CHOCOLATEA
7642 S. Westnedge Avenue (Portage Plaza) • Portage, MI 49002
269-903-2447 • chocola-tea.com
Anyone who has seen the little red Smart Car pulling the giant green teacup around Portage isn’t likely to forget it, and that’s what Polly Kragt is banking on. She owns ChocolaTea, a tea shop with the personality of a local coffee shop. Customers love to sip their blends while perusing the Internet or playing board games in the relaxing atmosphere.
“Tea got me through college and through raising kids,” says Polly. She’d always wanted to own a small business, so having a tea shop—that also carries her favorite sweet—is a perfect fit. She opened ChocolaTea on the main thoroughfare that connects Portage to Kalamazoo in a spot that overlooks Portage Creek. It carries more than 350 varieties of loose-leaf tea in a self-service setup and also offers a cafe-type menu of quiche, soup, and sandwiches, along with namesake sweets. The shop is known for its 15 flavors of tea lattes—like the McDreamy, a lavender-white-chocolate-peppermint concoction—though Polly encourages patrons to create their own.
As dedicated to tea education as she is to running the business, Polly attends the World Tea Expo each year and never stops learning about her favorite drink. “I’m a very hands-on owner—I never miss a day,” says Polly. “This is my baby, and you have to nurture your baby!”
I Love This article and the Website. So interesting and informative. Makes me want to go back to Michigan and see it and experience it.