Although Starbucks is our “go to” place for a caffeine fix, we like exploring boutique coffee roasters and retailers. A few of our favourites include:

• Transcend Coffee in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
• Caffe Artigiano in the Greater Vancouver Area, British Columbia, Canada
• Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco, California, USA
• Barefoot Coffee in Campbell, California, USA

For Chinese-style tea and coffee houses, enjoy more than just a bubble tea like a Hong Kong-style milk tea or a Taiwanese-style honey milk tea:

• Happy Date Restaurant in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
• Cattle Cafe and The One in the Greater Vancouver Area, British Columbia, Canada
• Cafe LaTTea in Cupertino, California, USA

Not just coffee and tea: Some of the above coffee/tea shops have good eats too!

• Caffe Artigiano – The roasted lamb sandwich panini makes for a good lunch.
• Happy Date Restaurant – They make one of the best Hong Kong-style teas and coffees. The baked spaghetti and meat sauce is also very delicious. For a cool treat, enjoy an iced red bean drink. If you want an added twist, get a scoop of ice cream in the iced red bean drink. So good!
• Cattle Cafe – The “choose your own toppings” noodle soups are popular.
• Cafe LaTTea – Split a honey toast with friends. This is really a 4 inch tall square cake dessert.

To good eats and good company!