Place: Tierra Mia Coffee, 653 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
Tea of Choice: Honey Vanilla Tea Latte (what even is this?)*
Giraffe Rating (out of 5 | for tea): 1.21
I'm aware that it's been a hot minute since my last post, but I'm slipping one more in before the month is up. Between midterms, lab reports, spring break, and normal life, going to tea has not been a priority. However, I'm BACK AT IT AGAIN with the tE(a)scapades (It's ok, I cringed too).
Ok, back to TEA.
THAT'S MY APARTMENT-MATE.
For those of you who didn't know, which will be most of you, Charlotte is my apartment-mate. This curly-haired bombshell blew into my life this semester as a Sophomore Transfer student, and I am eternally grateful that she did. Charlotte is many things but most of all she is compassionate, caring and (c)tenderhearted - primary school alliteration #ftw. I don't think I've ever heard her complain about life or if she is it's in the context of how she wants to do more for others. When she's not giving back to the community, you'll find her perched on the couch serenading us with her epic guitar skills. Maybe this is a slight exaggeration given that she only started playing this semester, but if you had the privilege of listening to her play a B♭major scale whilst singing along note-for-note, you'd understand. During these college-soaked days filled with oodles of reading, an endless stream of assignments and ridiculous professor requests; I am SO thankful that I get to see this smiling face.
On this particular outing, I thought I'd branch out from my stereotypical choice of black teas, I will never do this again, well I will not be ordering a "honey vanilla tea latte" that's for sure! There was nothing particularly wrong with the drink per say, however, I'm almost 110% sure I entered a sugar comatose post drink, and my blood glucose levels are still recovering from the overdose.
What even is a Tea Latte? Who invented this weird hybrid? Initially I was convinced that the tea latte was a crass American invention made to spite the British, however, I soon learned that this is in fact not the case (but I do prefer this particular trail of logic than its actual creation). "Tea lattes are a variation on Caffe Lattes. Like Caffe lattes, they are typically made with steamed milk, and instead of espresso, they contain tea" - straight up icky. The animal kingdom equivalent would be a geep, which is a mix between a goat and a sheep; yes that is what a tea latte is to me. Everyone else thinks it's cute and endearing, whereas I would describe it as putrid. Charlotte didn't order tea...her crimes may be on par with the tea latte.
Pros: *crickets*... It's in the heart of Downtown LA and the staff is super friendly? (I'm clutching at straws here)
Cons: This location is tiny. I'm talking matchbox, ant-sized kind of small. You feel cramped and as though you're perpetually in the way regardless of whether you're seated or standing, irrespective of whether there are 2 or 20 customers. I couldn't taste the tea in the tea latte, which is really just the con of all cons #smh.
Thank you for coming to tea with me, Charlotte.
*Evil liquid posing as tea
Until next time,
BG