On a Friday after school, my friend and I decided to visit Little Leaf Tea in order to satisfy our tea cravings. I heard great reviews about the place and their variety of tea selection and knew that I would enjoy the gourmet tea.

They offer numerous types of tea, including exotic flavors such as Oolong tea, Artisan tea and White tea. The restaurant provides over 150 teas and they can be ordered both hot or cold, depending on the customer?s preference.

When I first entered the place, I could smell the pungent aroma from the tea. On the walls, they have different types of teas in big jars with names labeled. The pleasant aroma and the visual display of the teas definitely made it clear that they specialized in tea and my expectation grew. The restaurant is pretty small with about six tables inside. It resembles a family owned restaurant and provides a cozy environment.

As we approached the counter, we were greeted by a friendly worker who handed us the menu. When I opened the menu, I was surprised to find out that the restaurant not only had tea, but also variety of food items. The selection included bagels, salads and desserts such as cookies, danishes and fruit pies. Although I was tempted to order one of the pastries, I wanted to test the water first by tasting their tea. I ordered taro slush tea with pearl and my friend ordered iced Irish creme cherry.

The prices are pretty reasonable, since both of our drinks combined were around $8.00. They are cheaper than other tea and coffee places in town. Like Pearl Tea House includes pearls in their drink for free, Little Leaf Tea also adds their pearls in their drink with no extra charge; some places charge around $0.50-1.00 for pearls.

After we ordered our drinks, my friend and I sat in one of the tables and waited for our drinks to come. The atmosphere of the restaurant is pretty nonchalant, as they were not very busy at the time. There were few people inside reading and enjoying their drinks, just as in any typical restaurant.

After waiting about five minutes, our drinks came out. I was very excited to try my tea, since the vibrant color seemed like it was full of flavor. However, disappointment came as I took my first sip. Although the drink looked very tasty, it did not meet up to my expectation and I was completely dissatisfied. The drink did not taste like tea, but rather tremendous amount of powder and water mixed in. I could not taste the taro at all, and they put so much ice that I felt as if I was drinking water with powder.

Besides the tea itself, the pearls disappointed me as well. They were very mushy and got all over my teeth, when they are supposed to be chewy. It is safe to say that the taro tea at The Little Leaf Tea was the worst pearl tea I have ever tasted.

My friend?s drink also did not turn out very well. Her drink also tasted very bland and watered down. Both of the drinks that we ordered did not satisfy our tea cravings at all. We were almost certain that our tea was made by a newly hired employee. In fact, we visited local tea place, Teazer World Tea Market, in order to get the bad taste out of our mouths.

Overall, I was very disappointed with my experience at Little Leaf Tea. They do not live up to their reputation and excellent reviews. Although they are a bit cheaper than their competitors, I would rather spend extra few dollars and go to a different tea place, where tea actually tastes like tea, not powered water.

For more reviews, read the April 8 article, History Channel showcases ‘The Bible’ television series, Week 5 (VIDEO).