Serenity Cafe - Chicago

I was so excited for this place after seeing the photos and reviews, but unfortunately it fell short of my expectations : my matcha latte came out to $7.17, which is definitely on the pricy end. I don't mind paying for a good matcha latte, but this drink was way overpriced for what it was. I could barely taste the matcha it felt like I was just drinking iced oat milk. There were actually also still chunks of matcha in my drink too. Overall, the drink was not worth it, and definitely not at that price point. Review is based on to go

Great tea experience that emphasizes the quality of the tea itself. This tea experience is best enjoyed slowly Bring a friend or 2 and be prepared to easily spend an hour and a half here. The tea staff are great and don't rush you, in fact it's advised that you do 4 5 pours for each tea experience. Just sit back, sip, and relax. It's great for a Friday afternoon of working as well but do be aware that only 2 of the tables are close to an outlet so come with laptops fully charged! They are open until 8pm on Fridays so it's a perfect place to chill before dinner in Logan or Wicker Park.

My friends and I came here because we were interested in doing the gong fu cha tasting. For 3 people it's $60 and comes with 3 teas of your choice (but they can help you pick) and a tray of snacks per person. We had the option to go with the mango mousse. The varieties were good but I'd say the knowledge and service were better. The individual we had was able to describe the teas and provided background stories behind some of the names. He would let us smell the leaves after each seep, which was unlimited I think. We did about 3 seeps per tea. He also introduced us to tea pets, and we were able to select one for the duration of our time. Overall, it was a relaxing experienced. We didn't feel rushed at all. We spent nearly 2 hours there, just chatting and catching up.

We were a party of 4. We came in at noon on a Sunday. We experienced the Gongfu tea session led by Matthew. It was interesting to watch how the tea is served and Matthew was warm and answered our questions about the process. It started to get pretty busy, but our server was still able to keep up with us though he and the others had to tend to the now full tea house. You have the tea pets(you choose at the beginning) to keep you company, along with the rest of your party when things are busy between each steeping. We enjoyed a green Jasmine Bai Hao, oolong Champagne Long Kou, and a tisane Chrys. I highly recommend the Champagne, and honorable mention for the Chrys. This would be a great date spot or a place to stop by for a nice hot drink to go.

Protip: Ask what tea snacks are available before ordering. Highlights: Overall, love the atmosphere and concept. I'm not really into tea, but I could appreciate the different flavors of the flight. Mango mousse was delicious. Lowlights: I was expecting slightly different tea snacks based on the photos I saw online, but they ran out of the mochi which is what I was looking forward to the most. The other tea snacks are all basic snacks that I grew up eating and nothing special.