Blockheads Black sesame shaved ice with red bean, rice cakes, almond jelly, and condensed milk: Finally got to try this LA-based Taiwanese shaved ice chain. The black sesame ice cream had decent flavor but the texture was not as fluffy as I knew it could be given my recent experience at Powder in San Francisco. At Blockheads, they make their rice cakes in house, which are essentially tang yuan (the mochi-like glutinous rice dumplings that often accompany red bean soup). I expected their almond jelly to be almond jello, but it was more like the harder gelatin cubes often used in Asia... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Blue Bottle New Orleans Cold Brew: I don't drink coffee at all, but I know that San Franciscans can be snobs when it comes to that sort of thing. I brought my parents to Blue Bottle, a local favorite, so they could see for themselves and then decided to get an iced coffee for myself to try. The coffee was honestly a bit watered down compared to what I was expecting, though it wasn't overly sweet or milky. I got a headache after drinking the entire cup – though this doesn't affect the score. 3.0/5.0
drinks icedcoffee coffee bluebottle new orleans cold brew 3.0
Blue Sky Jamaican ginger ale: This drink has a more prominent ginger flavor than your typical canned ginger ale, but it's also quite sweet and familiar to those who don't want an overwhelmingly spicy soda. Decent option without high fructose corn syrup. Personally, I prefer spicier and less sweet. 3.0/5.0
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Blue Star Donuts Buttermilk Lemon Poppyseed Donut: Portland is pretty serious about donuts. On my latest visit, I saw a much higher percentage of commuters eating donuts for breakfast than I have witnessed in any other city. So when I was about to fly out from PDX and realized there was a Blue Star next to ticketing, I willingly went through security a second time in order to see what all the fuss was about. There were many flavors I was interested in trying, from their strawberry-rhubarb jam-filled pastry to a more traditional donut ring ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Boba Guys Coconut green tea with boba: On a Sunday afternoon, the line for the Mission Boba Guys in San Francisco was entirely too long, with about a 13 minute wait to order. I ordered their coconut green tea with organic milk and boba. At 25% sweetness, I still found the drink to be a tad too sweet, which is consistent with my experience at this Boba Guys (compared to the one in NYC, which doesn't seem to add as much sugar). The drink came out at room temperature, but the ice helped bring it down in temperature after a few mi... (read more) 3.0/5.0
drinks bobaguys coconut green tea boba 3.0
Boba Guys Chai tea with boba: A pretty good drink from Boba Guys in Canal Street market, but too sweet even at 30% sugar. Otherwise, a nicely spiced chai. I generally find the boba to be a bit inconsistent from this location. This time, it was overly chewy. 3.0/5.0
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