1 E Aspen Avenue
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
*Disclaimer: We were not paid for this review. All opinions are our own and based on our personal experience. Your experience may be different.
Steep Leaf Lounge has one primary advantage, being that it is the only tea option in the Flagstaff area. Steep offers an abundance of both traditional and creative loose leaf tea options, both for sale and to test out in the shop. Steep is a great place to enjoy a refreshing hot mug of tea in between exploring downtown Flagstaff attractions. I love visiting over the fall months and ordering the amazing Witch's Brew tea.
There are many loose leaf tea creations to try out at Steep. In addition to your regular choices like green, white, and black based options, you can also pick from a long list of creative herbal tea blends. Unfortunately, the staff did not know too much about the tea, nor did they bother looking into it. When questioned about ingredients, they just said they didn't know anything about the tea. We had to look on the back of the tea bags they were selling to find out for ourselves. Pretty ridiculous for a place that calls itself a leaf lounge. It should be standard that all employees are trained in basic tea knowledge. Please hire staff that are passionate about tea!
Fortunately, the Witch's Brew turned out to be a delicious treat: flavorful, smooth, and comforting on a cold night. This tea is a combination of hibiscus, blackberry leaves, apple pieces, orange peel, peppermint leaves, and sunflower petals: it just screams fall. This is now my go-to tea.
Tea is a bit pricey at $3 per cup, but expected for the tourist destination. Despite a few problems with the staff, I loved the tea itself and the beautiful seating area.
Perhaps because they get business automatically due to being the only tea option in town, their prime location downtown, and the consistent tourist base, they feel no need to offer friendly or professional service. Regardless, Steep needs to step up their game and hire some tea professionals. This is a really beautiful space and the tea is great: I just wish we did not have to deal with surly staff on each visit.
The space is nicely decorated, although it can get crowded and oftentimes it is hard to find a seat. Anytime you visit Steep it is incredibly crowded due to the limited seating available. In fact, we once had to stand up for 10 minutes before finding an open seat. Another disappointment: the music is extremely loud. It feels more like a bar experience, rather than a cozy tea shop. This can be a good or bad thing depending on what you are looking for. The employees act more like bartenders and you have to literally scream over the bar and go in between customers sitting at the bar to place your order. Overall, not the peaceful, cozy setting I prefer out of a tea shop, but more of a fun place to hangout on the weekend. I visit Steep more for a fun Friday night type activity rather than for a low-key tea drinking experience. The decor is also more modern in appeal.
Steep is more of a modern busy tea shop with a noisy, bar-like atmosphere. It's not a quaint tea cafe by any means. That being said, the tea itself is great and they offer a lot of creative options. I have tried many flavors in shop and also ordered many to try at home. I always come back to the Witch's Brew which is one of my favorite teas I've tried anywhere. I love the setting with the big windows overlooking downtown. And best of all, you can walk to all downtown attractions before/after your tea drinking experience.
