Where: College Park, Orlando, Florida Style: Casual neighborhood cafe Tea Selection: 75 loose leaf teas Teatimes: Monday to Saturday 9-9, Sunday 11-6 Reservations: Walk-ins welcome; Reservations required for parties of 10 or more Contact: 407-999-5255 Cost: $16 Afternoon Tea Destination Tea Tips: Allow yourself time to browse, as Infusion Tea houses local and global gift shop The Arts Co-op, in addition to its loose leaf teas and a selection of tea accoutrements for sale.
Destination Tea Notes: The casual, laid-back vibe at Infusion Tea’s afternoon tea would nicely suit book clubs or moms groups who could “come as you are” for a spot of tea and a bite to eat. You do have to go back to the counter after your tea and curate are served if you need anything more, but the staff is friendly and happy to accommodate. The strengths of this tea service are the vast tea selection and the savories course, unsurprising given the cafe’s plentiful menu of tasty, creative and organic sandwiches, salads, soups, tacos, pizzas, quinoa bowls and wraps. This makes Infusion Tea a relaxed, affordable afternoon tea spot for families, where Dad or the kids can also supplement the tea meal with items from the lunch menu if they like. Below we mention a few adjustments that could be made to make this afternoon tea a neighborhood favorite, though it’s clear that Infusion Tea is already a social hub in the College Park community. When we visit on a Small Business Saturday, Infusion Tea is hosting local vendors in outdoor pop-up booths as part of College Park’s Sip, Shop & Stroll event, raising funds for local civic projects. This is the kind of place we like to patronize.
Loving this artsy outdoor patio design with giant turquoise planters.
Modern metal and traditional wooden dining sets are mixed and matched in the large dining area, with gift shop sprawled along the far wall.
We pick our table after ordering our tea selection at the counter. Inspirational wall quote: “Don’t Count the Days. Make the Days Count.”
Tea Service
Infusion Tea has a great selection of teas, including organic choices, which we’d certainly be returning to explore if we were local. We love that their menu gives simple descriptions of the various tea varietals, like “Green Teas: Made from the sweetest, youngest buds of the Camellia Sinensis, not fermented but instead pan-fried or steamed to maintain the green color and fresh taste.”
Good idea! Tea timers help guests know when their tea is ready to pour. Glass teacups are paired with ceramic pots. Our afternoon tea for two comes with one pot to share, and we are happy with our choice of Vanilla Cream green tea.
Scones & Spreads, Savories and Sweets
First impression: this is the greenest tea tray we’ve seen! But we certainly will not be letting these fresh greens go to waste…
We request a salad dressing and the housemade citrus vinaigrette is so perfectly fresh and zesty on our improvised salad. If Infusion Tea plated this in a separate first course, it would enhance the meal and make sure these greens are properly appreciated!
All of the tea sandwiches are delicious on fluffy breads, but the standout is the spinach, cucumber and cheese sandwich with herbed tomato sauce – YUM, and thank you for kicking up a notch this meal’s nutritional value! A relish in the egg salad makes it scrumptious along with the traditional cucumber with cream cheese.
Another first, this herbed cranberry toast is a lovely blend of creamy, sweet and crunchy.
Unfortunately the generously sized raisin and cranberry scones are not as good as they appear. Once broken open, they reveal inconsistently baked centers, in turns overly dry and underdone. We pass on these after the first bite, sorry to skip indulging in the cream and jam spreads.
The dessert course is one chocolate chip cookie each, which given that this is a very affordable $16 tea, we find reasonable, but a second small dessert item in place of the greens would be our suggestion.
Loose leaf teas and everything you need to steep your own at home are for sale.
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