Teaquation & Tonic: Fancy and Fun

Teaquation & Tonic: social and fun

115 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Style and Character:9
Service: 8
Tea:9
Food: 7
Value: 7

Date of visit: 2019-02-10

This place definitely doesn't fit into the conventional boxes.

- Is it a coffee shop? 
Not really. Most of the drinks are tea based. However there are espresso drinks available.

- Is this a tea shop? 
Yes, but not like a conventional Anglo style tea shop.

- Is it more like a bubble tea place?
Not really. No pearls in these teas. Oh ... did I mention that there are tea cocktails (with real booze) served there?

- Oh, so is this a bar that happens to have some teas?
No, this isn't a bar. It doesn't feel like a bar, and at least during the time were were there (Sunday afternoon) it seemed that most people were having non-alcoholic drinks

- So maybe this is a weird smoothie place
No. That's a terrible description of what it is.

Maybe we just need to accept Teaquation & Tonic for what it is and not worry about what box to fit it in.

Amazing presentation

They serve mostly tea based drinks, especially green tea based drinks, but this is not the place to get a simple green tea. Expect the tea to be just one ingredient to the drinks, and maybe not the major ingredient. We started with a flight, and I have to be honest, I don't remember exactly what we ordered in our flight, but this is my best guess.
- Orange & Black
- The Joker
- Sunset Boulevard
- Yellow Submarine

I'm only really sure that we ordered the first two.
I am sure we got the Orange & Black because it was our favorite and we ordered another round. So let's discuss the Orange & Black in some detail.

Here is the menu description:

"Thai tea, house-made coconut whipped cream" 

In fact it came with a stick of cinnamon. The Thai tea did not come with condensed milk as you usually expect from the Thai iced tea. It was also only moderately sweet. The coconut whip cream had a rich and complex flavor and mellows the bitterness of the black tea. I am not good at digesting diary, and this really become obvious when I consume whipped cream. The coconut whipped cream really gave me the whipped cream experience with the a dread of what it might do to my digestion. 

Many of the more fruity drinks might be good when the weather warms up. The Joker with it's pineapple tang would be nice for cooling down. But I suspect I will be back well before the warmer months. I'm particularly interested in their espresso drinks.  Sadly, the espresso drinks cannot be chosen as part of a flight.

Don't go here for a quick drink. As you might expect, these drinks take a while to make. This is a place to sit down and chat. This unlike bubble tea places which have a huge percentage of people walking out with their beverages

Like a good bar, this place felt social. There is a strong youthful vibe to the place. The girls behind the counter had a sort of independent coffee shop look to the. It is a special place.