California coffee shop hits Manoa

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in the Manoa Marketplace is ready and waiting for your order. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is new to local customers since it just opened last November. However, this California-based store has introduced new and curious customers to their assortment of espresso and tea drinks along with a variety of salads, vegetable wraps and pastries.

From their vast selection of espresso, tea and non-coffee drinks, they consider their trademark drink to be “The Original Ice Blended” which is a frozen coffee drink made with their secret coffee extract, French vanilla, Dutch or white chocolate blended with ice and non-fat milk. Unless requested otherwise, they use non-fat milk in their drinks.

However if what you desire is something to please your sweet tooth, take a minute to scan through their arrangement of pastries, which include haupia (coconut) azuki bean brioches and the three Cs – cupcakes, cobblers and cakes.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf also offers healthy alternatives to their pastries with their collection of tuna and vegetable wraps as well as salads.

Kate Taylor has been working as a barista at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Manoa since its opening in November. She says that the interesting aspect of the store is that they have a personal relationship with their coffee bean growers.

Taylor said, “They (Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf) really pay attention to the way they make their coffee and to the people that they buy their coffee from.” She also added, “It’s exciting for me to work in a place that is willing to be open and share that information with me.”

Taylor pointed out that the difference between Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s drinks compared to other coffee shops are their use of flavored powder instead of flavored syrup. Their use of powder and non-fat milk is an attempt to make their drinks as healthy as possible.

She praises Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s ice blended drinks because she said that it feels healthier and she can make the drink be 50 calories by using no sugar added powder. Also, Taylor added that Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s 32 different tea selections are what set them apart from other shops and she recommends trying one of their tea lattes because it is simply “delicious.”

Taylor added that many devoted fans simply refer to the store as The Bean. UHM journalism student Alana Folen is a fan of The Bean’s pomegranate blueberry tea latte and vanilla lattes. She has been a frequent customer since it opened near her home in Manoa.

Photo courtesy of Ka Leo O Hawai'i

The baristas at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in the Manoa Marketplace add an extra touch to their drinks.

However, it is the store’s atmosphere that keeps Folen coming back. Compared to other coffee shops, she said, “I think The Bean is more intimate and not as crowded.” She also credits the convenient location and “great service.”

Your eyes will take notice to the mountains of M?noa that serve as a backdrop to the store, and your ears will detect the music from the flute player who performs outside of the store - offering live entertainment to customers.

Manoa resident Michelle Young is a self-proclaimed “big tea drinker” and on the day of the interview, ordered her first item from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Although she was pleased with her green tea, she said that her drink had too much ice. However she plans on coming back to the store to try their variety of teas.

After its first store opened in 1963 in Southern California, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf currently has more than 315 stores in places like California, Nevada, Singapore, Korea, Brunei and Kuwait.

It shows no signs of an end because since November, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has opened three locations in Hawai‘i – Kailua Foodland Town Center, Manoa Marketplace and the Koko Marina Center in Hawai‘i Kai.

The Sullivan Family of Cos. operates Fooland Super Market Ltd., and has a development agreement with The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. It is projected that 15 more stores will open all across the Islands starting from now until the end of 2006.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Manoa Marketplace is open daily. For more information about store hours and menu items, call 988-6134.