Day #2 of my teacation in the Bay Area was spent in Santa Cruz!
Om Gallery: Not a tea shop, but I did find a really beautiful mug in this gift shop. I have collected coffee cups for years, and I also collect mermaid things, so naturallly I’ve wanted a mermaid-themed coffee cup for some time. Finally I found one! It’s this really pretty cup that is a jade color in a solid glaze, with a mermaid handle, and it’s a larger size, while most of my mugs are a typical 10-12 oz. size. I don’t have many of the 16 oz. size so it’s a nice addition. (And I don’t care how “unclassy” it is that I prefer to drink my tea out of coffee mugs, it’s just what I tend to do most of the time. Not pretty British teacups, or little Asian gong fu sets. Plain ol’ coffee mugs. You can revoke my tea license now.)
Buttercup Cakes and Farmhouse Frosting: Had another Afternoon Tea! (Why would one be enough?) They have a small dessert Cream Tea or a larger Savory Tea option available. We both got the Savory Tea (and they did have several vegetarian/vegan options available for my friend). You get a scone or a crumpet at the beginning of the tea (they let my friend substitute with a vegan muffin they had in their bakery) and the scone they had that day was pumpkin spice so I opted for that, and you can pick three items to go with your tea off their savory menu. I picked the Itty Bitty BLT (candied bacon, butter lettuce, tomato, mayo on French bread), their hand pie of the day (it was a butternut squash and kale in seasonings, and one of the best things I’d ever tasted; I bought another from the bakery front on my way out!), and a bowl of their soup du jour, which was pumpkin and tomato bisque, which was divine!, and you get one of their speciality cupcakes from their huge cupcake menu (I picked the chocolate with hibiscus frosting, but I wanted to try so many that I bought several more from the bakery storefront on the way out: orange with earl grey frosting, carrot cake with spice ginger frosting, and horchata). Their tea menu wasn’t as expansive as Lovejoy’s, but they did serve their tea in the pot in bags, which I appreciated, as that meant I could remove the leaf after it was steeped, so I didn’t have a bitter pot late into the tea. I got a darjeeling tea that had a nice light body and decent muscatel notes. The food here was really amazing!
Hidden Peak Teahouse: One of my favorite tea shops! It offers Asian teas (blacks, greens, oolongs, pu-erhs) and you can order a full gong fu service, a gaiwan, or a small Asian teapot with a steeping basket inside. There are also tons of snacks on the menu (and they are all vegan friendly, which my friend appreciates). Some of the pu-erhs are ridiculous price-per-serving, but mostly everything is very reasonable. The teahouse is a tech-free zone and meant to be reflective and for visiting with friends. I got a gaiwan serving of the Lotus Brick (2000) shou pu-erh. I found the taste very earthy, a bit mineral, but there were lots of nutty notes.
Pacific Thai: Had some bubble tea here with my dinner. I got lychee flavor and it was great! Lots of flavor and boba, it was very nice! My friend got iced Thai tea made with coconut milk and was quite happy with that, as well.
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Wow, all of those food items at Buttercup do sound amazing… Now I’m hungry.
Wait, we were supposed to be using fancy teaware? hides her Pokemon and Kylo Ren mugs
I already love Hidden Peak, though this was only my third time there. I’m glad I got to introduce my son and daughter in law to the place too. My new discovery was Buttercup Cakes and Farmhouse Frosting. Wow! I’ll definitely be going back.
As you saw, I drink tea at home from a big stein.
Wow, all of those food items at Buttercup do sound amazing… Now I’m hungry.
Wait, we were supposed to be using fancy teaware? hides her Pokemon and Kylo Ren mugs
I already love Hidden Peak, though this was only my third time there. I’m glad I got to introduce my son and daughter in law to the place too. My new discovery was Buttercup Cakes and Farmhouse Frosting. Wow! I’ll definitely be going back.
As you saw, I drink tea at home from a big stein.