(Image: COMEBUYTEA USA)

Starbucks made a lot of noise — and left behind a bit of a mess — when it exited E Olive Way earlier this year. But when the coffee giant closed its cafe at Broadway and Pike, it was a much quieter transaction — it took CHS about a year to sort out the shop was permanently closed during the pandemic restrictions.

Now the space in the old State Bank building will become home to another global provider of beverages that deliver blended delights of caffeine and sugar as the tea shop trend is quickly reshaping Capitol Hill’s cafe scene.

CHS has learned COMEBUYTEA is making plans for its first Seattle cafe with a remodel of the 1,700-square-foot former Starbucks and onetime Tully’s space working its way through the city’s permitting process.

Born in Taiwan, COMEBUYTEA has expanded to the States with a focus on well-brewed tea and its one of a kind “TEAPRESSO Machine” that completes “the 5-step Kungfu brewing method” in “a 60 second comprehensive brew” that produces “a perfectly balanced tea every time.”

Just add copious milk, loads of sugar, and lots of chewy things like boba and grass jelly from the COMEBUYTEA menu and you have a delicious drink.

The new project will put the long tenant-less space at Broadway and Pike back into motion though building owners Redside Partners have also kept the corner busy in recent months with a temporary art gallery. New ownership at neighboring Neighbours, meanwhile, and LGBTQ-affirming senior housing project Pride Place are also bringing new energy to the block which has faced challenges during the pandemic with increased street disorder around the nearby QFC.

The bubble tea wave, meanwhile, continues to hit Capitol Hill hard. A new Seattle location of the stylish international bubble tea chain Don’t Yell At Me is set to neighbor Dick’s in the mixed-use Hollywood Flats development.

PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.