Ask A Baltimore Expert: Your Best Hot Winter Drink

With mentions in Elle Decor and The New York Times, Teavolve Cafe & Lounge is known for serving 48 different gourmet varieties of loose tea. Sunni Gilliam is the owner of Teavolve Cafe & Lounge, a "lively neighborhood cafe." The cafe's teas can be served by the pot, by the cup or iced. Coffee, made only with locally roasted beans, is served anyway you want it, according to Gilliam. Teavolve Cafe & Lounge has a daily happy hour from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. where friends can gather to listen to live music while drinking a house cocktail, tea, coffee and sampling from the extensive menu of freshly made-to-order food.

Sunni Gilliam
Teavolve Cafe & Lounge
1401 Aliceanna St.
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 522-1907
www.teavolve.com

Located in the Harbor East neighborhood in Baltimore, Teavolve Cafe & Lounge has an "open floor plan with floor-to-ceiling windows, comfortable sofas, and two semi private areas." The extensive loose tea menu reflects owner Sunni Gilliam's belief that teas have to "have the essence of well being in every pot." Teavolve Cafe & Lounge features traditional white, green, black and scented black, teas served hot or iced. White tea favorites include White Peony, Ginger Peach, Pomegranate, Blood Orange and Melon Pear. Featured hot winter drinks are Hot Tea Latte, Hot Loose Leaf Tea Latte and Dirty Chai Latte, as well as Red Velvet Dress and French Mint Hot Chocolate.

Pumpkin Spiced Chai Latte

Halloween may be over, but you can still enjoy pumpkin a while longer. Teavolve's Pumpkin Spiced Chai Latte is a perfect hot winter drink. Chai is a word for tea in Mandarin Chinese. Latte is a coffee drink made with espresso and steamed milk. But all lattes don't have to be made with espresso. Chai tea, when added to a traditional latte, becomes a Chai Latte. With added pumpkin syrup and spices and topped with whipped cream, you have a festive beverage.

Chocoholics Choice

Any chocoholics out there? Raise your hand...you are not alone! Teavolve Cafe & Lounge has created a hot winter drink to die for. The Chocoholics Choice is all the chocolate you could want and then some. Start with semi-sweet Belgian-style chocolate powder. Blend the semi-sweet Belgian chocolate powder and milk over a medium heat. The resulting beverage is full of chocolatey goodness. Top with whipped cream and the Chocoholics Choice will be just the thing you need after a day of playing with the kids in the snow or shoveling the driveway.

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Dirty Chai Latte

Can't decide whether you want a tea drink or a coffee drink? Decisions, decisions. Hey, why not have both! Teavolve Cafe & Lounge has created a drink to suit the tea drinker who likes coffee and the coffee drinker who likes a spot of tea now and then. You decide! The Dirty Chai Latte is a spiced chai latte with a shot of espresso. All beans used in Teavolve Cafe & Lounge's coffee drinks are locally roasted by Ceremony Coffee Roasters.

Salted Caramel Mocha Latte

Salted caramel is the latest buzzword in the coffee shop business. But have you ever had a Salted Caramel Mocha Latte? Teavolve Cafe & Lounge has created a hot winter drink you can make at home. For the chocolate base, use semi-sweet Belgian-style chocolate powder. Mix with hot milk, a shot of espresso, caramel syrup, raw sugar and a Kosher salt blend. Top with whipped cream for a hot winter drink to warm you from head to toe!

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Jill Berry @MusingsfromMe is a writer who stays at home or a SAHM who writesit depends on the day and her mood. While playing a writer on the internet, Jill has the gray hair AND blogposts from raising a kid, a preteen, and a teen. When not blogging at Musings from Me, Jill seizes family time whenever she candinner as a family, movie night, marathon family game sessions, travelingyou name it she wants to do it.