the ceramic bowl,” she added.