If you understand the halo of Alfred Coffee, then its tea room counterpart needs no introduction. Alfred Tea is the larger than life tea brand that has transcended West Hollywood craze to somehow penetrate the Japanese market with overly branded, poppy designed packaging of their own creations. Namely, matcha.
The same people that brought you But First, Coffee (TM) are also bringing you Tea Yes, You Maybe. And Angelenos and Japanese city dwellers are slurping it up. You can’t deny that blush pink and matcha green are a great match. And they basically just put what we were already hashtagging on Instagram and painted it on the walls. But when it’s all packaged up with a picture perfect bow on top, you can’t deny the appeal.
That being said, there is substance under all that branding. They do use high quality matcha, and even though their menu extends from matcha lattes (with every alternative milk imaginable) to boba to CBD iced matcha drinks. Will you be wondering why you’re paying double digits for a green drink in a pretty pink cup? Yes. Will you be back next week? Also, probably, yes. Guilty.
the details
| Address | Los Angeles WeHo: 705 N Alfred St, Los Angeles Brentwood: 11928 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles |
| Website | https://www.alfredtea.com/ |
| Yelp | WeHo | Brentwood |
| @alfredtea | |
| Hours | varies (check the site), but WeHo location is 8a – 7p every day |
| Price | $$-$$$, as in, generally about as expected, but you can also expect to question exactly why you’re spending double digits here sometimes… |
| Aesthetic | I mean, Alfred in itself is an aesthetic, and the tea is just even prettier in pink |
good to know
Go here for: low hanging fruit Instagram content, with a side of matcha
Order this: honestly, if you’re already here, just go all out and get a the most obnoxious drinks (ie: pink drink, blue matcha lol) on the menu (and maybe a miso kouign amann or strawberry yuzu morning bun)
Amount of time to spend: while some locations do have seating, it’s more of a to-go kind of place
When to come: whenever, it’s kind of a constant stream of people anyways. So I guess avoid street cleaning hours…
Parking: is unpleasant in both WeHo and Brentwood, both are in the heart of popular spots with highly… proactive parking enforcement, so read signs carefully. Melrose Place has a lot of streets reserved for residents only. Meters are hard to come by.
Getting here: in Tokyo, all locations are either in stations or in complexes connected to stations
Other things to note:
- They also sell plenty of cute merch, and even ceremonial matcha sets.
- For those who don’t like matcha (gasp) they do still have other options like chai or hojicha or cold brew.
Last visited: February 2019
Last updated: June 2020
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