The Oak House Durham

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2025-03-17

A nice location with a nice atmosphere and lovely staff. I’ve heard that they make wonderful coffee (the crew of a tour that was passing through was glowing over the quality of their coffee, so this appears to be true), but as a tea drinker, I cannot recommend their tea. I ordered an herbal tea—the three berry blend, and what I received was hot water that tasted vaguely like it might have been near something that was berry adjacent. It clearly was not heated to the proper temperature or steeped long enough (the bag was floating on top as if they plopped it on top instead of pouring the water over the bag), and the leaves and debris had escaped the bag to float in the water. Even after another ten minutes of waiting for the water to cool enough to drink, it barely tasted of anything (except for the sugar I added). A nearby customer overheard what I ordered and leaned over to chat with me because she had gotten the same thing and was also unhappy with it. Her advice was to add a couple of shots of vanilla and a load of sugar, which in her words, almost made it good. I ended up just putting the full cup in the dishes bin, because it was so unpleasant. I’m docking a star off the atmosphere because there were some large flies harassing the customers despite the freezing temps outside (so they must have come from inside), and the windows which faced the sun didn’t have any shades or window treatments to reduce the suns’ rays (had I sat in that seat for much longer, I’m sure I would have walked away with a sun burn). In short, apparently the coffee is wonderful. But do NOT get the tea here; This is not a tea house.

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2024-04-16

This place is awesome for two reasons. One, it's literally the only coffee shop open in downtown past 4pm (past 7pm, really). And two, because it's awesome in its own right. It's huge, lots of workspace, contemp design, and you can do your work w coffee in hand and then celebrate getting it done w one of their like 15 beers on tap or list of wines by the glass. It is THE Coffee Shop to get it all done in. I love that even one space has 457 outlets available.

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2025-01-01

The Oak House has been one of my go-to study spots in Durham (the only late night coffee shop in the city). The staff are great and always make me feel welcomed. The coffee is also a nice quality. I've recommended Oak House to multiple friends and they also love the atmosphere/vibe. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.