Fantastic Tea and Coffee
Plus a chance to win that most valuable of prizes: an inanimate ceramic mug
A grand year-end wrap-up essay is coming soon, or hopefully before 2024, but in the spirit of procrastination and a rainy weekend (if you’re reading this before 5PM you might still catch today’s Berkeley Comic Show), let’s talk hot beverages.
In a recent poll of what side hustles Fantastic Comics should get into, coffee and tea was the big winner.
The wobbly risk of mixing hot, staining fluids and comics notwithstanding, there’s no shortage of coffee and tea shops in Berkeley. What we could we add to the mix?
Well, for one, being a college town, a lot of the coffee and tea offerings are geared towards the speed force-blessed metabolisms and sugary tastes of a younger crowd, and who knows, maybe we’d do well starting a cafe called Boba Frap.
But Berkeley also has a few shops on the more “adult” end of the spectrum (adult in the sense of avoiding the diabeetus), a bit of a hike from the university, and all on the westside.
Blue Willow Teaspot
1200 Tenth St
If you’re near Whole Foods, walk a block or so up to this magical, tucked-away spot. It was here that I learned that tea all came from the same animal.
CoRo Coffee Roasters
2322 Fifth St
Going further south, there’s a mini-district with a pickle shop, our old gelato and pizza neighbors, Passione, and a full-fledged roastery. To be fair, there’s syrup and cream abounds for the sweet toothed caffeine fiend, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better flat white decaf anywhere.
Far Leaves Tea
2626 San Pablo Ave
Going even further south, you have a duo of old-school sugar-free tea shops (Far Leaves and Teance) within walking distance of each other as well as from Third Culture Bakery if you decide you need some sugar after all.
Teance
1036 Grayson St
A few years back, Teance moved from their famous 4th street location where many passerbys (myself included) eagerly abused their hospitality of free cups. If our own moving experience is anything to go by, there are tons of customers who still don’t know they’ve moved.
So aside from moving the adult caffeinated beverages line eastward past San Pablo Ave, what do we have to offer?
Obviously, naming the drinks after nerd culture characters!
For coffee, clearly Special Agent Dale Cooper and Captain Janeway are the ambassadors for no-nonsense, black, machine-drip caffeine bombs.
Sticking with Starfleet, our favorite French captain is obviously a fan of the Britishest of teas: Earl Grey
Meanwhile, L from Death Note has Black Tea covered.
While we’re in Japan, who will represent Sencha?
Why of course Green Tea is beloved by the most Japanese of mutants, Logan!
I was surprised to learn that Sherlock Holmes has a favorite tea: Lapsang Souchong.
The canonicity of this is debated, however. But if Sherlock isn’t an official enough endorsement, how about Woodcock?
Hungry boy Daniel Day-Lewis asks for Lapsang Souchong by name in The Phantom Thread, evidently graduated to a more refined, adult beverage since his milkshake-drinking days in There Will Be Blood.
Of course, we’ve been ignoring the most obvious comic connection…
If you would like a chance to win this Too Much Coffee Man Mug (must pick up in store), reply with any nerd icon + tea/coffee combinations we missed!
Rorschach and sugar cubes. Remember?
Or, for a more obscure example: Charlotte Grote the barista prodigy
https://badmachinery.com/comic/what-the-morning-rush-was-like/
There was also a coffee-obsessed character in the newspaper comic Zits.
How about Philip J. Fry in Futurama?? Tweek in South Park! (Although Janeway is my coffee icon, and Earl Grey hot is the king of teas. I can also drop off some lapsang souchon for you if you'd like to try it!)