Photo courtesy of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

More free stuff from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coming your way starting this Saturday! Coffee Bean has a new line of bottled coffee and tea drinks, and for the next two weeks Coffee Bean will be giving them away. From April 17 through April 23, get a free bottled cafe drink with a lunch or baked good purchase, and from April 24 through April 30, get a free bottled tea with the same such purchase (the freebies will be given out between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.). The bottled coffee drinks include Café Latte, Café Mocha and Café Vanilla, and the bottled tea drinks include Honey Rooibos, Jasmine Pearl and Peach Assam.

And they’re going to do it again on Feb. 12 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with two new limited edition Chai flavors, Chai Rooibos and Chai Mate Tea Lattes, as well as its classic Chai Tea Latte.

• Friday: Get into the fall spirit with a free 12 oz. pumpkin ice blended or latte from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Oh, and did I mention it’s free? It’s free. I love free!

• Saturday and Sunday: Nurse that hangover with a Brats and Beer special at Rush Street in Culver City. For $10, you’ll get a brat, fries and a PBR. You’ll even have your choice of truffle fries, sweet potato or seasoned tater tots. And if that PBR isn’t strong enough for you, for $20 you can get bottomless mimosas or Bloody Marys (you can even build your own at the restaurant’s Bloody Mary bar).

• Sunday and Monday: 25 Degrees, home to a very tasty burger, now hosts NFL nights with game-time specials of $2.50 cans of PBR, half-off all other beer (which comes out to $3.50), $8 for half dozen and $12 for a dozen wings (either buffalo or spicy soy BBQ), and $10 for a plate of chili cheese fries. And for the rest of the week, 25 Degrees has happy hour deals every day — yes, you read that correctly — from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (early, I know) of half-off selected wines and cocktails, beer, milkshakes, and side dishes.

You’re probably wondering, “What? You’ve never been to LAMill before?” Well, no. I’ve blogged about its newest drink offerings before, but it’s in a part of town that I don’t go to often, and when I do, I tend to get lost (Silver Lake, how you vex me!). And while I enjoy and appreciate a good cup of coffee, I don’t necessarily seek it out.

Then I saw a tweet from fellow foodie H.C. of L.A. and O.C. Foodventures describing something called Blanco y Negro at LAMill, and I said to myself, now I have a reason to try LAMill. The mixture of coffee, coffee granita and vanilla bean ice cream was too much to resist.

So with H.C. as my guide, I went to LAMill about a week ago for the first time, and it didn’t disappoint.

Of course I ordered the Blanco y Negro ($6.50). It’s listed under Signature Drinks on the cafe’s drink menu, but it could just as easily pass for a dessert. With its layers of coffee, granita and ice cream, I started out eating it with a spoon, poking into the creaminess of the vanilla ice cream and into the iciness of the granita beneath it. Once it got to a point where I needed to drink it, the flavors of the coffee with the vanilla cream blended together smoothly. The textures and flavors of this drink are spot-on.

Blanco y Negro

In addition, I had a Valrhona chocolate Liquid Center Lollipop ($3), which is basically a chocolate sphere filled with coffee (it also comes in white chocolate). It was an interesting lollipop because you can’t lick it; you have to eat it all at once by biting it off the stick since the coffee is liquid. It’s gone much too quickly, so I don’t think I would order it again given its $3 price tag.

Liquid Center Lollipops ($3 each)

I also had a sip of a friend’s Sweet Basil “Julep” ($5), made with muddled basil and lemon, white tea and a splash of sweetener. I liked this drink because it was refreshing and not too sweet. And I had a taste of H.C.’s Passionfruit Gelee ($9), which was really outstanding. Accompanied by lychee-shiso sorbet, coconut-soy milk soup and basil seeds, the dessert was light yet intense, with the passion flavor really popping.

Passionfruit Gelee

LAMill also has a full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner with prices ranging from $2.50 to $22. Those prices seem reasonable, so I would be willing to try it out. The Signature Drink prices ranging from $5 to $6.50 are a little steep, but you’re paying for quality ingredients and the experience of dining at the chic cafe. So for me, getting a drink here is a treat and not something I would do too often. But when I do, I’ll be smiling.

The Caramel Corn drink combines peanut milk, a shot of espresso, and layers of popcorn- and sea salt-infused whipped cream topped with caramel sauce. I told you it sounds crazy, but also intriguing…

The other drink is called Sweet Basil Julep, and while there’s no bourbon (darn!) there is  muddled basil, lemon, brown sugar and white tea poured over crushed ice. Sounds refreshing for summer.

Both drinks cost $5 (I’m told there’s only one size).