When I left Minneapolis I threw away my Tea Garden loyalty card, a decision I've regretted ever since the Steepery opened downtown.
A sister location to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Tea Gardens, the Steepery offers the same assortment of bubble teas and chai lattes that I loved in MN. There's also Alternative Baking Company cookies (gluten free included) and baked goods (vegan options available).
While I love a good chai latte (hazelnut? almond? peppermint? so many possibilities) my new favorite is the Royal Tea Latte. I asked what the base tea mix is made from because I just can't get downtown enough to drink this nutty, toasted concoction. It's a trade secret, unfortunately, but that's fair enough. I'll work my way through the assortment of looseleaf teas to see if I can figure it out myself!
For those who prefer their drinks less sweet (i.e. me), you can request lattes with less sugar. They mix straight black tea into the sweetened flavored tea which technically dilutes the flavor but it's worth it to me because, for my palate, too much sugar takes away from the flavor too.
Come summer I'll switch to the bubble teas (green tea with watermelon and strawberry jellies is my classic combination) but for now, I'm loving the appearance of my favorite MN lattes.