| Type | Tea Room |
| Style | Modern |
| Serves | Chai, Iced, Bubble, Loose-leaf |
| Food | Snacks |
| Features | Free wi-fi |
| Good For | Dates |
My rating primarily comes from the opportunity to sit and enjoy a cup or pot of tea, an eclectic, inviting environment in which to visit or simply people watch. There are plenty of flavors to choose from from the cafe side, although not nearly as many to purchase to take home. The staff seems friendly enough, but the few times I’ve gone there, they were fair-to-middling on customer service, that had I not been familiar with my own tastes and preferences in tea, I’m uncertain as to the degree of assistance they’d been able to provide in directing me toward something I would enjoy.
I stumbled across Teadrops as a tourist exploring the Westport area in Kansas City. It is part of a nice shopping area in what appears to be a young and hip neighborhood that is only a couple of miles away from Kansas University. I gave it 4/5 stars because the floor was extremely sticky where I was sitting, and the display area had local papers and advertisements scattered about instead of a teapot and cup selection.
In terms of service, the woman behind the counter was very nice and had a great sense of humor. Despite being there alone and having a constant stream of customers, she was still friendly and fast with getting orders. However, the less tea savvy consumer may not have known when to remove tea bags from the tea, as this establishment doesn’t appear to hand out sand timers or anything that can help you keep track of how long the tea has been steeping, which can be a big problem for some teas that become very bitter if oversteeped. The woman was probably so busy she didn’t realize to tell me when to remove or even if to remove my teabag, which could confuse those who don’t know about loose leaf teas.
Most of the customers coming in and out of here got bubble teas, and very few seemed to be interested in the loose-leaf teas, which gave me the impression that this place stays afloat mainly by catering to sweet, shake-loving customers. I have no doubt these boba teas are delicious to some, but that’s not really my cup of tea. However, this may cause their tea to be less fresh/more stale since there is not enough turnover. Plus, it appears that they do not sell tea online, which is disappointing since I have fallen in love with some of the teas I purchased and brought back home with me to Minnesota. They have a larger selection in store than they advertise online, and there is also an area where you can sniff some samples of loose leaf tea before deciding what you want. They sell tea in 1oz increments. They also have cute cupcakes that they switch up each day, some of which are made with tea. I saw some green tea, cappuccino, red velvet, chocolate, and vanilla cupcakes for $2.50 (which they make fresh the night before) and they sell day old ones for $1.50.
Well, my experience has been varied. My hubby bought me a very nice, but incomplete tea set for Christmas and they were nice enough about popping the handle off a similar one and hooking it on to mine. (But a teapot with empty handle holes to sell as a gift? Really?) But, that isn’t my gripe, that belongs to the night that I spent over half an hour scoping out teas and products while the two people who were working carefully avoided me. They asked my husband how HE was doing more than once, as he sat in a seat reading. I had on my work clothes and I guess looking like a straight middle aged lady isn’t cool there. I wasn’t real thrilled he went back there to shop, but my tea set did end up being nice once it got a handle.
