Although Humble Cafe in Williston Park focuses on high quality coffee that it roasts on the premises, it also has some very good tea choices–particularly for tea lattes. In this post, I’m happy to share my reflections on the cafe’s vibe and what it offers tea lovers. (This post was updated in June 2024.)
Photos of tea lattes from Humble Cafe, above, from left to right: Earl Grey latte with rose, matcha latte, and hojicha latte with cinnamon.
Background
The cafe had its grand opening in December of 2023. Yvonne and Eric Lo, are the owners of Humble Cafe. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Eric yet, but I have met Yvonne. She’s lovely to chat with! The entire team there is friendly and helpful.
The owners arrange for local businesses to offer occasional workshops and such at the cafe. For example, they organized a flower-arranging workshop around Valentine’s Day this year. And, near Mother’s Day, they invited a pop-up shop that features handcrafted items.
Humble Cafe specializes in coffee made from beans roasted on the premises. As a tea lover, I can’t speak to their coffee–for more more on that angle, check out this article in The Island 360. Here, I’ll focus on the interior, menu, and tea choices.
Interior and Food
Humble Cafe has a down-to-earth vibe, welcoming to all age demographics. As you enter, chairs overlook Hillside Avenue along the window’s ledge. Moving further into the cafe, there’s a sofa and padded chairs circling a table. In the back, there are Legos and children’s toys next to another sofa. In other words, there are great seating choices for the solo customer, a group of friends, or people bringing children.
The cafe carries a very tasty assortment of muffins, pastries, croissants, biscotti, and cookies. I have made it my mission (for research purposes, of course!) to taste from each category. I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I’ve tried.
Tea and Tea Latte Overview
Humble Cafe carries tea bags with selections from Harney & Sons and Twinings. They have jasmine tea, too. More unusually and wonderfully: they use high quality matcha and hojicha. It’s the only location I am aware of in this area that uses above culinary-grade matcha and hojicha that isn’t pre-mixed with sugar. It really shows in the flavor, too! I particularly appreciate being able to customize the sweetness of my lattes.
Humble Cafe typically serves matcha in latte form. But, I recently found out they can also whisk up some straight matcha for you. I will be trying that soon!
You can get the tea lattes hot or iced. They can also add cinnamon to your hojicha latte–which I love! Sometimes, Humble offers special seasonal drinks. For spring, they’ve had a delightful iced matcha latte with pink Sakura (cherry blossom) cold foam.
Different Milks and Chai
To further customize your latte, you can choose from different milks–whole, 2%, skim, etc. They also have non-dairy offerings of almond, coconut, soy, and oat milk.
Tea lovers can also order a tasty London Fog (Earl Gray with frothed milk and vanilla) or other tea lattes with flavored syrups added. I’ve tried and enjoyed these, too.
Humble Cafe also serves chai. And, they recently expanded their chai options! Now, you can choose either a chai from a pre-sweetened concentrate OR an unsweetened powdered masala chai that they make on demand. They advise customers that the latter is “gritty” due to the powdered tea and spices. I tried some of the powdered chai iced and it was very good! Personally, I appreciate the texture of the spices in my chai. The powdered brand they use is more spice forward than tea forward, probably because it has a Japanese black tea base instead of bolder CTC black tea base. If you would like to sweeten your tea, Humble Cafe has a convenient bottle of simple syrup (liquid cane sugar) that you can use to sweeten to taste.
Bottom Line
Humble Cafe in Williston Park is cozy, friendly, and makes great tea lattes. They also carry some delicious sweets (and a few savory things). I highly recommend the cafe!
Location: 322 Hillside Ave, Williston Park, NY 11596
Parking: I have always found unmetered street parking along Hillside Avenue, not too far from the cafe.
Interested in making a refreshing summer drink featuring matcha at home? Check out: “How to Make Sparkling Matcha Two Ways“