Tag - tea latte

I’ve been following Růže Cake House for quite some time on Instagram, and had fallen in love with their minimalist cactus macarons, cookies,  and succulent-themed cakes. When I heard that they had recently opened up a brick n’ mortar, I was beyond thrilled to go check it out.

The newly-opened (August 26th 2016) space is located in a small shopping center in downtown Scottsdale. The iconic and most instagrammed white neon sign “Stop and Taste the Roses” catches my eye immediately. The quaint retail space is minimal, with white walls, light wood tables, copper chairs and accents, and of course – plants and succulents. The front of the house offers the day’s pastry selections, menu, and the tea station. The cupcakes, croissants, macaroons, and cookies are made fresh daily. The macarons and cupcakes are a huge “thumbs-up” in my book, as well as the London Fog and Růže Tea Lattes.

Jessica Rose Boutwell and her mother started the baking business together after her mother baked a cake for a friend, who was having a wedding at El Chorro. Later, the wedding venue contacted them, saying, “Who are you? Your cake was amazing! We want to refer you to brides.” After meeting with the catering manager at El Chorro, they realized that there wasn’t really anyone in the Valley that offers cakes that are made from natural ingredients.  That’s when her mom said she was going into business. Jessica wasn’t originally going to be involved, but when her mom came to her, saying “Ok, I came up with some names… How do you like ‘Mommy and Me Bakery’?”

From that point on, Jessica immediately became heavily involved, though more so on the design and creative aspects, such as contributing to designing the cakes. It’s now a 50/50 partnership, with her mother doing more of the baking and recipes, and Jessica doing the concepts , working with clients, marketing and general business side of things.

The anatomy of a name… They pronounce it “Rooze”, but it’s růže in Czech (since they are Czech). Jessica’s middle name is “rose,” and when they first started, they worked out of the house…so Růže Cake House clearly made so much sense.

Aside from using natural ingredients, they also source from local dairies, have free-range chickens and feed them organic diets. These chickens provide eggs for the curds (prickly pear and lemon curds) …

Best-sellers? Their cactus cookies, macarons with succulents, and pink velvet wedding cake that’s made with white chocolate.

Jessica’s other business partner and owner of Teaspressa– Allison and her have been collaborating since last year. They decided to merge the businesses because their brands were aligned, they had the same clientele-base, and they were both looking for a space.  Jessica and her mother were looking for a commercial kitchen, while Allison was looking for a retail space. So instead of outsourcing pastries or coffee and tea, they thought, why not just merge. “To have two separate locations wouldn’t make sense, since we’d be getting products from each other anyway.”

Allison DeVane has always been a coffee fan.  She wanted to start a business, but since the coffee business is so popular, she decided to focus on tea, which is a healthier alternative. She was on Shark tank, which brought her to where she is today. She learned quite a lot and got great publicity. Teaspressa officially launched February 2015, and has since participated in numerous local markets and events throughout the Phoenix area.

Making the tea is like making an espresso, hence the name- Teaspressa. You have the concentrated shots of tea, then add the flavors, and then foam and steam the milk. Allison mentioned that she really loves steaming the milk and making latte art out of it, the most. She has a patent pending on the ‘made in the USA’ machine that she uses to create the tea lattes. “I make the tea in coffee language: such as  “tea americano,” “tea latte,” “tea cappuccino;” and it’s basically the anatomy of the espresso, but with tea.”

Her best-sellers are (online) black and earl grey teas, (in-store) Růže and London Fog Tea Lattes.

Stay tuned for a collaboration with Jessica, as they will be making a line of all-natural flavored syrups.

Růže Cake House + Teaspressa is located at: 7033 E. Main St., Ste. 100, Scottsdale, AZ 85251

They are open Wednesday – Friday: 8am-6pm, and Saturday -Sunday: 10-4.