Downtown has a host of coffee shops that allow you to burn a hole though your stomach on your break. But here's a healthy alternative: iced tea ... on tap!
Twelve teas on tap at the Scented Leaf, a popular hangout on University Boulevard.
It's a staple at The Scented Leaf, a teahouse that's been stimulating University Boulevard since summer of 2012. The local business is about to open its second location at 308 E. Congress St. next door to Martin Drug Co. (formerly Proper).
When it opens in the next couple weeks, the shop will offer 16 different teas on tap with a unique menu that allows you to blend and create different drinks. Owners Shane and Adrienne Barela bring in more than 60 looseleaf teas at any given time, most of which are displayed prominently on a wall behind the counter. You can order the teas hot or iced, and then choose to add sugar, milk or lemon.
To get a better idea of what it's about, a coworker and I hit up the original location at 943 E. University Blvd. If this place is any indicator, the downtown digs will probably draw a huge crowd ...
This picture was taken right before somebody dropped their iced tea all over the ground. The dogs were not happy.
The small room was packed to the gills with students and canines and other humans, people typing and chatting and sipping iced drinks from plastic cups. (This could have something to do with the store's generous refill policy. First refill on a large tap tea is $1, second one is free throughout the day.)
You work your way up to the counter and an employee asks you what type of mood you're in, "fruity, spicy, herbal," etc ... I felt "fruity" that day, so I was recommended a Fruit Bomb with five different teas from the tap, as well as yerba mate, sweetener and lemon. Honestly, it reminded me of those Teavana iced passionfruit teas you can get at Starbucks. It was fruity and herbal and a little sweet, but not overpowering in the slightest.
Other iced tea concoctions include an Apple Cinnamon Chai and a Fruity Thai with vanilla and papaya passion.
The new location looks a little more downtown chic than the original, but check out this cool mural in progress. It's being painted by former UA art student Tommy Chek, the Scented Leaf employee responsible for the colorful mural in the first store.
