Indigo Tea Co.

When people think of travel, they usually imagine getting on a plane to go to a foreign land halfway around the globe or piling into a car to road trip across the country. My family is partial to the latter. But during a week-long break from school, when the rest of your siblings are still in school, there is nothing better than taking an actual break and having the freedom of a car at your fingertips. This is spending spring break in your hometown, in a familiar place.

In the twin cities there are many bubble tea shops that I love, but there are not many tea cafes. By that I mean, not many that have both that same coffee-shop-vibe, and more than bubble tea. There is one though, my favorite, tucked away in Burnsville. Indigo Tea Co. The coziest place to study, chat, read, or just do crafts. It is just off highway 13, a road I am very familiar with, after taking it to and from school for nearly 2 years. It is just up the road from the dance studio my sister takes lessons at, and being the oldest sister it is my unspoken duty to drive my sister to and from her dance classes whenever I am able. I don’t mind of course; I like listening to music with her and coming up with silly acronyms for license plates. The drive is very straightforward as well, since I follow the same 2 roads almost the entire way there.

Then after I drop her off, I get to hang out at my favorite tea cafe.

The café is kind of divided into two sections by shelves full of mugs, kettles, water bottles, tea pots and bags of loose-leaf tea. When you enter you are greeted by a table displaying several different tea sets, and cubbies of elegant, adorable, simple mugs. A small glass display case shows the bakery items they sell, scones and muffins, cake and cookies. There are also some snacks for purchase, like chips and cheese, at very reasonable low prices. The counter has several tea-gadgets such as a perfect tea scoop that I highly recommend, different tea steepers and single-use tea sachets for loose leaf tea, and small nick-nacks like card games and key chains. Tall wood shelves across from the counter are full of bags of loose-leaf tea, consisting of all sorts of different black, green, white, herbal, and yerba mate teas. The cherry on top is the sample containers of all the tea they have, for customers to see and smell before they purchase a bag of tea.

When I visited the shop for the first time two years ago, I fell in love with it the moment I walked in. One product that caught my eye then was a tea box to organize your tea bags into (and I had a lot of tea at that point). I never bought it, but I thought about it a lot for my next few visits. Most recently, I noticed different flavored sugars at the counter next to the register, like lemon sugar and maple sugar, which have been living rent free in my head for the past few weeks. Having them would allow me to give my scones an extra-special garnish. Occasionally I look at a small section where they have all of their matcha-making products: a bamboo whisk, a special wood scoop, and special little bowls and mugs. Since I have grown in my love for matcha I have started making it at home, although I know it is not very authentic when I just use an electric milk frother. Someday I want to get these products to make “authentic” matcha, but right now they are a little out of my price range. I also always notice the cat totes they have hanging at the ends of the shelves. I always think to myself that they are so adorable, but then I must tell myself “you have enough totes, you don’t need a new one for $15.” There are so many adorable mugs that I always see there, particularly one with a watercolor-style succulent pattern on it. Recently I noticed a navy blue one that has a white outline image of a cat looking up at the stars.

Next to the café counter, to the right of the entrance, is a corner with some plants and two low tables. You have to take your shoes off and sit on floor cushions at these tables, but these are on raised platforms so they’re not directly on the floor. I recently learned that this table is called a “chabudai” and the flooring is tatami mats, both traditionally used in Japan. This is cozy sometimes, and at the very least is fun and different. The café noises are louder on this side, right next to where they are making drinks. You can hear the workers talking, mixing, and most particularly, you can hear the loud steamer.

On the other side of the café, to the left of the entrance and all the products is the main café seating. It is what you would imagine. Some square wooden tables with 4 wooden chairs surrounding each. A long booth is against one wall with tables and a chair opposite, so two people can sit. Cushions are scattered on the bench side, and I think there are outlets along the bottom of the long booth. My favorite spots are in the corner, right next to the window and in front of a large plant. A perfect table for two with a window view out to the parking lot. I feel tucked away and hidden there, even though it is still part of the open space. Next to the entrance is where you return your dishes (if you ordered your tea or food “for-here”) and a pitcher of water, honey, sugar and creamer, and a microwave. These amenities along with the plants, warm cushions, abundance of adorable teacups and tea sets, mugs and kettles, tea and totes and the sometimes-jazzy sometimes-beachy instrumental music all create a very comforting, relaxing environment. The café tells you: “come, stay for a while, I’ll take care of you.”

When I was finishing my associate of arts at a local community college and living at home (2022-23), I would drive to Burnsville twice a week for my sister’s dance lessons.  I’d have an hour and a half at Indigo Tea each Tuesday. The café is closed on Thursdays, so I would usually spend the hour at a Caribou Coffee. On Tuesdays I would get to Indigo Tea around 4:30, order my drink, ask for the Wi-Fi password, and sit down. It was very frequently the same man taking my order. A friendly man, probably in his 40s, grey hair, glasses, not any noticeable-to-me wrinkles. He seemed to do everything at the café; take orders, make drinks, and answer any questions. He must be a manager. We rarely chat much but if I recognized him, he must recognize me. I am a horrible regular though, and almost never order the same thing because I want to try everything on their menu. I have had almost all their original milk teas. My favorite drinks there are the iced fresh fruit tea (jasmine green tea with kumquat juice and simple syrup) or the royal (classic) milk tea. Sometimes I would get them less sweet, sometimes hot, sometimes with tapioca pearls. Sometimes they even had seasonal specialty drinks that I would try, like a valentine’s rose-flavored milk tea. Some days I would order a second drink before leaving, for my sister. Hers was always a royal milk tea, with slightly different changes depending on how generous I was feeling that day. Whether I wanted to pay extra for her to have the larger size, or tapioca pearls, or almond milk. While I was there I would work on my schoolwork. I always brought my laptop, charger, pens, and sometimes my notebook. Other people would also be doing work on their laptops. At 5pm almost every week the same two women would come in and sit at one of the tables in the middle of the café, kind of close to me. They would be doing some sort of knitting craft and chatting. I never spoke to them but seeing them gave me a strange sense of community. I have also seen some women bring in coloring books and supplies, and I’ve also seen a different group of ladies knitting or crocheting. I only saw these groups once. Makes me think of sonder.

One Tuesday when I was sitting at the end of the long booth, facing the whole store, a group of teenagers started to gather at the other end of the booth. One or two of them seemed to have birthday presents, and I think there might have been a cupcake at their table. I concluded that they were casually celebrating their friend’s birthday. I wasn’t sure whose. I’d love to celebrate my birthday at Indigo Tea. It’s not a great place for parties though.

I met one of my roommates there last summer, so that I wouldn’t be moving in with a complete stranger. I got there a little early and sat at the tables next to the café counter, at the chabudai. This is where there is the best view of the entrance, so I saw her the moment she came in. I ordered my favorite drink, the iced fresh fruit tea, while I think she got a cookie or cake. She doesn’t like tea very much. We chatted for a while, about ourselves and the upcoming semester, before parting ways. I felt much more comfortable living with her after that meeting. Luckily it wasn’t as awkward as I had feared.

Another time I saw a woman working with a young boy there. I don’t remember many of the specifics about the situation. I think this was another Tuesday, maybe I ordered their signature turmeric latte (which I wouldn’t recommend). I was sitting at the tables next to the café counter again. The two other customers were sitting at the second table (they are separated by a screen). The woman didn’t seem like the boy’s mom, maybe a nanny, and they were having a fun-sounding conversation. I didn’t want to be rude and listen in on their conversation too much, so I didn’t. Indigo Tea is the perfect place for people-watching, although I don’t participate in it much.

When I went back to Indigo Tea this past week, I left behind my school work and instead brought a craft– my string to make knotted “hand weaving” bracelets. I had recently purchased a bulk pack of different string colors, so I had a bag with all of those in it. I also kept a clipboard and some “spools” to wrap the string on after I start to unravel it. Lastly in the bag are scissors, some keyrings, carabiners, and even a clothespin all to attach the string to something while I create the bracelet (or keychain or bookmark). On this occasion I first drove my sister to her dance class on Saturday morning and stayed at Indigo Tea for about 2 hours. I ordered a matcha latte that tasted more like a lightly toasted marshmallow than the earthy flavor I had grown to love. It was much more crowded than when I had been there on weekdays, even at 10am on a Saturday. I still got my favorite window seat though. Many people were chatting, and doing work, or just shopping. Even though I had brought some of my crafting supplies I did not know what to do when I first sat down. It would be strange to craft in a café, wouldn’t it? Then I remembered the two women I had seen every Tuesday doing their knitting craft, and realized it really wasn’t that strange. I resumed the project I had been working on, just practicing a new pattern I had learned. A miniscule part of me began to want someone to ask what I was doing, despite knowing it was unrealistic. I felt like I had then joined the ranks of all the other crafting women that I had seen on previous visits.

I also went with my friend on a weekday. Tuesday afternoon, around 1pm. We both love Indigo Tea and decided to share a pot of tea, we just weren’t sure what kind. We both love green tea. I wanted to buy a new bag of loose-leaf tea but wanted to try one or two teas first. That is another reason why I love Indigo Tea, you can order a cup of any of the teas they sell. I looked at all the different green teas they had. My friend and I spent some time looking at and smelling the sample jars of different dried tea leaves and herbs. That is how we decided on ordering peach green tea. It smelled sweet and fresh, balanced with the green tea. I ended up purchasing a bag of that tea. It was only after I left that I remembered I actually wanted to buy an herbal tea, without caffeine, but I have no regrets.

We sniffed even more tea samples as we waited for our tea to cool, and pointed out all the adorable tea sets, mugs and kettles. Their prices are reasonable for a good product, but still a little spendy for two adults with no disposable income. One item that piqued our interest was a white wicker picnic-basket-like product. It is in the shape of a half circle, with handles at the top of the rounded end. It was on display with an elegant tea set inside it. The tea set was white with pink flowers on it, probably porcelain. We couldn’t find a price on the ones that were for sale, but I guessed it was more than I could spend right now. Once again, I had brought my bracelet string because I wanted to teach her how to make one, and she was willing to learn. We didn’t touch the bag though, so preoccupied by our mutual love for the shop and tea in general. We chatted about tea for a few hours, then made our purchases and went home to do crafts.

So while my high school classmates that I haven’t spoken to in years are posting about their Europe trips on Instagram, I must be content with my peaceful visits and the peaceful drive to my favorite tea shop, with European and Asian style products. I don’t need to travel far to have a peaceful time and try new things.