The Loose Teas Cafe and Gifts

I had such a great experience with this place today! The best experience I’ve had in SoCal in a while, maybe ever. I just found it on Unilocal,went there for lunch and will DEFINITELY be back! I was greeted by a very nice women when I walked in. I told her I had never been there and she recommended a few things. She was very informative and very helpful. I felt comfortable in a place I had never been.
I got a chicken panini and a sweetened Almond Biscotti tea. The sandwich was very good but the tea is the BEST tea I have ever had! I’m dreaming about another one for lunch tomorrow!
I am honestly so impressed with this place. They have numerous teas to choose from, displayed on the wall that you can smell. They made my tea fresh on the spot. Sooo good!

I LOVE this place. What a heaven for tea lovers! They have dozens of loose leaf organic tea options, and have a wall of canisters where you can smell each variety. You can buy it brewed or loose leaf. Prices are not cheap, but reasonable for good tea.
I ordered an iced unsweetened green tea with Boba, and they brew it fresh and perfectly, and the boba is cooked just right.
There is also a great selection of tea accessories and gifts, and a small but good-​sounding food selection. The atmosphere is cute and comfortable, and the staff are kind and helpful.
I will definitely be back next time I’m in the area!
I’ll be back next time I’m in the area!

This little gem beats almost all the chain tea spots every time (except half and half)! Their teas are spot on with flavor! My favorite is the coconut oolong. I seriously just had to stop typing to have another sip simply because I said «coconut oolong». The teas are organic, which explains why you’re paying about $ 5 for a large. But then again, I rather pay $ 5 here for quality and delicious tea, then $ 5 at some other place. The down side is that one of the employees, (I never get her name but she might be the owner), is a bit of a snob. It could just be because she knows her stuff and wants to make sure she gets the order right. However, I think a look at a customer service book could help her energy and response. I don’t know, but most of the time, I’m not that happy while I’m there; that is of course, until I get my tea. This place is definitely worth your time! I know I’ll be going back next week.

Had the taro and forbidden fruit smoothie. The taste of the smoothie was okay, but the boba was either old or under cooked. The center of the boba was hard

Loose teas has great food and great customer service. The store is pretty small but I’ve never had trouble finding a place to sit. It’s really close to where I used to work so I came for lunch daily. I’d recommend the flaming bird or manwich. But my absolute favorite is the homegrown sandwich. I wasn’t really into tea before I began coming here and now I love it. They have a huge tea selection. I’d recommend the peach or raindrop tea if you like iced tea. You can buy iced or hot tea. Or you can buy loose leaf tea by the ounce. They also sell fantastic kettles, tea cups, thermoses and other things great for gifts.

One of my favorite places to get legit Milk tea. They have set choices on the menu, but you really can take any loose tea you see and order it however you want it. It feels good knowing that my milk tea is not from powdered stuff like most places. I have been there many times, and their boba is pretty much consistent.
Pros: Real Tea, have good food choices too
Cons: Can sometimes be quick, but don’t be surprised if you have to wait awhile.

The seating area is not much to behold — very small. I would not call it a café, more of a takeout counter.
So it’s not really a place to hang out or sit around.
But their tea blends are really heavenly. The almond, pineapple, and walnut one is a really unexpected mix, but when put together, it tastes like an expert dreamt it up. Have it hot. It tastes like liquid happiness/​calmness.
Since it’s not really a hangout spot, it works better as a grab and go place.
But just one cup from here was well worth it and I’d go again.

I really wanted to like this place but their drinks were disappointing.
+Located in the same plaza with Bed Bath & Beyond, Toys R’Us, Trader Joe’s, Rubio’s, etc. Plenty of parkings available.
+Like the fact that there are two pots of ‘tea of the day’ for customers to sample.
+The café sells loose tea leaves by weight along with single sized tea kettle/​mugs! Since they sell variety of teas like green tea, black tea, rooibos tea, and more, they explain the benefit for each type of tea.
+5 small tables inside and few outside tables available as well.
+I like how they have creative drinks like «Green & Tan», which is lemonade and matcha;
–Public restroom not available. Minus brownie points.
–Service was not on point. The two cashier girls were pretty unfriendly. I was taking my time looking at menu since it was my first time but they never smiled or talked to me and asked if I’m OK or offered me their suggestions.
–Wifi not available. I don’t really mind this since i like coffee shops who encourages people to talk to one another and socialize instead of using wifi and being anti social
–Drinks sounded better than how it actually tasted. I ordered the «London Fog», which is an Early Grey drink. I did taste the Earl Grey faintly but the drink was overly sweet and it tasted like Fruit Loop cereal. I’m not a fan of overly sweet drinks so I took couple sips and threw it away.
–My boyfriend’s red eye milk tea (espresso & milk tea) was better than London Fog but I wouldn’t buy this drink again either. It had a faint bitter after taste and that slightly ruins the drink.
-$ 10 minimum for credit card. Hard to hit $ 10 if you came here on your own and just wanted a single drink.

Items order: Luminescent White, Green and Tan, Milk tea with shot of espresso, various iced teas, turkey salad
Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this place yet. I’ve been here many times, to this is a review of all those visits.
This is my favorite tea place. Everything I have ordered here has been delicious. The first time I came here I ordered the Luminescent White tea which is a tea you cannot get at the standard boba places. It is a white tea that also has fruits and hibiscus in it. I even bought a bag of loose tea to take home, and in the bag there are bits of apple, pineapple, red currants, and other stuff.
Another unique thing they do here is you can add a shot of espresso to your milk tea which is great.
And the best thing about this place is they have a wide selection of tea for sale, and you can pick any of those teas and they will brew it for you for an iced or hot tea.
Their food is also good, I really like their turkey salad.

Pros:
* All drink comes with free boba (or you can decline it)
* You can sample «tea of the day» at cashier counter
Cons:
* No public restroom (you can always go to Toys «R» Us right next door if you really need it)
* Café does not offer WiFi anymore
* Extra $ 0.30 for credit card transaction less than $ 10
Menu: Salads, paninis & sandwiches (come with a side of mixed greens or pasta salad), coffee, smoothies, milk teas, and sweet teas (with the option of 16 oz, 24 oz, or 32 oz drink)
***
Flaming Bird (turkey, avocado, sprouts, cucumber, red onion, house made hot garlic chili flakes, squat bread + pasta salad — $ 7.95): Pasta salad had a hint of vinegary taste and the sandwich was pretty decent with a slightly spicy kick from hot garlic chili flakes. Overall it was a good, but not super exciting, sandwich,
London Fog (Earl Gray tea latte, price includes boba — 16 oz, $ 4.50): Really good boba (just regular boba, not honey boba) — chewy, big, and soft. The tea itself had a strong Earl Gray flavor, but sweetness was a bit too much for me.
***
A solid 3.5-stars for its food and drinks, but bump down half a star for no restroom and no WiFi. This might be a solid 4-​stars café back in 3~4 years ago, but now there are just too many high-​quality teas cafes /​boba shops in the 626 (San Gabriel Valley) area.

Delicious sandwiches (from premium sandwiches to paninis) and drinks (some Asian selection) ! Huge portions and delicious with price range around $ 8. Drinks around $ 4. Worth every dollar. Quick service. They bring sandwiches to you if you dine in, but you have to get your own napkins and forks.
Disadvantages :Small seating capacity inside and out. Gifts are over priced but it’s nice quality. For credit card use, under $ 10 will come with a 30 ¢ charge.

Located in a large shopping center, so parking is really easy. I love that. Huge plus.
I was warmly greeted by the staff when I walked in. They were very friendly and helpful. Having over 100 loose leaf teas to choose from was too overwhelming for me, so I asked one of the staff to surprise me with something. I wanted to try something I’d never had. She suggested the biscotti tea. It was quite nice. It had a very smooth sweet flavor without the need of any additional sweetener.
They make each tea for you individually, so there are no refills or hot water top-​offs.
My friend wanted lemon tea. They didn’t have any lemon tea or even lemon wedges. The closest and only citrus tea was orange. I thought that was kinda’ strange since they have over 100 teas, and lemon tea is so common.
Seating is ample inside and out. It’s a really nice place to meet someone to sit and talk in a relatively quiet environment.
I didn’t have any food, but I saw someone with a salad that looked really good.
There’s no WiFi which I think is good because it keeps the laptop campers away.
There’s no restroom. One star off for that. I went next door to Rubios to use their restroom. I’m sure lots of people do that. Not good for Rubios. Hopefully, Loose Teas Café’ and Gifts give them free tea or a gift once in a while to make up for it!

My go to boba place for sure !! Amazing drinks, delicious food, and the most friendliest staff.
I get the taro smoothie with EXTRA boba and it is to die for!!! Reminds me of the Filipino dessert, Halo Halo! Mmmmm yummy!!!

Refreshing as always — I got the boba with my 24oz drink this time, and it was delicious! I would have gotten the 32oz, but didn’t know how this one would turn out. The bobas are soft and chewy and a good generous amount. I also got their Salted Caramel and Blueberry Lavender macarons. Total for today’s drink and macarons =$ 8.
I got the Green and Tan drink, which consists of matcha green tea and lemonade. The drink wasn’t overly sweet and it tasted like lemongrass to me. It also looks pretty — like that Vietnamese dessert (3 Color Dessert), but once you mix it, it looks like a pretty, green avocado smoothie.
Their Salted Caramel was delcious! The right amount of salt and caramel and soft when bitten and didn’t break instantly. I also loved the blueberry lavender one — the right amount of blueberry and lavender, without it overpowering or tasting nasty. I actually did these two macarons I got today :)
Love this place! Seriously, free bobas with purchase — yes, please!!!

I love how this café is a little different from the rest of the boba places I goto. their menu is simple and straight forward. the food is good especially their sandwiches. they have all sorts of different flavors of tea on their entrance wall with descriptions of what kind of tea have what benefits. I come here when I’m staying at the nearby hotels with my SO and I usually get their CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRY ICED LATTE with BOBA. you can really taste the strawberry and chocolate in this drink. I love the scent of it (from the sample on the tea wall)
Another good one I liked from here is their PEACH OOLONG TEA with BOBA.

All the Unilocal reviews tell me I should love this place. However, I’ve never been really happy with any of my drinks, except for the one time I ordered a hot green tea latte. That was pretty good.
But every time I ordered it an iced drink it was either way too sweet and tasted like a melted otter pop, was watered down, or wasn’t cold enough. I’ve tried their milk teas and some of those mixed tea/​fruit drinks. While I am glad they use ~real tea leaves~ I think they could use some recipe tweaking or consistency in making the iced drinks.
I don’t know, am I ordering the wrong things? Do I just have bad luck? Maybe. But I probably won’t be back any time soon unless it gets chilly in LA so I can get the hot matcha latte!

I was in the area and was pretty thirsty and happened to stumble upon this cute little shop. I decided on ordering the Green & Tan drink which consists of matcha green tea and lemonade. I also added chia seeds to it. I would have never thought about adding matcha tea to lemonade but it was seriously love at first sip. The creaminess of the matcha went so well with the lemonade. And adding the chia seeds made it even better. Only think I would change when I order this next time is to ask them to make it a little less sweet. Other than that, I really like this place. As a tea lover, I’m always searching for places who use real tea leafs for their drinks. None of that powder stuff here. 100% real tea leafs! They even have a large selection for you to choose from if you wanted to buy jars of dry tea leafs to take home.
BRING CASH or pay an extra $.30 cents for using credit cards. BOO!

Premium teas made with tender, love, and care! Loose Teas Café, you got my vote of confidence!
Establishment: Smaller scale version of Bird Pick and Tea and has been operating for about 10 years. I must been living under a rock, because this was my first time here.
Note: Owner will waive her hands in the air if she sees you try to take pictures. Just tell her first so then she doesn’t think you were sent to spy on her shop. There was some uneasy tension for a second, but everything was cool after I stated my purpose. :)
Ambiance/​Décor: Nice place to converse in conversation with modern furnishings. They also have tables and chairs on the outside of the establishment so you can get some air while you enjoy your tea. They don’t have a lot of outlets for work/​study use. I believe I only saw one.
Service: Cindy (owner) was very thorough in explaining her products. She even made me smell some tea jars and gave me samples of the teas (Mango Splash and Roobois Tea) that were offered that day.
–Note: Drinks take a while to make. They brew everything made to order. So just enjoy your time at the tea shop and take in the ambiance. If you feel anti-​social, wifi is available for you.
Tea of Choice: I went with the roobois tea which had a hint of blueberry. Loved everything about it and was very refreshing for that hot day!
I would definitely come to this place whenever I’m in the tea mood or in the area.

Ordered honey jasmine tea with boba. You could definitely tell that they use good quality tea, tea isn’t as sweet as other boba places, taste very healthy. However, the honey jasmine tea that I ordered doesn’t have the original sweetness of the honey, it kind of got lost in the tea. Boba is chewy. 6.5÷10
Price is not too pricey and the place looks cosy. Will be back again to try the food and other teas!

I like this place.
Lol and apparently so do a lot of other Unilocalers!
You walk in and to your right there is a wall of different teas. You can smell them. They have amazing blends. The ones I like are Coffee Cake and Coconut Oolong. Prices vary but 4oz is around $ 12.
So you can choose a tea, or milk tea and they offer food and treats!
I ordered an almond biscotti milk tea with boba and it was great. They were generous with the boba.
I went back and bought some coffee cake tea for my family.
Plus, they sell little tea tins and fancy tea kettles. It’s a fun LITTLE store.
Definitely check out the teas. And smell them. Mmm. :)