Sometimes a cafe’s personality is so strong that itsย name, logo, or even its slogan can affect a neighborhood’sย character. Alfred Coffee is one of those cafes. Coffee aficionadosย may have heard the expression โBut first, coffee,โ and seen it hashtagged alongside perfectly composed and Instagrammable coffee shotsโwell, this is Alfred Coffeeโs claim to fameย (it’s even trademarked). Withย locations in some of Los Angelesโ trendiest neighborhoodsโSilver Lake, Brentwood, two in Melrose, and a soon to open Studio City shop, all supplied exclusively with Stumptown CoffeeโAlfred has becomeย a quintessential LA coffee chain and continues to expand.
Alfred’s growth now includesย the newย Alfred Tea Room, also in Melrose, just about a block away from their first spot. Itโs easy to spot, with its tiled, cotton candy-colored exterior, which matchesย the interior space, also completely splashed with the pink hue. All aroundย the shop areย catchy phrases like โI love you so matcha,โ โCanโt we just all get oolong!โ and a neon sign declaringย the slogan: โTea, yes. You, maybe.โ (As payment here is by card only, they could have added “cash, no.”)
The selection of tea here is vast: herbal, black, white, green, and even fermented teas are available, and kombucha from Health-Ade is on tap, all of it sourced from myriad different vendors. Aย mirror on the wall listsย seasonal iced teas and boba specials. As you wait for your drink, gaze at artwork curated by Tappan Collective, or take a peek at the shelves lined with various Alfred merch and books.
The shop’sย manager, Jordan Hardin, is something ofย a tea expert, having spent more than five years in a variety of managerial positions at American Tea Room. He saysย that, in contrast with most specialty cafes’ quality control over their coffee, โitโs easy and satisfactory for most shops to just throw a tea bag into hot water and serve it.โ Not so here. Alfred cleverly uses a Modbar pour-over tap setupโoriginally designed for coffeeโfor the teas. โItโs way better than any other water heaters weโve used,” says Hardin. “We know the exact temperature and we set up the auto-dose, so we donโt have to measure out the water.โ
According to ownerย Josh Zad, the inspiration to open a tea shop began after Alfred Coffeeโs matcha tea soared in popularity. (Matcha and chaiย are on the menuย at every Alfred location.) Zad saw the risingย demand for tea just as he saw anย opportunity to open another shop on North Alfred Street, and it just clicked. โThe spectrum of tea is so large that this opening just made sense,โ he says.
Just like coffee shops stocking tea, if you happen to find yourself craving coffee here, you can get some nitro coffee on tap or a Stumptown carton from the fridge. There’s a good reason for not serving (or brewing) any other type of coffee, according to Hardin: โOnce you grind the coffee, the smell is so overwhelming that you lose the intricacies of the tea aromas in the space. One grind of coffee automatically makes it smell like a coffee shop; we want to get away from that and let the tea influence.โ
Alfred makes everything for its drinks in-houseโeven the boba. โEverything is fresh and made from scratch,” says Hardin. “We use real tea as the concentrate for our milk teas; nothingโs artificial, there are no powders, no preservativesโthatโs why we donโt have a huge selection of boba, we wanted to make sure itโs good.โ As with coffee, pastries are essential, and there is a variety here supplied by Sugarbloom Bakeryโincluding aย matcha-almond croissant, an item exclusiveย to the Alfred Tea location and a perfect pastry for pairing.
If youโre craving something beyond theย pastry case, you can grab prepared lunch items by way of M Cafeย and Cafe Gratitude, or tasty treats like Little Branch granola and Clover juice.
Hardin feels that people are ready to embrace specialty tea the way they have coffee. โThe widespread success of coffee shops has informed people who are open to the idea that another beverage can be done with the same attention to detail and the same passion,” he says. Maybe this will be the year tea has its Third Wave moment?
Tatiana Ernst is a Sprudge staff writer based in Los Angeles. Read more Tatiana Ernst onย Sprudge.