There may be a Starbucks on every street corner, but skip the Tazo, the prepackaged goods and the long lines... and head to your local tea shop. For month's I've been wanting to check out Tea Essence - a little place just a few steps from the L and a few blocks from my house. Well, today I finally did - and let me tell you fresh is best. When you walk into this place they have a table with an impressive spread of over 50 different types of blends all in little sampling jars for you to take a sniff. After a friendly recommendation from the hostess - I went with a warm treat off the signature list - the Autumn Kauai Cocktail... a blend which was quite lite & tasty.On top of several drinks to choose from, Tea Essence also offers tea tasting & blending classes - and to piggy back on the game posts... they have board games too! Make the most of the unpredictable Winter/Spring climate - and go with a hot masala chai one day & a sweet Arnold Palmer the next.
My prediction: First - 40 was the new 30, now Tea is the new Coffee....
To find your own neighborhood tea house - check out All the Tea in Chicago, and if Tea Essence is in your hood - try Yelp or Twitter for more.
Tea Essence
1913 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 276-2727
(Photo: nytimes.com)
1 comments:
Hey Reb - here's another great Tea place...Tea Gschwendner is on State Street (I think State and Elm). I stopped in there "randomly" last summer and it's awesome! Now I'm a huge tea fan. Love Random Chicago - keep it up!!
LC
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