While options abound in downtown Brunswick for a daily latte or red-eye coffee jolt, until this past week, getting a cup of good quality loose-leaf tea was difficult. Having it alongside a piping bowl of soup or a crispy panini was next to impossible. Luckily for Bowdoin's tea drinkers, however, Brunswick's brand new Sweet Leaves Teahouse opened September 30, just in time for Parents Weekend.
Sweet Leaves' motto is "'Tis a gift to be local," and the page-long food menu is chock full of New England ingredients, from the simple salad with Sullivan Harbor smoked salmon to the cheese plate, which features Debbie Hahn's Petit Poulet from Phippsburg, Maine and York Hill Farms' Aged Natural Rind Goats Milk from New Sharon.
If you're hungry for lunch, choose from a selection of salads, panini, soups, and little plates. Both soups are excellent. The roasted eggplant soup is rich, complex and garlicky, while the red kuri squash soup is exceedingly smooth and creamy with the slightest peppery bite?perfection. Not so for the farm chicken panini. Its cucumber, spinach, chicken, and sweet corn relish combination tasted a bit off. The bread was charred yet excessively soggy, and the pickled green beans served on the side were too tart and vinegary. The extra sharp Vermont cheddar panini was far better, served with green tomato apple chutney and a little cup of mulled apple cider for dipping?the perfect autumn sandwich. The cranberry walnut scone was nothing out of the ordinary, but, served with a side of tangy lemon curd, it still hit the spot.
It speaks to Sweet Leaves Teahouse's dedication to coffee's sister beverage that while the food menu is only a page long, there are four pages of teas to sample. They include a full range of black, green, and herbal varieties conveniently served with a little old-fashioned hourglass so you can calculate the tea's strength. We had a pot of smoky Lapsang Souchong, the perfect complement to our salty soups and sandwiches, but milder teas are also on hand to take with desserts and scones.
Service was exceedingly slow?but then again, it did just open. Our waitress was kind and apologetic, if a bit frazzled, and ultimately we forgave her for the fact that our sandwiches arrived at the table a good half hour after we saw them leave the kitchen. The preparation and delivery of our soups and sandwiches somewhat lacked finesse, but these flaws are likely to be sorted out with a few more days of practice.
The bottom line is this: As long as you aren't in a hurry, try Sweet Leaves Teahouse for lunch or tea with your family this weekend, and don't forget to order a bowl of either of their delicious soups. Be patient with the servers and take the time to enjoy the simple pleasures of this dear little teahouse, which, with a bit of hard work and refinement, promises to become a Brunswick classic.
Sweet Leaves Teahouse is located on 22 Pleasant Street in Brunswick.