Lavender Lounge: 104 North El Camino Real | San Clemente, CA 92672 949-218-3103 | www.lavenderloungetea.com

Lavender Tea Lounge is like a cool clubhouse in which everyone is invited. Located on the corner of S. Camino Real and Avenida Del Mar above a Baskin Robbins, this little spot has all the charm of a childhood tree house. It is down-right adorable. The lavender walls and twinkling lights made me feel I had stumbled into a dream. TASSEOGRAPHY: the art : a traditional South The ridiculously helpful young man behind the counter led us through of reading tea leaves. American tea made from their wide array of products, including close to 150 loose-leaf yerba matte leaves from all around the world are sold under owner Joel Janc’s company AFTERNOON TEA: a social with a very high Pangea Tea. Close to 80 percent of their blends are made and inspired engagement based on an old content. in house. My personal favorite was the ultra creative L.S.T! English tradition in which you enjoy tea along with a variety of A Each month they feature three teas and specialty drinks, always SIPHON METHOD: traditional English snacks like vacuum (or in our case, offering their customers something creative. Open daily from 10- fi nger sandwiches and pastries. tea) maker that works on the 6, this spot is super low-key and a treasure to the locals. They take principle of expansion and extreme pride in the high-quality of their tea. To go with the perfect a blend contraction of water vapor. cup, they also offer a small menu of tasty treats like vegan cupcakes LOOSE LEAF: of tea that is not bagged, This is what allows the device and gluten-free cookies that are served with a heavenly lavender prepared with boiling water to brew a full- style butter cream they make in-house. and some sort of strainer, of coffee or tea and fi lter the Lavender Lounge has the loveliest teas, but the locals did not have either on the cup or in the pot. grounds and leaves effi ciently, hot teas in their hands. What they did have was something called a leaving a generally clean, “Choobee.” Strange? Indeed. Delicious? You bet. Lavender Lounge ENGLISH SCONE: a pristine cup. is most popular for this beverage, and so I had my fi rst Choobee. A “traditional” English scone is Choobee is like a distant and far more delicious cousin to a Boba. I served with afternoon tea. It ROOIBOS: a root from hesitate to even draw the comparison, but the appearance begs for is a fl aky crusted pastry that is South Africa that grows it. Choobee’s are made from immature coconut meat. The naturally both salty and a touch sweet. decaffeinated, dried tea and occurring jelly is then fl avored and added to iced teas. They have It is served warm with jam and is brewed like a traditional fl avors like strawberry, vanilla pineapple, mango, passion and lychee. Devon cream. It does not have tealeaf. The essence is very They are chewy and yummy, and you suck them up through your any frosting. smooth. straw with your . Trust me, no one was more hesitant to try this new tea beverage than me, but I swear to you it was amazing. The little Lavender Tea Lounge was full of its fair share of surprises. At the core of the business they are providing quality teas and have a dedication to the care and craft in brewing them. Next time you fi nd yourself in San Clemente be sure to stop by and try them out yourself.

80 | | RE:DEUX 2013 Issue