Tea Time?

We serve over 25 varieties.

Tea is the second-most consumed drink in the world, surpassed only by water. However, a surprising fact to tea novices is that all teas come from the same plant. The scientific name of this versatile plant is Camellia Sinensis. The different varieties of Camellia leaves (black, white, green and oolong) stem from how they are made. We also steep other leaves and herbs, such as Herbal Teas, but those are technically not teas, but Tisanes.

ask about our ingenuiTEA steeper

How tea leaves are processed will determine their final classification as black, white, green, and oolong teas. The main difference between the many tea varieties is how much oxygen the leaves are allowed to absorb during processing. More oxygen produces dark-colored black teas. Less oxygen results in green tea. Unprocessed leaves are classified white tea. The oxygenation process also tends to affect the caffiene level of the tea, so the lighter the tea, the less caffiene. Herbal teas, since they do not actually contain tea oxidized leaves, are generally naturally caffiene free.

The interest and understanding about tea has been growing in recent years. We at @spot Cafe have found the absolute best variety of tea that you'll see in Chicago and beyond in a wide variety of tea that you'll absolutely love. Why?

Quality - Our staff can tell you about the amazing variety of tea that we provide and what type of tea would go great with all our locally made food options. You're not getting a pre-packaged bag of dust from a box but a freshly scooped tea made from the finest ingredients in the world. Want to know for yourself? We have a wall-of-tea in our cafe so that you can smell any of the teas before you try them! Just ask us about all of our options.

Preparation - One of the most exciting aspects of our tea selection is how we prepare it. One common misconception about tea is that all you need to do is throw a bag in hot water and drink it.  Not true!  Different teas have different "steeping" times, which means how long our fresh tea leaves should soak their flavor into the water. They also have unique steeping temperatures. We'll be happy to inform you how long your tea should steep, and at what temperature.  ou can get your tea to go or for here, though we encourage you to stay with us solely to experience the ingenuiTEA steeping experience!