This past weekend, I met up with a couple of friends at Scented Tea Leaf House, a Tucson tea shop, to work on our writing hobbies. My friends worked on their own novels while I journaled and worked on a blog post. We were there for almost 3 hours and got some good work done.
I came back later in the afternoon because I still had work I needed to get done…and because of their drink refill policy. If you want to see the tea shop review, skip to the bottom.
My friends and I really enjoy going to tea or coffee shops to get work done because we feel more productive or creative when we’re there. Apparently, there’s something to describe this feeling (I say apparently because I didn’t know there was a term and I’ve been doing this whole coffee shop work thing for the last 12 years).
It’s called the coffee shop effect.
The coffee shop effect
The coffee shop effect is the idea that being at a coffee shop can make you more productive or creative.
*cough cough* I can certainly say that this is true. I wish to spread this knowledge amongst the people. It is a good effect. *cough cough*
Note that when I say coffee shops, I also include tea shops as well…I just go to coffee shops more often so differentiating between coffee and tea shop will be a bit excessive.
I believe it’s a reason why there are a lot of coffee shops on or close to university campus’ – students will come to the coffee shops to study. Just for example – there’s over 24 coffee shops on my alma mater’s campus. That’s insane!
If you’re looking to be productive or get more work done, head to a coffee shop! Here are some reasons why coffee shops can make you more productive or creative.
You have good coffee or tea to sip on
A good coffee or tea is the secret ingredient to being productive at coffee shops.
Coffee and most teas contain caffeine, which helps you stay awake and focus. My go to drinks at coffee shops are either Caramel Lattes or Matcha Tea Lattes. Iced for the summer and hot for the winters.
If you don’t want caffeinated drinks, most coffee shops offer decaf options. I’ve gotten decaf tea before. Having something to sip on can help you stay awake and focus too!
You’re working or studying with others
Seeing others working or studying can motivate you to do the same, especially if you do it with friends. You’re not the only one who has to work and study. Everybody’s there to get stuff done, and you’re all on a team to reach your goals. You can encourage each other to get what you need done.
When you study with your friends, you also socialize with them. This can be a big pro and a big con. It’s a big pro because taking breaks can be good for your productivity. Everybody will take breaks and chat about what were studying. The only thing is to make sure you don’t socialize for too long.
I’ve studied by myself and with friends at coffee shops, and I definitely find myself more motivated to study longer when I’m with friends.
Even if you are by yourself, being surrounded by others who are working or studying promotes productivity.
It’s a dynamic environment
Most coffee shops are chaotic – there’s music playing, coffee machines operating, and people talking in the background. That dynamic environment stimulates you to keep working. I mean…there’s 1 hour videos (that I’ve used as well) on YouTube of people just studying with ambient noise in the background.
There’s also a visual stimulus in coffee shops that can promote your creativity. It certainly has given me some creative ideas for my blog and journal. I feel like I always have ideas that pop into my head when I look around and see what’s going on in the coffee shop.
Tucson Tea shop review: Scented Tea Leaf House
Since I started doing Korean drama reviews and I really enjoy exploring coffee shops, I thought I’d do a tea shop review. Since this is my first tea shop review, I’m pretty much just spit balling my review. There’s no structure. It’s just what I feel. As I start to review more tea shops and coffee shops, I’ll start to have more structure to these reviews.
Brief tea shop background
There are 3 of these tea shops located around Tucson; the one we went to was on East University. This review covers only that location.
It’s arguably the most popular tea store for studying, working, or hanging out since it’s so close to the University of Arizona. When we went, there were a lot of people studying there. There’s so many seats available. They also have decently priced tea drinks.
Tea drinks: 8/10
They have a huge selection of tea drinks. I can’t even list them. The picture above shows a wall of all their teas. I got a Fruit Gusher that’s got hibiscus tea with fresh strawberry lemonade. It was super good – note that if you do get this and you don’t have a sweet tooth, go low on the sweetness level.
They do serve coffee as well. They had a cold brew on tap, but I didn’t get it since I had my tea drink from before.
Their tea drinks are decently priced. I got a small drink for $5. You can go for refills too! My first refill was $1.6 (I don’t know if it changes based on size). The second refill was free. I asked if I could go for a third, but they said I had to pay full price again. I was like damn…could you imagine if they did unlimited refills? Pretty sure they’d go out of business
Productivity: 10/10
This is easily a place where you can bang out some solid work.
There’s plenty of tables to sit at.
There’s also a lot of wall sockets available for you to plug in your laptop.
The internet is great. I surprisingly didn’t have much internet issues. Maybe it’s because I was there in the morning when there weren’t as many people. The connection was easy and fast. You’d be surprised how slow and spotty the internet is at some of the coffee shops I’ve studied at before.
Since it’s close to the university, there’s students studying here all the time. They help set up the environment to make it feel like this is a space to get work done.
Décor: 9/10
The inside had a very nature-y feel. There was a lot of brown and green colors, some big lantern like lights hanging on the ceiling, and a window filled with plant vines.
The study area was pretty clean.
Things were also pretty spacious as well. It didn’t feel very cramped.
I placed this rating here because you want to study in a place that’s visually appealing. If the shop looks rundown or dirty, you wouldn’t want to study there.
Parking: 9/10
It was pretty easy to find parking close by.
This rating can definitely change. Since I was here on a Saturday morning (around 9:30AM), there weren’t that many cars around so there were a lot of spots to park right in front of the shop.
If it does get busy, there is a free parking garage close by. It’s probably like a 5 minute walk at most.
I include this criteria on here because being able to park fast and close is important. You don’t want to spend a long time trying to find parking. You want to use that time to work at the coffee shop.
I hope you enjoyed this Tucson tea shop review! Let me know what you think and if you want me to review other tea or coffee shops!