All Over Albany

The Whistling Kettle, Troy

The folks behind theWhistling Kettle Tea Room in Ballston Spa opened their new location in Troy this week.

The Whistling Kettle Tea Shop & Cafe launched quietly on Thursday. I stopped by for a look and a chat with owner Kevin Borowski about their new location.

The new shop is located at 254 Broadway in downtown Troy, where Broadway Brew used to be.

The main dining area is cozy. If I were there for lunch, I would especially be interested in the window seats so I could watch Troy go by.

The middle area is a retail space with loose teas and tea-drinking paraphernalia. I found the neatest feature of the whole place to be the "sniffing bar" where you can smell all 120+ teas available to purchase.

Instead of taking a wild stab in the dark based upon a tea description, you can smell the aroma before you buy. There are also loads of cute kettles, loose tea infusers, and anything else you would need to enjoy tea.

There's also a back room -- which was much more peaceful than the front space.

Borowski says he's already received a handful of inquiries to rent the space out for private parties, specifically bridal and baby showers. The Ballston Spa space was too small to accommodate private parties on the weekend. That back room also seems like a good place to work in Troy, since complimentary Wifi is in the works.

The menu is pretty much the same as the Ballston Spa location, with sandwiches, soups, salads, and crepes. Borowski called the offerings "not dainty," like a traditional teahouse, while a small selection of tea sandwiches are available. For those who don't like tea, there's also French press coffee on the menu.

Overall, it's a cute space that I'm glad to have in downtown Troy. The menu brings a lot of new options to the city, even though it might be a little expensive for a daily lunch stop (most items are $9 and up). However, it's always nice to have more options for high quality hot beverages in town.