GAIA Tea & Cakes

revie2

3.0

Hazelnut tea late atw green tea yg hampir selalu qu psen d sini.. y lmayan lach wat tmnin waktu istrahat sore bis aktifitas mampir dlu k sini.. mantap

leonaunu

4.0

GAIA Tea and Cakes is a small shop in Kemang Raya street, which provides the very best tea products of Indonesia.I am more a tea person rather than coffee person, and when I heard about this place few months ago, I had always wanted to visit but only could do so few weeks ago.All of GAIA teas are curated by Ratna Somantri, who is known as the author of “Kisah & Khasiat Teh” and “The Story in A Cup of Tea”. Ratna is a tea specialist which has served as an active speaker in various tea events for the last 8 years. She has traveled many countries to visit and learn from experts and plantations owners to deepen her knowledge about this vast and exciting subject.Located on the first floor of a small office house unit, sharing the spot with Alleira Batik (who also manages this shop) on the second floor.GAIA is dominated with black and golden colors with hints of red and green. It’s typical Alleira boutique style, modern contemporary interior design combined with ethnicity, which creates elegant and luxurious ambience. I love the comfortable sofas and the inviting atmosphere in the shop despite all the glamorous surrounding.We can enjoy the tea here or bring them back home by buying the products which are packaged in beautiful, colorful elegant tin cans.GAIA offers many selection of Indonesian tea, served with unique tea pots and definitely brings different sensation for your tea drinking experience. Prices for tea menu range from IDR 28,000 to 45,000, including one-time hot water refill.During our visit, the menu has 9 selections of tea but some were not available. However, it wasn’t something I needed to frown about because I was busy sniffing the 8 tea samples in small bottles near the counter. Yes, in GAIA, before you order your tea, feel free to sniff the samples and decide later! To be honest, I am not experienced in this kind of tea session but I really appreciated the way they introduce the tea to every guests, even a newbie like me. ;)West Java Silver Needles IDR 45,000Made from highest quality of young tea buds which represents only about 2% in production quantity. The leaves are uniquely beautiful and silver-tipped, exuding royalty and an exceptional soft, smooth, sweet-silky luxury. The lingering fragrance is delicately floral, with a freshness and sweetness of a ripped pear. Refreshing texture that is soft and airy on the palate. One of a kind and highly prized by connoisseurs, has the least amount of process than any other tea, and is full of antioxidants.Strength: 1 (from 1-5)This was my choice after trying to decide for more than 10 minutes. The waiter really recommended this as he said that it is one of the signature teas from GAIA. The tea has a very faint light color when it was poured into the cup after 7 minutes brewing. Each tea has different brewing time so each set comes with its own timer, awesome. The teapot is so pretty, I love the wooden handle on top!Taste-wise, this tea was very light and smooth. As I was told earlier, the strength is just 1 (out of 5) and yes, it was indeed very mild. I didn’t find it too aromatic, which was good because I was looking for something soft and easy.West Java Gunpowder Green Tea IDR 34,000Green tea from a tea plantation in West Java, made only from tea buds and 2 young leaves. This tea is exported to Morocco and European countries as the main ingredients to make the famous Moroccan Mint Tea.Strength: 4/5Truth be told, Mr. K chose this one because of the word “gunpowder” and it was a smart decision ever. This tea needed only 3 minutes brewing before it could be served, and the result was a beautiful, brave, reddish brown color that was so inviting!The strength is 4 (out of 5) and it was a bit surprising at the first sip. It was fragrant, bold, bitter, and kicking at the same time. But I found myself wanting it more and more.Beside the specialty tea menu, for beverages, GAIA also provides selections like Tea Latte and other mixed tea drinks, Italian Soda, Chocolate and Coffee, also Fruit Juices, and Soft Drinks.For the cakes, there are many items in the menu but not everything was available. It seems that there is no exact menu for the cakes, but the only available ones are shown on the counter. I was interested in their Red Velvet, Lemon Earl Grey Cake, and Macarons, but unfortunately, I could only try Carrot Cake, the only available cake that time. Other than sliced cakes, there are also options of cakes on cups like the photos below.Carrot Cake IDR 39,000A cake made from grated carrot, chopped walnut, and spices, then layered with rich and creamy mixture of mascarpone and cream cheese. Beautiful appearance and delicious taste, but texture was a bit too wet. But I still enjoyed it until the last bite.Matcha Fries IDR 29,000Tried this as light bites and as much as I enjoyed the fries, I was quite disappointed in the so-called “matcha seasoning”. Not a favorite.GAIA is really a nice place in term of the place, the tea drinking experience, and the service. However, I must state here that despite all the great ambience we felt there, we were so turned off by the annoying MTV music from the television. I mean, we were enjoying some luxurious kind of experience here, and there was hip hop music on the background? That totally killed the mood, at least to us.In the end, GAIA gave me another pleasure of enjoying my tea and I am so glad to visit this place. Hopefully there will be more selections in the future, and the availability of the products are guaranteed as to keep the guests more satisfied. Hope to be back soon!

Vicky G

3.0

As soon as the host introduced me with their selections of tea, and mentioned that one of their product contains a high anti oxidant benefit, I immedietly had an interest on buying it. I tried the west java silver needle tea, with a slice of triple chocolate cake. I thought it was a good combination.Mostly they serve sweet desserts, to make a good company along their brewed teas.The host are quite informative also. @

camsean

5.0

GAIA adalah Tea Shop pertama yang pernah saya kunjungi, karena sebelumnya saya belum terlalu tertarik dengan teh hehe.. Untuk tehnya sendiri mereka memakai High Quality Local Tea, mungkin karena ada campur tangan mbak Ratna Soemantri di Tea shop tsb.Saya pesan "Mount Halimun Oolong Tea" dan teman saya mencoba Genmaicha yg katanya rasa dan aromanya seperti rengginang, dan ternyata memang benar! Seperti kue beras atau Snack S*rena lebih tepatnya.Harga teh yg ditawarkan semuanya dibawah 50ribu dan dapat di refill sekali lagi. Untuk snack saya mencoba Greentea French Fries, rasanya ya seperti kentang goreng tapi ditaburi greentea powder, pahit asin gimana gitu hahahaOverall sangat puas dengan service waitress yg walaupun agak canggung tapi berusaha menjawab pertanyaan2 saya yg sangat interest di dunia teh, keep it up! Mereka juga menyediakan Tea Class lho kalo kalian berminat, untuk minimal pesertanya 5-8 orang saya agak sedikit lupa

AciT5

5.0

TEMPATNYA OKE PARAH, nyaman bgtbgtbgt masnya peka & makanan sm minumannya juga oke. Juara bgt deh pokoknya. Disini juga ga terlalu rame, jd oke2 sih sepi. Mas2nya ramah, ramah bgt. Pokoknya gada minus.

ikodikomi

4.0

Was there by the weekend, such a warm place to hangout, love the services, the waitress was so friendly, the light food was awesome, the tea was superb, nice

IndraA525

4.0

I'm more a tea person than coffee. So i found this Gaia tea & cakes wait quite long in my bookmark. And i have finally visit this place on an afternoon after meeting at kemang area.Step around Gaia i found it a very comfy & quiet place to relax. Even I'm the only person they served that afternoon.I really enjoy the tea smelling session before order. There aren't many choices but they surely have their own interesting flavors! And my choice fall to West Java Silver Needle, from white tea selection.When it served, they put a timer to show the best time of the brewing process. My white tea was 7 minutes brewed. And whenever it's ready, the waitress pour in my cup with a stylish way. And the smells came out!It has a sweet, yet soft and velvety fragrance. There's a floral, sweet (taste like sweet corn for me?), with a slight of pear in it. Refreshing & relaxing! The light yellow color show its elegance (you can see in my no-filter photos). And they're Indonesian made! How i appreciate & love the way they present the Indonesian tea taste in elegant way. I really enjoyed my time at Gaia & would love to come back.Ps. Unfortunately the earl grey cake didn't available on weekdays, will be back to taste it on weekend!

RatnaP203

4.0

kesan pertama adalah "tempatnya cozy bgt!" Kalo nyari tempat yg sepi buat nugas kuliah, cocok bgt nih! Ada fasilitas wifi dan colokannya hampir ada di setiap meja :) td mesen white tea dan gunpowder tea, kl white tea rasany enteng tp enak.. Kalo gunpowder rasanya cowok bgt, agk berat, ada rasa 'gunpowder'nya. Utk cakes, cm tersedia cupcakes :( kl cakes lainnya hrs order dlu sblm dtg. Recommended! (Y)

Alyara A

3.0

Gaia mengakomodasi sebuah destinasi yang nyaman, penuh dengan kehangatan. Kemudian mengalirlah sebuah cerita lewat secangkir teh hangat yang saya nikmati siang lalu. Kehangatannya mampu meningkatkan mood seseorang kembali stabil lewat sensasi nyaman yang ditawarkan. Saya pun tergiur untuk mencicipi Genmaicha, teh khas Jepang yang juga familiar di Indonesia. Mula-mula saya disuguhkan dengan perlengkapan teh beserta timer untuk menghitung lamanya ekstrasi yang dibutuhkan. Ketika timer berbunyi, dengan sigap sang pramusaji menuangkan teh ke cangkir yang sudah disediakan. Saya pun segera mencicipi teh hangat tersebut untuk mengetahui cita rasa yang ditawarkan.Berwarna kuning muda dengan preferensi ringan, teh ini mengandung banyak serat yang baik untuk tubuh. Dari segi aroma, tercium aroma panggang yang menyegarkan. Berikutnya saya mencicipi Silver needles yang disebut-sebut populer di Gaia. Teh yang berasal dari Jawa Barat ini tak kalah menyenangkan. Floral dan sweet jadi rasa yang paling dominan.