It’s late in the afternoon, and as the teapot is refilled you reach for another sugar crystal to suck on while the leaves soak into the water.

Seven Cups is a cozy, traditional Chinese tea house where you can sit down for a cup of tea or just buy some to take home. It’s good for people who turn up their noses at Starbucks’ attempt at tea or who enjoy drinking out of a tea glass instead of a cup.

Seven Cups’ teapots are gorgeously intricate with color and Chinese characters. The lights are at a perfect dim and soothing music plays just loud enough. In addition to a few sweets, this genuine Chinese tea house offers more than 100 types of green, oolong, black, puer, yellow, white and scented tea varieties.

“”We have a lot of flavors,”” said owner and tea master Zhuping Hodge, adding that Seven Cups imports its tea directly from a tea garden in China for the best quality.

Hodge offers classes on the history of tea and an exploration of tea. But these aren’t the tea house’s only features.

Sophomores Michael Tremel and Jamie Moy go to enjoy the atmosphere.

“”I like to study there,”” said Tremel, a linguistics major. “”It’s very relaxing, very peaceful.””

The tea house offers free Wi-Fi and it’s only too easy to while away the afternoon sipping tea while working on homework.

“”It’s a really great place because everyone’s quiet,”” said Moy, a biochemistry and molecular biophysics major. “”You can just spend the day there, and they just come by with hot water and fill up your tea.””

Hodge agreed it’s a good place for students to go, saying the atmosphere and the tea help them concentrate and remember better.

It’s also a great place for socializing if you would rather have a good cup of tea than coffee. Kristen Clark, an Africana studies and political science senior, sees the benefits of this alternative to coffee shops.

“”I would definitely consider that as an awesome place to drink hot tea, especially in the wintertime,”” Clark said. “”Tea is a nice switch from coffee.””

Don’t be too concerned if you’re not sure what to order, though. You need not be a tea connoisseur to make the switch from Starbucks.

“”They’re always really helpful and a lot of the teas are really hard to pronounce, and they’ll always help you pick the one you’re craving,”” Tremel said. “”They’re great with suggestions.””