House of Chá

I went here by accident and, boy, am I glad I did. It was a hot day and I was waiting for someone to meet me at the corner. I couldn't resist the pull of this charming shop,

This is a small shop. There is just room for a few tables and a few chairs. The smallness adds to the ambiance and you know you will get personalized service.

The server was super helpful and he explained all the processes very thoroughly. I ordered a peppermint tea and it was delicious. I had a million questions over a single tea order but the server was very patient with me.

At the time there was no one else in the shop because it was close to closing time. That made the experience even more special. I got to browse and shop at my leisure while the magical tea was being brewed.

They sell all sorts of tea accessories. Strainers, spoons, loose tea in a number of varieties.

This shop is easily accessible. Parking is tricky downtown but there is a huge parking lot across the street. There are metered spots right out in front of the shop.

Prices seemed very reasonable. I didn't think anything was overpriced especially when you consider the quality of what you are getting.

The tea was so good, I've tried to replicate it at home but I don't have the magic touch.

Guy was super nice. The ambiance inside the building was nice. everything was cutely decorated and clean. the boba itself was yum kinda. good for lawrence boba

Of late I'd dreamed of a robust pot of hot Pu-Ehr tea I'd enjoyed here many times. Born across the sea, imparting a bit of the terroir of Yunnan province Chinese soil where it not only grew but was stored underground to age before emerging and traveling on its way to consumers.

I'd sit in the warmth of small, intimate tables, condensation from the hot water and tea preparation making a slight fog over the windows, creating a work of art for those passing by, the internal neon and steamy windows blurring into a Monet-like storefront, at once romantic and inviting.

What does Pu-Ehr taste like? We might call it the Guinness of Chinese teas, at once bold and in your face with an earthy, sometimes musty smell, pungent, a slight bite, a bit of caffeine, the unmistakable aroma of loam. Famed for its medicinal properties, consumed round the clock by chain smoking Asians said to never contract cancer as a result. So intense, sometimes initial sips can make me dizzy.

It would come to the table in a finely crafted hand-thrown teapot as it had in the past, possibly wrapped in a towel, an insulated handle would allow us the first pour, imparting its young floral notes while the latter pours would be more bold, brash and in your face. Served in small pottery cups without handles, it would be lifted delicately and sipped carefully, savored... this would be a true cup of pleasure to share with my lady.

Nah, none of that here.

How about a few predictable-every-tea-joint choices served blistering hot--no, make that dangerously hot-- in oversized plastic/styrofoam cups with lids, the "small" easily over 16 ounces. Two of those around $7. Dehydrated? Rescue is on its way. Oh, and served by a teenager who left her pink cell phone from a nearby table to serve us and promptly returned as soon as possible afterwards. There's social media to attend to here, folks. Priorities.

Oh, but a list of bubble tea choices reminiscent of the largest possible box of Crayons. Every color, ever flavor. Bam! House of Cha? Maybe time to rename: House of Bubble Tea To Go.

But wait, there's more. No music, a few odd native American works of art that, well, were nice but struck me as odd. Not a reason to complain, but this place is just empty.

OK, so the original owners who were connoisseurs of fine Asian teas moved on quite some time ago. I was aware of that, but had no idea just how far the service and approach had changed. More than just disappointed that what I came for and dreamed of was no longer here. The quality and service has gone the route of minimum wage, owner and/or manager absent, so there goes the service. Welcome to Lawrence, Kansas and the bane of most service of any kind in the city.

We drank maybe 1/5 of the massive containers ordered after allowing it to cool for 10 minutes, promptly tossed the rest in the trash on the way out the door. There are places to get this kind of tea in town, and with far better service. Or you can make it yourself at home. Sadly, I can see no reason to return here.

Great service. I recommend this for a refreshing drink on a hot day. My blended peach boba tea was yummy

House of Cha was my hidden staple in college and perfect for a day date. It's unique, has some solid tea and is right by downtown.

I popped back in to kill some time and answer emails before a Lawrence event and have to say I wasn't exactly loving it this time around. The atmosphere looks pretty much the same as I remembered, but the rest of it was just ok.

First off, the service wasn't feeling it on this day.

In absolutely no hurry at all, I kind of moseyed up to the counter and looked and the guy helping seemed pretty put out that he had to make another tea. I ordered everything (almond milk bubble tea with ice) and he was like, "OK. It's going to take time, just so you know." Well damn, I thought it was going to instantly appear without any time passing! He wasn't kidding as it did take time, which is fine.

Overall the staff wasn't really feeling the small rush they'd gone through. I worked service for many, many years and in college and I always stressed to my employees and myself to never take out the frustration of anything personal onto customers, and especially not to take the stress of a rush out on them. If there was a rush that means people are supporting your biz! In fact gutting out a smile in a rush earned us loads of tips and made us feel better, but I digress.

The tea was fine, but not as good as I remembered. I believe they use a milk powder and I've always wondered is there actual tea in these drinks? They do a nice oolong straight up tea, but do they include these in the bubble teas? I'm not 100% sure.

These are treats so I won't complain much about the price but at almost $5 it was gone pretty quick, and I was trying to nurse it.

I'll give House of Cha another shot and try something else, but I was a bit disappointed that it didn't live up to the lively, friendly little shop that I used to frequent.

If you're looking for authentic tea don't go here! Very Americanized and hipster, not the place for traditional boba tea. The place is super small and crowded, barely any space for you to sit and sprawl out comfortably, or else you're bumping elbows with the person next to you or a person in line. Also, not very wheelchair and stroller friendly; if you enter with one of those you may have a hard time navigating the place without bumping into one of the many delicate trinkets inside or bumping into someone else's drinks!

All their drinks are powdered, mixed with some tea they brew in-store. You can actually see the powder flavors in jars behind the counter, so if you were looking for a place with natural ingredients, you're in the wrong place my friend. They even do a poor job of mixing their powder so it's super chalky when you drink it, with remnants of powder caking your cup as you sip. I'll give them this: the drink wasn't overly sweet as you'd find at other Americanized boba tea places and the not bitter either from over-steeping tea, so at least there's that. The boba pearls were also chewy, but bland so eating them felt kind of like a chore. Overall, I didn't finish my drink (unusual as I'm a boba fiend and no straw would leave my lips until the drink is finished within 15 minutes) and after a night of some drinking I used the remains as a last-ditch effort since my car was out of water lol.

Maybe my expectations were too high because I've heard good things about this place... but it didn't meet my expectations.

I ordered a small milk tea with pearls ($4.35 total) which would always be my baseline when I try new milk tea places. I'm not a milk tea expert though I've had A LOT in the past and this milk tea does have potential to be good. I can taste the black tea; however, it was watered down but it was still drinkable. It's hard to say if it was just this one time that the milk tea was watered down so if I'm ever in Lawrence,KS again, then I'll try this place again. The pearls, on the other hand, were cooked correctly and were chewy.

This place was small but had a good setup (in my opinion) to sit down and study while sippin' on some milk tea.

As I write this, I'm finishing up a large red bean bubble tea, savoring the last few perfect tapioca pearls, wanting to run back and get another already. This is my second bubble tea in less than 48 hours.

Sadly, I am about to leave Lawrence in about three weeks. This means the possibility of running into town to get the best bubble tea in this area, I daresay, the United States will be no longer. I will just have to make it a must when I'm back in town visiting from Kansas City. OK, so that"s only 45 miles away...

Buuuut, I'm afraid it just won't be the same. I'm an impulsive gal and I like giving in to my cravings immediately. I feel full of regret that I took HOC for granted. But, I suppose that even Vincent Cassel takes Monica Bellucci for granted sometimes.

House of Cha, won't you open in Kansas City?

I always hit up House of Cha when I'm in Lawrence because they're the only boba tea place I know of that has VANILLA boba tea. I got it tonight for the first time in 4 years and it tasted just as good as I remembered it. I love how they have an option for a cold drink without ice as I love cold drinks but don't want the ice to melt and dilute the flavor.

Service is excellent here and they always get to making my drink right away. Atmosphere is great for studying as they don't play music and it's typically quiet. House of Cha is in my opinion, one of the best boba places in Kansas and has always satisfied my boba tea cravings.

The bubble tea is really delicious here! The space is pretty small and the service was super friendly, but I'd come back because the drink was that good.