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The best spots for a cuppa!
High Ground Cafe
301 E Market St, Iowa City,
925 E 2nd Ave, Coralville
The Northside location of this cozy cafe is a hotspot for study groups with a boisterous reputation for its music and comedy shows. High Ground Cafe recently opened a second location at the former Water Street Coffee Bar in Coralville’s Iowa River Landing. Both locations offer an extensive selection of teas—topping out at over 20 different varieties of Numi organic tea.
The highlight from the list is the Iron Goddess of Mercy, a tea for longevity. As a full-bodied, smooth loose leaf with a dry, sweet finish, this tea arguably hits full-throttle in its second or third steep, which can be enjoyed regardless of whether one finds leisure or utility in their tea. For all you coffee fiends, rest assured, High Ground Cafe also executes well-prepared coffee and other cafe beverages.
Leaf Kitchen
301 1/2 Kirkwood Ave, Iowa City
To call afternoon tea an Anglophile event at Leaf Kitchen is a bit of a misnomer. Rooted in both owners’ heritage from East Asia, afternoon tea reflects the ceremonial aspect in Asian heritage, while offering a chance for people to reflect upon their day in preparation for the evening. Naming the spot for their dedication to tea, co-owners Masae Yoshino Judge and Harriet Woodford close Leaf Kitchen’s door at 2 p.m. for specialty tea gatherings that are reserved for private parties large or small.
Alongside a personal teapot, Leaf Kitchen offers finger food, such as scones and small sandwiches, á la the British tradition. The menu is chef Judge’s choice, highlighting the current menu and seasonal ingredients. From a selection of 15 loose leaf teas, ranging from herbal to green to black, customers choose which teapot will accompany their meal. Popular teas are the Houjicha, a green tea made with roasted Sencha leaf that transforms the intrinsic grassy flavor into something smoky, and Victorian Rose, a black tea that adds aromatic rose petals into an English Breakfast Tea, good for multiple steeps.
Bubble Pop
201 S Clinton St, Iowa City
There are three shops in Iowa City solely dedicated to bubble tea, a satisfying mix of boba (tapioca pearls), black tea, condensed milk and honey. Bubble Pop, located in the Old Capitol Mall, serves 25 flavors of bubble tea, either hot or cold (predominantly the latter), milk- or water-based and in slushy or liquid form.
Biting into the boba can be a bit of a surprise to the unsuspecting palette, but its savory-sweet, gummy texture brings a multi-sensory experience to the drink, and the inclusion of boba makes drinking the tea more of an interactive experience. Bubble Pop, despite being a storefront in a shopping mall, captures the minimalist design aesthetic of East Asia. The bar is sleek and contoured, lined with only a display fridge and blenders. Korean and Japanese pop music can be heard on repeat. Even the ordering process is a bit mechanized, reciting clearly printed directives to a teller. It feels only natural to pay with a card.
Coffee Emporium
220 3rd Ave SE, Cedar Rapids
The Coffee Emporium in Cedar Rapids might strike one as simply a cup-of-joe kind of place. But this quaint coffeeshop also offers a staggering 19 types of tea from the Republic of Tea. The Coffee Emporium is located in downtown Cedar Rapids, an area rebuilt through resolve since the 2008 flooding. Nestled in between office buildings and parking structures, this cafe caters to the bustle of nearby businesses. The Coffee Emporium, open only from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, naturally is a grab-and-go hub. That shouldn’t deter anyone from ensconcing themselves, though, if one of the five tables is available.
With winter streets covered in snow and salt, and southwesterly gales from Quaker Oats redolent of oatmeal, the Cardamom Cinnamon tea, with its hearty herbal notes reminiscent of ginger is the perfect choice, floral but not overwhelmingly sweet. If one prefers sweetness, the Hibiscus green tea is tart and fruity. For those looking to get wired, The Coffee Emporium also serves Earl Grey and British Breakfast black teas in addition to traditional coffee drinks.
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