Some cities have it all, mine doesn’t. Tampa is slowly getting there as an emerging well-rounded
cultural location. To say that the city is lacking culture would be a lie, but it
doesn’t have the mixture cities like NY, San Fran, D.C. or Chicago hold. So when I stumbled
upon Kaleisia Tea Lounge I was
floored. The business sits between a bookstore for the university nearby, an adult novelty shop, and some other
random shops you wouldn’t normally pop into. The neighborhood is a little shady and some would suggest avoiding it
at night, but if you know where you’re going and what to do then no one should bother with you. With these things in
mind I was expecting to walk into some new hole-in-the-wall, fly-by-night business venture which would satisfy my
smoothie craving for one day and close up shop the next. Wrong!
If both residents of Tampa and visitors recognize Kaleisia (pronounced Ka-lie-sha) for the prize
that it is, it’ll be around for awhile. The tea lounge is an infusion of several things. By name it
represents the unique blends of premium quality loose-leaf teas. It is their hopes to bring Americans away from
the use of tea bags and encourage the shift to loose-leaf in a cozy environnment. The selection is tremendous and
patrons are invited to attend monthly tea tastings where they can sample over 75 freshly brewed tea varieties for FREE.
The next tasting is October 29, 2005 from 1-5 PM.
Loose-leaf not your cup of tea? Try the real
fruit smoothies with boba per request, Vietnamese iced coffee, chai lattes, or the Kaleisia bubble milk teas.
Hungry? They recently added small vegan lunches to the menu. Having given this one only
a quick test-drive I can guarantee a very pleasing dining and cultural experience.