Peet's Coffee & Tea, 20 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, USA

With half an hour to kill before an evening appointment I looked around for somewhere to sit and enjoy a cup of tea. I wandered into a Starbucks where I met an English woman who seemed glad to hear an English accent. She directed to me to another Starbucks as the one I was standing in had no tables or chairs, it was just a takeaway operation.

Peet's Coffee on North Michigan Avenue, Chicago

Instead of Starbucks – one tries to avoid them if possible – I found Peet's Tea & Coffee. It was approaching 1830hrs and rather than wander the streets of the Windy City I thought I'd park up, so to speak, and enjoy a cup of tea and a cookie. Well, the cookie was an afterthought and I wish I'd left it well alone, but there you have it.

There were seven other customers: four guys sitting by the window at the front of the store, one had an Apple Mac, and a couple sitting on a table adjacent to mine in the middle of the shop. A girl walked, ordered a takeaway and left.

I sat alone with a medium-sized paper mug of tea (two tea bags) and an oatmeal and raisin cookie. The tea had set me back $2.80 and the cookie $2.25. All was good here. The guy on the counter told me that Peet's wasn't independent but a chain operation originating in California.

It's mid-October so Halloween is being promoted all over the city and at Peet's they're offering a pumpkin chai with an extra shot. It's billed as the barista's 'faverite', but the most expensive tea on offer is a Dirty Chai Latte at $5.05 for a large size. I never asked what a Dirty Chai Latte was all about, perhaps I'll go back and find out.

There's a wide range of hot beverages on offer at Peet's Tea & Coffee. Pumpkin Latte and Mayan Mocha, the former was $3.50 for a small, $4.15 for a medium and $4.50 for a large. The latter was $4.00, $4.65 and $5.00 respectively. Cappuccino is $3.00, $3.65 and $4.00 respectively for small, medium and large.

Also on offer are warm breakfast items, biscuits and soft drinks plus a range of mugs – I love mugs. Jazzy music was playing in the background, there were wooden floors (could have been laminated), wooden topped tables and a range of packaged tea and coffee for sale. Definitely the sort of place to chill with a decent book.