Philadelphia Tea

Tea Guy was born and raised in central Pennsylvania, so I'm no stranger to gloomy winters. But, after seven years in warmer climates, I'd forgotten how the unremitting bleakness begins to work on you (or maybe it's just me).

Mrs. Tea Guy and I decided to take a trip to Philadelphia yesterday and seek out some tea houses. Lo and behold, it turned out that we had an unseasonably sunny and warm day for it. Nearly brought a tear to my eye.

I initially planned six tea-related stops, but since we started late we shaved that number in half.

First up was Great Tea International, a small tea house near 18th & Sansom. It's located downstairs from street level and has about ten tables in one room, along with a nice selection of teas, teapots and other merchandise. I chose to take my tea with me, selecting a few ounces of rooibos and moving on to our next stop.

Which was Bubble House. It's also on Sansom, near Drexel University, at 34th Street. Bubble House is a nice, airy place, with plenty of light natural wood furnishings. We decided to have a little something to eat and, of course, some tea. It was quite delightful to be presented with a menu and a tea list.

Anyway, it was a day for firsts. Mrs. Tea Guy ordered an almond latte bubble tea - the first experience either of us have had with bubble tea. I don't see myself ever acquiring a bubble tea habit, but it was a nifty novelty type drink.

As for your humble author, after much study of the list, I decided to go with Pu Erh Mini Tuo Cha, which was another first for me (pu erh, that is). It was quite nice and I look forward to trying some more.

From there our next stop on the tour was supposed to be Teavana's King of Prussia location. But, due to some sort of directional befuddlement and accompanying flabbergastery that portion of our program had to be pushed back to a later date.