By Nora Allen

Since its beginning in 2002, Sencha Tea Bar, formerly known as Tea Garden, has truly made a name for itself. In its early years, Tea Garden was a hub for high school and college students to study and relax with something sweet after classes or on the weekends. In 2015, Sencha revamped their image to cater more to the elegance and experience of drinking tea to reach more seasoned tea drinkers while still hanging on to their long-time fans. With five locations in the Twin Cities area and a mural of Prince on the side of the original location in Uptown, this tea bar is surely a Minnesota favorite.

Design

A notable part of the revived tea bars is the new, sleek design of each store. All stores have gone from the green and purple color scheme of Tea Garden to a more monochrome palette to reflect its refined image. Each location has a nice seating area, with an option of bigger tables to spread out and work on, or a comfy couch or chairs to enjoy while you drink your tea. The most impressive part of the design is the large, revolving tea rack that hangs from the ceiling above the bar, filled with beautiful silver and rose-gold canisters of loose leaf tea.

Menu

The most exciting thing about the tea bar, however, is the menu. Sencha provides an almost overwhelming number of options to each tea drinker. For the loose-leaf lover, they have many options of each tea variety, such as green, oolong, black, tisane, chai and more. For those who want something a little heartier, they provide a wide range of tea lattes or shakes to satisfy anyone’s craving. Bubble tea, originated in Taiwan, is a crowd favorite here, with its combination of sweet, creamy milk tea and chewy, flavorful tapioca pearls or jellies at the bottom of your cup. Sencha is accommodating to any and every dietary preference, including dairy-free options, light sugar options, and a wide choice of flavors to add life to your drink.

Baristas

Combined with the high-quality atmosphere and menu is the high-quality staff. The baristas match the comforting and cozy, yet stylish and cool feel that Sencha emulates. All baristas have extensive knowledge about their tea selection, and, if you’re feeling adventurous, have great suggestions for something new for you to try. Though their menu can be intimidating to a first-timer, the baristas help to assuage your nerves with their openness to questions.

With its perfect mixture of sleek styling, satisfying selections and savvy staff, it’s no wonder that Sencha has become a favorite to Twin Cities natives and visitors alike. Stop in on your way to go shopping, site seeing or exploring, or take your time to relax with a good book. Either way, Sencha is sure to satisfy.