My Favorite Watering Holes: Kafe Excelso & Argo Tea

Cappucino at Kafe Excelso

By Lu
You will probably think I will talk about a bar or two, but no. I love this quotation from my friend, Tina.. "I'm Asian, and I have no tolerance!" Well, she developed her tolerance to alcohol, but I didn't. Thus why I am taking over the quote.
I wish I could drink as much as other people; but, after one drink or two, I'm done. So, that is why I focus all my interest to other addicting drinks... Tea and Coffee.

I could totally say that I helped make Starbucks the coffee giant it is today. I spent lots of my good earned income over there, every morning and sometime other parts of the day too. When the barista knew your name, that's because you're an investor. I used to be addicted to Starbucks and I wouldn't go anywhere else. I was a loyal Starbucks drinker for years.

Yet, like everything else, it came to an end. I found a new love. Boy, that is the extent of my cheating life and I'm two timing Starbucks now. If that makes me a coffee ho, then I am. At least everywhere else, I could say I'm as loyal as a Saint Bernard.

I stumbled over this great coffee place when I was back home in Jakarta. I knew of this place forever, but I was so infatuated with Starbucks, I never gave it a chance. Yeah, sorry... unless you are going to make it to Indonesia someday, you can only read about it. But, you never know what is in the book. You may yet make it there, and please do try them!

Ri and I just arrived in Jakarta in the morning of November 13 last year. We were tired, but needed to stay up until decent time to sleep so we wouldn't experience too crazy of a jet-lag. We also had to deal with 12 hours of time difference. My dad all of a sudden insisted that we would go have dinner at Sushi Tei in Senayan City Mall. Annette was all confused of dad wanting to go to a mall, a crazy busy one on top it. She was suspicious right of the bat. But we went, and had a great dinner. But all of a sudden my dad disappeared after answering a phone call. He then texted us saying to meet him downstairs.

When we finally got to the ground floor of the mall, my mom got a text, and she was acting weird too. We were ready to go home and crash, but she begged us to come with her to another restaurant. So, we followed her and turned out they had a big group of friends having dinner there. So, Ri and I were half alive, and we shook hands and went through the whole introduction to my mom and dad's friends. These people were in a tour group with my parents on a trip to China, and they just became really close. Being empty-nesters, I'm glad they found friends to hang out and do stuff with. But turned out, the parents just wanted them to meet us children, and they thought we wouldn't want to do so because we were so tired. Not really sure about my dad's whole reasoning. But the whole Sushi Tei was a diversion so that they could still hang out with their friends! :D
They wanted us to eat again with them and we were like "no......thank you." We were about to burst after going crazy on the cheap fresh sushi not even an hour ago. So, my parents stayed there, and we sisters looked for coffee to stay awake. Annette took us to Kafe Excelso.

Kafe Excelso

I remember drinking coffee there with Philippe way back when but I didn't remember it being this good. But back then I probably didn't know any better in appreciating a good cup of Joe. But, I am a different person now as I know how a great coffee should taste like. I had a cappucino and it was just terrific. It blew Starbucks away. I was awake, and I was happy. It was just great tasting, great smelling, and super strong! Since that night, every chance I got to drink coffee in the two weeks period I was there, I looked for Kafe Excelso. We even got lost one day at Grand Indonesia Mall looking around in circle for the place, as we passed Starbucks, Coffee Beans & Tea Leaves, and Oh La La Cafe. Nope, I really really wanted my Excelso.

When we were done with coffee, we went back to get the rents, and guess what? My dad threw the car key to Ri and said we could go ahead and go home. They would hang out there awhile yet. Can you believe it? We got ditched at the mall by our parents!!!! That's just wrong!! Our jaws were on the floor! They haven't seen us in a year!

But one good thing that came out of it was that I rediscovered Kafe Excelso. Annette told me Werner, her husband, always buys some bags to bring back to Norway. They offer several different kinds of coffee and mostly are Indonesian coffees. The best ones are Kopi Luwak, Torajans, and Mandailing. Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world. The beans were eaten by a small animal called chivet, and then they pooped it out. Sounds gross, right? But I guess the enzyme in their stomach helped flavoring the coffee. They probably had to disinfect the beans with peroxide before processing it hahaha, but it is most priced nonetheless. I like the Torajans. I brought some home for my friends, and they all seemed to agree with me about how good it is.

Latte and a Club Sandwich

Kafe Excelso also serves small food items such as sandwiches and desserts. It is a great place to chill if you need a little shot of caffeine to revive you from the 3 o'clock crash at the mall. I've been praying that someone will open a franchise in the US. Oh, they also gave you a complimentary short bread cookie with the coffee. I always bought extra cookies each time I was there :D. Yummy.

Another great discovery that I encountered last year as I landed from St. Louis at the O'Hare American Airlines terminal was Argo Tea. I saw that from a far and I was instantly intrigued. You know me and my tea. I just couldn't pass it. After being delayed in St. Louis for hours, I just wanted some good iced tea to quench my thirst. Looking through the huge tea menu, I decided on an iced tea I've never had before. I did have quite a hard time deciding; plus, I was a little out of my element in the lingo for ordering. Definitely can't use tall, grande, venti here.

Peach Tea Sparkle at Argo Tea

My pick was called "Tea Sparkle" and I chose Peach flavor. Basically it was an iced tea, mixed with sparkling water, with peach syrup...but yummy!! Soooo refreshing! I was taking big gulp of it and I was in heaven.

Too bad, Argo Tea does not have any location in Chicago suburbs yet; but, they have several locations in the city. They are also represented in St. Louis and New York. If you ever encounter one, do go in and try. It is such a great change to the regular coffee places.

The place is nice and modern and you can definitely chill with your computer - working or just killing time. They offers snack items that are high end and geared towards health conscious people. Mh, maybe not... I did see some awesome looking chocolate croissants. They also sells loose leaf teas of all kinds - from black tea to red tea. They didn't have my silver needle; however. But I saw an African Red Tea that I need to try one of these days.

Variety of Tea Leaves at Argo Tea

I'm a loser as every chance I get, I keep getting my peach tea sparkle. I should try the other kinds. Sandrine said the Mint Mojitea was really good. You should see their menu and it is filled with many creative and innovative Tea items. From the hot to the cold; from the creamy to the fizz. Maybe I do need to branch out a bit and practice what I preach of trying new things.

So glad however to find these two places that are like the underdogs compared to the giants of the coffee world. I tend to root for the underdog as they usually always surprise you in a good way. They make extra efforts in order to compete with the giants, and at times, it does pays off. I'd say we need to give everything a chance, and we will be surprised of what we may find. I know that I, myself, need to do that more often. I am glad that I tried these two places as I found something really wonderful.