Best place to eavesdrop

One of the best things about Tealuxe in Harvard Square -- especially if you drop in alone or with someone who's not a great talker -- is the highly sensitive acoustics. Keep your ears open and you'll hear a constant stream of intriguing, if sometimes out-of-context, conversational snippets. It shouldn't be surprising: tea drinkers are a civilized and interesting lot, preferring the perfume and subtlety of herbal tisanes and exotic brews over that more mundane panacea of the masses (we mean coffee).

Recently overheard over big-band jazz while sipping a fruity, revitalizing cup of Lady Hannah:

"So I said to him, `Do you know what an SUV is? It's a sport-utility vehicle!' "

"I don't want a Chinese teenager bulldozing around at my parties."

"I'm allergic to coffee, that's why I'm here."

"Tealuxe -- rhymes with `Starbucks.' " "No, no, Tea-lukes! It's French for `lust.' "

"This macroeconomics thing; it's too much for one person."

"In my mind, you cannot brew tea too long." "Yes. Yes, you can."

Tealuxe, 0 Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 441-0077.