Infusion Tea has got some savvy.
Perfectly located inside UrbanThink! bookstore at
Décor: A small tea bar in the back of UrbanThink! is an unlikely spot to get your hands on some quality wine and beer, but hey, there it is. Geared more toward the studious reader set, the furniture layout sports a few tall tables and one comfy couch while the lights shine bright to keep the text legible. It doesn’t make for a traditional drinking atmosphere of darkness and intimate quarters, but you must remember that you’re in a tea shop in a bookstore and you’re really there to find out how many beers it takes to make William S. Burroughs books comprehensible.
The Bar: Infusion took a nice approach in selecting their wines: they all come from eco-conscious wineries. Be it organic, biodynamic, or LIVE (as in Low Impact Viticulture and Enology, and not screaming as you swallow it), all the wines use some kind of Earth-friendly methodology in their creation. Fortunately this doesn’t mean they burn dollars in place of the atmosphere: whites go from $6 to $9 per glass, and reds are $7 to $12 a glass, while bottles of reserve wines are $38 to $82. The beers are limited to about a dozen or so different varieties, but are different enough that you’re bound to find a style you’ll like. They come from well-respected breweries the world over, including Wychwood Brewery’s Scarecrow pale ale, Weihenstephan Hefeweizen, St. Bernardus, Wexford Irish Cream, Lagunitas Censored, Wittekerke, and Old Speckled Hen. The prices tend to fall in the mid-$4 to $7 range, but considering that in Thornton Park you’re liable to pay that much for a domestic, you’re getting a pretty good deal.
Service: Though the staff knows their tea backward and forward they also know a bit about beer and wine, which definitely helps you feel less self-conscious about ordering a drink in a bookstore.
Sounds: The speakers pump out popular ‘80s music kept quiet enough to allow reading but loud enough to get your toes tapping.
Crowd: The UrbanThink! and Infusion crowds are pretty much one in the same anyway (young laptop-clad tea drinkers), so it’s a good spot if you’re in the mood for an alcohol-fueled poetry writing spree.
Tip: If you’re just hanging out all by your lonesome and don’t want to read, saunter on over to the puzzles table and start playing. You’ll be surprised how much more engaging a logic puzzle is when you’ve got a few in you.