Infusions Tea Spa: Allston, MA

My Sunday Still Life: some Bubble Tea and Stitch ‘N Bitch of course.

When I’m not admiring Bamboo sock yarn or discussing Project Runway at my favorite LYS: Woolcott and Company, I’m usually tasting as many varieties of Bubble Tea that you can find in the Boston area.

On this particular journey, I stayed in my own neighborhood of Allston, MA for some Infusions Tea Spa. Honestly when you go in, it’s a place you can imagine sitting for hours catching up on reading your Proust or Anais Nin- or with the free Wi-Fi access, browsing Knitty.com. Dare I say it but I might even try to KIP there one day. Why not?

If you get a seat near the windows you can be inspired by the cast of characters that are sure to walk by at any given time but surprisingly Sunday brings out a more tame crowd. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of hipsters in sight but it was made up for by the little slice of life that the view gives you. Trust me, Allston has some charm to it.

Now to the tea. Basically, if I get the right impression, you do have a selection of Milk teas (which are commonly served with the tapioca pearls) but also some green teas and then some smoothies. On special they actually had some Thai Tea which is a red tea with milk- by far a stand out at any given Bubble Tea establishment. However, the other selections seemed a little bit limited but the authenticity and the friendly service makes up for it. In future visits, I’m imagining the quality of the small selection is outstanding and hope to prove that soon.

What’s my most severe criticism of Infusions Tea Spa? The cups! Strange yes, but part of the personality of Bubble Tea is the cups. Granted as a small business operating in an expensive city, one should choose to save money where possible but the cups are so essential. Sadly the cups seem to derive from their supplier in Taiwan and don’t express the personality of Infusions Tea Spa, an important part of branding- if not the most important part of Bubble Tea culture. In the future I would hope that they would get some custom designed cups with their logo (which is beautiful- they have a great color scheme and clean fresh look) and let the cup be as fashionable as the beverage inside.

Bubble Tea is fun- that’s why I drink it. Coffee can be too serious. Iced Tea in itself lacks some personality. But Bubble Tea, it stands out. The container matters too. In fact, modern times and advertising have brought packaging design to the forefront of graphic design as exhibited by the last Communication Arts Design Annual. They made special note of the attention that is being paid to packaging design as a vital step in the marketing process and as a corporate identity.

But the good. What stands out more than anything? Their tapioca pearls are worth the wait every time with the perfect amount of sweetness. When you’re chewing these things, you want there to be a personality of some sort too and Infusions Tea Spa succeeds there. Ok well not everyone wants personality in their tapioca I know but the taste matters and these taste great.

So, Infusions Tea Spa in Allston, MA. Relaxing atmosphere, friendly service, lacking in some personality with their cups, but ultimately a high quality Bubble Tea destination.

Here’s their information:

Infusions Tea Spa110 Brighton Ave.,Allston. 617-254-1122.