Sencha Tea Bar (Saint Paul)

Sencha Tea Bar started in Uptown Minneapolis in 2002 under another name, Tea Garden, and by its own account was one of the early homes of bubble tea in the Twin Cities. It became Sencha Tea Bar in 2015, as direct-sourced loose leaf moved to the centre of the business. The Saint Paul bar is at 1692 Grand Ave, one of the group's tea bars alongside Uptown, Woodbury and Madison, Wisconsin. Since 2024 the company has been part of Amplified Experiences, formed when it merged with Five Watt Coffee.

The loose leaf list is built for trying. Almost every tea is sold first as a one-ounce sample and then in larger bags, so the entry point is low: the Indian Assam is the cheapest black, the Taiwanese Iron Goddess of Mercy costs a dollar more, and the Chinese Dragon's Well sits just above it. At the top of the ladder are Silver Needles, made from early spring buds from Fujian, and a ceremonial matcha from Japan that skips the sample and starts at two ounces.

It is a bar as much as a shop. At the counter you can order bubble tea, tea lattes and freshly brewed loose leaf, and the same teas are sold online and shipped anywhere in the United States, free on orders over forty-nine dollars. The house says it buys directly from growers and from importers it trusts. For a first visit, the practical move is to leave with three or four one-ounce bags instead of a single large one.