Good tea. Good books. Real conversations.

That’s the irresistible combination promised by a new cafe in Fort Worth’s Near Southside neighborhood.

"Overall our vision is about creating a space where you can just pause and disconnect and take a breath," says Tina Howard, owner of Leaves Book and Tea Shop. "Both the books and tea culture support that very nicely."

Tea drinkers in particular have a lot to look forward to when the shop, which is open for limited hours now, formally launches Sept. 1. Leaves will offer about 50 varieties of tea — black, white, green, oolong, herbal, matcha and pu-erh. Not sure which to try? Aromatic samples of leaves, from the fruity Tropical Green blend to the smoky Lapsang Souchong, are available for inhaling at the counter.

Vials of tea leaves await inhaling at Leaves Book and Tea Shop in Fort Worth. (Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

A little something new

The shop will also be a Texas pioneer for sparkling tea, something Howard says she learned of from vendors in the Pacific Northwest but has not seen locally. "It's fun and fizzy and sweet," she says.

The shop will rotate flavors. On the second day of the store’s soft-launch period in August, options were a sweet sarsaparilla or classic Earl Grey. The lemon hibiscus had sold out.

Howard says that for about a year before the shop opened at its permanent location, she had experimented with selling sparkling tea variations at neighborhood events to see if it would go over.

"We'd had a version of it — basically creating a tea simple syrup and adding sparkling water to it," Howard says. It caught the attention of a brewer at nearby HopFusion Ale Works. "One of the guys had it there and said, 'This is really good. Do you keg it?' And we said, 'No we don't know how to do that.' And he talked us through the process." The sparkling tea is now served at HopFusion and at Local Pint in Flower Mound.

Tea aficionados might be more interested in the presence of an Alpha Dominche Steampunk machine, which uses vacuum and steam to brew the tea. "The steam agitation allows the leaves to open up a little more and be more fully extracted," Howard says. A computer regulates time and water temperature for consistency.

The Steampunk also puts on quite a show: Envision a bubbling French press coffee maker as designed by a collaboration between Steve Jobs and Dr. Frankenstein.

A 'gathering space'

Leaves has no kitchen: Food options include baked goods and packaged salads and sandwiches from local providers. But Leaves was envisioned as being about more than food and drink. Howard, whose past jobs included photographer, nonprofit consultant, blog-tour guide for authors and publishers and Texas Instruments human-resources worker, wanted to “create some sort of community gathering space where we can connect people and be present together.”

In late 2013, Howard, who co-owns the shop with her husband, Todd, was in a book club where members were lamenting the closing of Barnes & Noble locations in Fort Worth’s University Park Village and Sundance Square. She got to thinking — bookstores have long been a place where people gathered to think deeply about things.

The idea of adding tea came later but seemed natural. "When people think about books and tea together, it automatically conjures an emotion."

The store will carry only about 250 titles — fewer than many book-lovers might have in their living rooms. The store’s aesthetic is clean and bright; books are not a dominant presence. But Howard sees Leaves as less focused on best-sellers than on human interaction.

Tina Howard at her Leaves Book and Tea Shop in Fort Worth. "Overall our vision is about creating a space where you can just pause and disconnect and take a breath," she says. (Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

A place to unplug

To that end, the shop, which has indoor seating for about 20 people, won't offer Wi-Fi. It will offer Yondr pouches, made famous by Jack White and other performers who require fans to put their cellphones in them at concerts. The pouches, which can be locked and unlocked at the shop's counter, allow customers to keep possession of their phones while also sealing them away.

It’s not the first bookstore/drink spot in town to suggest that customers unplug. Dallas’ Wild Detectives has made news in the past with its Wi-Fi-free weekends. (Howard received advice and inspiration from Wild Detectives’ owners early in her research.)

“We think it’s healthier for people to take a step back once in a while,” Howard says. “For mental reasons. For physical reasons. Personally, I’ve read a lot and seen a change in the way that people are able to communicate and empathize with one another. It’s really easy to sit behind your computer screen and give your opinion about things you haven’t thought very deeply about to people you don’t know very well. What we want to do is encourage real conversations and being present.”

On a Wednesday midday during the soft launch, a lively, talkative stream of people was present, including several mothers with small children and a camera crew from a local TV station. But Howard had already seen her vision in action the day before when she saw two people, strangers, sit down and start talking about a book one was reading. She would love for more of that to happen.

Details

Leaves is at 120 St. Louis Ave., No. 101, Fort Worth. Through the soft-launch period that ends Aug. 31, hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. After Sept. 1, it will be open Tuesday-Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 682-233-4832. leavesbookandteashop.com.