Spill the Tea: Alley Cat Cafe

Last year my sister needed some help with my nieces as it was spring break, her husband was out of town due to family illness, and she was working. I had promised my niece I would visit them in Georgia before they moved and found this to be the best time as my work had finally lifted their COVID19 ban on vacations.

While there that week we planned to go to a mall in Florida, but plans changed and we ended up visiting Columbus, GA. I had wanted to visit a tea place in Florida, but as we changed where we were going so did I. I quickly googled and discover a Cat Cafe. And you all know how I feel about cats.

Thats me

My sister didn’t want to go to the Cat Cafe as she felt it was too expensive, but after I told her I would pay for it we headed over there.

I’m not sure how long the business had been opened before we went and unfortunately I cannot find a lot of information as I just discovered (when I was going to link their website to my post), a few months after I visited, it permanently closed.

That’s not good.

As I already wrote the post before my Horrorfest ones, I decided to still post it. While I was there the Cat Café served a variety of coffee, some tea, and had 10 cats that would by cycled out by Pat’s Rescue Cats. It cost $10 an hour for an adult to visit with the cats and $7 an hour for kids under 12. One drink is included with the hourly rate.

When we arrived at the cafè I paid for our time and we chose our drinks. The only tea included with the hour was my choice of a tea bag; my sister ordered a Dolly’s Doughnut (cinnamon bun + vanilla coffee, my niece ordered a Whiskered Mocha (white chocolate), and my littlest niece had a hot chocolate. They told us they would let us know when our drinks were ready and we could go in to see the cats. Because of COVID-19 we had the whole room to ourselves as they could only let so many people in at a time.

The cats were cute and most of them very friendly, allowing you to cuddle and play.

They came into the room and gave us our drinks, giving me a to-go cup of hot water. I was just given the water and then had to leave the room to go to the front counter and make my tea. I thought that was an odd choice as they ask you at the counter what tea you want and you “order it”. It wouldn’t have bothered me if we all had to go and get our drinks, but I felt that if they are preparing the drinks and bringing them to you, then they should do it for all the drinks. And if they were just going to give me hot water, then why not do that before I went into the cat room, as I could have gotten my tea before going in.

After I got my tea and went back to the room, I asked everyone what they thought of their drinks. My tea wasn’t that good, very weak tea bag and no sugar or milk available. My sister and niece did not like their coffees as they both felt the coffee was bitter. My younger niece also didn’t care for her hot chocolate as she said it “tasted weird”. I decided to try it and found myself agreeing with her. It did have an odd aftertaste.

My biggest critique of this place would be to work on their drinks, although I suppose it doesn’t really matter as they are no longer open. The rest of the cafe was cute and fun. I loved the decor, cat items available for purchase, and of course the kitty cats themselves. I hope that they decide to reopen.

For more tea cafe reviews, go to Spill the Tea: eleven tlc

For more tea posts, go to Spill the Tea: There & Back Again Cafe

Matcha, Matcha, Matcha

“Well all I hear all day long is how great Matcha is or how wonderful Matcha is, Matcha, Matcha, Matcha!

So Matcha tea is amazing, if you have been following me on Instagram, you know how much I love it.

For me I have always loved the Green Tea Frappucinos at Starbucks, but I didn’t know there was any Matcha in it.

Oh?

No, my obsession started with a book.

I know, don’t they all.

I picked this particular book up at the library, The Tea Ceremony by Seno Tanaka. It was a fascinating book that went over the history of the tea ceremony, along with discussing Matcha tea, it being the one used in the ceremony (no wonder it is so expensive).

Wow!

One part of the book really stuck in my mind, and that was when they described this one…I guess for lack of a better word, tea party, that had a ton of people and they had to keep getting new dishes and used over 200 of them. Wow, that’s a real tea party.

Wow!

Anyways, I know a lot of people like it because it is supposed to help you loose weight, help keep your brain & heart healthy, gives you healthy energy, stop bad breath, burn calories, build your immune system, help with memory, bring relaxation, help your skin, lower cholesterol, detox, etc. I just like it because it tastes good.

So I had been drinking Matcha for years with the green tea frappucino, but I didn’t start buying my own Matcha until three years ago. My niece used to come every year for the Summer, and on Mondays, my day off, we would go on trips around the world.

Let’s go!

Of course, we didn’t really go around the world. We would travel around the bi-county area recreating famous places/landmarks. She would pick a country, I would do the research on it, and then plan out the day. We would then travel and have the different places “stamp” her passport I printed off.

She wanted to go to Japan, so I planned out our trip. First we made Chocolate Oat Crackles; then we headed to the oldest building in our Gold Rush built town-a Japanese Market (no longer open though), saw the Buddhist Temple Gardens (lucky as they hardly are ever open), the local art gallery (supposed to be the Mori Art Museum), the pet store to pet cats and the cafe next door (supposed to be the Japanese Cat Cafes), Imperial Park, a Cat Bento Box, and ending with the tea ceremony.

Now I live in a small town, so it took some doing to try and hunt down some Matcha. I could have ordered it online, but she wanted to do it the next day, and she was visiting for the summer so I was going to make it happen! I finally tracked down a tiny, and I mean tiny, container for $15 at the health store. The things we do for the ones we love.

We did the ceremony, with what we had (I of course didn’t have the proper tools). But after that, we had Matcha left over, so she and I made our own Green Tea Frappucinos (I’ll post the recipe later) and lattes.

I know some people think Matcha is coarse or gross, but I love it. If you haven’t tried it, I recommend it.

So here is a recipe to make your own Matcha Latte hot or cold:

Ingredients:

• 2 Tsp of Matcha Powder
• 2 Tsps of Sugar
• 3 Tbsps of Warm Water
• 2 Cups of Milk (Hot or Cold)

Directions:

1. Put the Matcha powder, sugar, and water in a cup or mug
2. Whisk together to ensure no lumps (use a matcha whisk or electric stirrer. (My dad was given one and it just somehow ended up in my home.)
3. If doing hot, warm the milk and pour into the mug. If doing cold, just pour in the mug.
4. Use the whisk or electric stirrer to combine everything until it is a light green color.

For more Tea posts, go to I Won the Regency Marketplace Giveaway

For more recipes, go to Cheese Round

For more on Matcha tea, go to Tea Chocolate