A’cuppa Tea

I rated it 4 stars because of the service. It’s a really cute shop near the end of the elmwood district on College. You walk in and it has two floors. I came here for the first time since some of my friends were studying upstairs and went to meet up.
It’s a cool place since you go up and order the type of tea you want and they give you a teapot of boiling water and the loose leaf tea that you order. They give you unlimited water refills with your pot too so me and my friends all got different teas so that we could try everything. The owners and people working at the front were really friendly.
The upstairs is pretty cool since they have lots of tables, outlets, and fast wifi. The only con is that it can get really hot upstairs with only a fan to help you cool down. The downstairs area has comfy chairs but less tables to share if you have a bigger group.
I know they’ve added milk tea to their menu too so will come back to check it out.

There are lots of things to like here. I’m more of a coffee than tea person, so this was a change of pace for me. But, the variety of teas were intriguing and the Jasmine tea I tried was really good. Their sausage and egg breakfast burrito was one of the best I’ve ever had, with fluffy egg, juicy and flavorful sausage, and a nice salsa kick throughout. As a work location, I couldn’t have been happier with 18.67 Mbps download and 3.64 Mbps upload! Except, the wifi seemed to crash after a few hours, and I’d been there long enough that I decided to just move along rather than ask them to re-​boot the routers or whatever. I’m likely to be back sometime when I want something a little different.

I really wanted to like this café, but it fell a bit short of my expectations. Maybe I just came on a day that was too hot, but it was extremely stuffy upstairs. I know it’d be uncomfortable for most people, but it was a good temperature for me since I am pretty tolerant of the heat. The cashier at the front was very curt and unwelcoming which set a bad precedent for my opinion of the café.
I ordered the Thai iced tea, but I asked for no boba. Apparently, without boba, the milk tea price is still the same as with the boba, which I find to be unfair and quite a rip off. I’ve never had to pay $ 4.93 for a Thai iced tea before. Expecting this expensive tea to be really good, it just wasn’t very special and was a bit more watery than creamy compared to most Thai iced teas I’ve had.
Ultimately though, this café did serve its purpose. I really needed a place to get some studying done and I was able to do that in the seating area upstairs. The tables may not be that clean but there are a lot of tables and it’s pretty empty upstairs, so you’re really able to utilize the space, camp out, and get some solid work done. I would say this is definitely a good study café, but I wasn’t a big fan of the tea.

So relaxing. Perfect place to read a book and grab a good meal, snack or cup of tea. Upstairs and downstairs. Classical music at the perfect volume. The huge comfy single couches make me never want to leave.

Highly reccomend this spot. Quiet, with great service and good food/​drinks/​coffee. Beat the crowds up to street and hang out here.

Finally stopped in to try A’cuppa Tea — I had high hopes and really wanted to like this cute tea shop. Since I wanted to try both the tea and food here, I brought my backpack, arrived in the morning, and planned to stay for a few hours to get some work done and eat lunch.
The woman behind the counter was initially very friendly when I was ordering my tea, but after I mentioned I would come back down from the upstairs seating area in a few hours to order lunch, she gave me a really bad look and said «Oh, you’re staying?» which I didn’t understand because 1) I’ll have to stay for at least a little bit to drink the tea I ordered 2) I was going to purchase more food and spend more money at her store 3) the shop has tables and chairs set up conducive for students to sit and study and 4) the shop was basically empty at that time anyway — not like I was taking up space for other customers.
I ended up staying for about 20 minutes (in addition to her off-​putting and unwelcoming attitude, the upstairs tables are small and sticky and the atmosphere is quite loud). I only ordered my tea and decided to take my lunch business elsewhere.
I ordered a Hong Kong Milk Tea which was lukewarm, completely unauthentic, and very pricey.
I won’t be back.

This is located at the end of College Ave and an unexpected stop we made as well. We were going to cross the street to walk back but nature called and if you’ve been in the area, you know how hard it is to find a restroom. Now, I had my eyes set on Purple Kow, but when life throws you lemon– you can either make lemonade or just suck it up and pucker your lips for unexpected tartness when all you have is lemon– no water, no sugar to get what you want.
It’s a quaint little spot, with upstairs seating that overlooks the bottom floor as well as the staff when the make the drinks/​meals for their guests. Their tea option isn’t like that of the chain Tapioca Express or Quickly’s but it had different options to choose from and they show case their tea in the large air tight glass canisters right behind the counter.
After browsing the big wall of menu I was happy to see GINGER PEACH was an option. You don’t get much of those flavors anywhere else that I’ve been. But the best part? You can have the tea anyway you like it. How often have you gone to a milk tea joint that limits you on what you can make hot, have milk, iced, or sweetened? You order your tea here the way you want it.
I had my Ginger Peach Tea hot, with milk and sweetened. You also get the pearl options too, but I decided no on it.
To the lady who was adorkable, friendly and loudishly-​sweet and patient to us newbs– and to the ultra plush purple chairs laid out in a row for us to sink in. May you thrive in this little hidden corner gem! If only you were closer, I’d be here to just read a book and sip A’cuppa Tea everyday :) Until next time Berkeley.

Loved this place. The lady at the front was so sweet and friendly. The parking meters by the front was not accepting my credit card and this sweet lady gave me some coins to go put in because she didn’t want me to get a ticket!
The thai milk tea with boba /​tapioca was amazing. So refreshing and very generous with the boba.
The breakfast sandwich on a toasted bagel, with egg, cheese and avocado was delicious and just what I was looking for. Being two stories allow there to have decent sitting and off course there was the free wifi which is always welcome. I would so come here if I were a student here.

As a stressed college student during finals, I am glad I came across this place! It has such a cozy feeling. There are plenty of small couches to relax in and coffee tables. There are two floors and plenty of outlets. A great place to study. It is very inexpensive, I got a Lavender Milk Tea and it was quite delicious! Subtle, but delicious! I’m not much of a «tea person», but I loved it here. Also, the lady who works there is so sweet! She seems to care a lot about her customers. I am definitely coming back! Actually… I’m going back tomorrow.

We love this little place. Great tea, great food. Very nice staff. Clean. They have a loft with tables you can study here, and use a laptop. They have Wifi

The ladies there are very friendly, great service!
The Green Mango Smoothie was refreshing and minty despite not really tasting like mango. Liked it a lot, compared to other green coconut-​water based smoothies.
Ordered a veggie omelet, really enjoyed it. Not very oily, large chunks of avocado, toast was fresh (not like the pre-​toasted tough stale bread). Size was very reasonable for a meal.
Price was reasonable, a little on the high.
Really glad they have cushioned chairs, plenty of power outlets, and good wifi. Very comfortable to study at. The noise level/​music is fine, other than the occasional use of a blender. I would suggest bringing earplugs or headphones if you want to study.

Limited seating for more than one person. However, the food was excellent, and the owner was very helpful and friendly.
I got the Denver omelet (I’d go as far as to say it was the best Denver omelet I have ever had surprisingly). My vegetarian friend didn’t find anything for breakfast, but instead got the vegetable phở and said it was very good.
We both got Thai iced teas to-​go, the texture was good but it wasn’t sweet at all; that being said, she said she makes it less sweet and would gladly make it sweeter next time.
Overall good experience.

Decent food. Great service. Not great tea. My $ 6 pot of tea does not have enough actual tea in it to bring out any of the flavors of Darjeeling. It also tastes a bit stale, as if it had been sitting around for a very long time. Disappointing.
I worked for a while and then had the phở ga (yummy Vietnamese chicken soup). Pretty good.
The interior is pretty uninspiring with a mishmash of worn out furniture.
Wifi is nice and fast (tested at 8.21 Mbps.)
The lady who served me was so super nice. I would stop in again just to talk to her. But not for the tea.

I instantly liked this place the moment I entered — there are plenty of lounge chairs on the first floor and everything seems very clean but also cozy. The owner was super welcoming and kind and the eggs and toast I ordered was a perfect sized portion and it seemed like everything was made with care. The upstairs area has plenty of outlets and space as well, plenty of tables ideal for writing and studying. I’m really glad I found this place, I’ll definitely be coming back.

This has become my favorite study spot as of late. Extremely comfy chairs, relaxing background music, open late, and a yummy and diverse menu. I’m not a coffee drinker, so any place that specializes in tea is a rare commodity. Best of all, the owner is super sweet, remembers my favorite orders, and is extremely accommodating to my all day study sessions (I always make sure to keep buying throughout the day of course). This spot has a comfortable mom and pop feel that others in the area lack. A nice change of pace from the overcrowded, run down cafes that tend to surround the UC.

Great café to study. They’ve got big comfy armchairs on the first floor and extra more quiet seating on the second floor. Of course they’ve got an endless tea offering, but it’s also a delicious restaurant! I really like their vietnamese soups and salads.
My only complaint is that it can be a little too warm in the café during the summer. They put up fans, but it’s not always strong enough.

This place is awesome
Both owners (I assume they’re owners) are so sweet. Thu make it a really nice place
There are these huge purple chairs to sit in after you order that are super plush and fun to sit in!
I got the lavender tea with boba. It was so good. The boba was the perfect amount of chewy and sweet. The tea was also really good and had a lot of lavender. One of the best teas I’ve had in awhile!
The Thai tea was also really good. It tasted like Thai iced tea from a Thai restaurant and was sweet in a good way. It was really good
This place is super good and I enjoy it a lot. Definitely a place to return to!

A very cozy café with lots of tea options and a few breakfast/​lunch options. It’s a great place to get eat a small meal while getting work done because there are so many tables and outlets. I am also a strong supporter of small business owned by Asian families, so props to this café for that.
I had the beef noodle soup here, and it was authentic enough and good. It was a good value for the medium bowl, they pack the bowl with veggies, noodles, and a decent portion of meat. I appreciated that it was not overly flavorful. I also had a jasmine milk tea, and the tea was a little too watery. Their boba is not the best in Berkeley, so I would just recommend getting plain tea. They have several jars to choose from that are sure to satisfy any tea lover.
One of the best cafes I’ve visited so far in Berkeley in a quieter neighborhood!

Super friendly service and lots of tea! They have Vietnamese and American menu items. The couches and love seats definitely need cleaning and updating, as I uncomfortably sink into all of them and they are incredibly worn out.

I live in the North Bay and come to Berkeley occasionally to get away. I spent a lot of time there as a child, so it’s my happy place.
My husband and I went there in March for a long weekend and we had a whole big list of things to do, including stopping by this tiny café in the Elmwood district because we’d heard good things about the tea, the food, and the owners.
We were NOT disappointed. The owners, a husband and wife, who’ve had the place for a couple of decades now, waited on us themselves. They were funny and patient as we tried to choose from the long list of food and drink options. I ended up getting the green tea latte, which was AMAZING (still jonesing for another one) and the phở, which the owners make themselves (down to the noodles, I believe), and is delicious. The prices were completely reasonable.
The place is a big hole-​in-​the-​wall-​ish (I mean that in the best sense possible– chairs don’t match, décor is all over the place), but has a very cozy vibe that makes you feel comfortable the minute you walk through the door. It’s pretty small, though, and could see how during very busy times, it could get uncomfortably crowded. Wifi connection is very good, for anyone who wants to work or read while there.
I may be biased because this is also my favorite area of Berkeley, but I just found this place to be a gem, and would go back in a heartbeat.