Purple Kow Roasted oolong tea with boba: A so-so cup of bubble tea at this downtown Berkeley location of Purple Kow. Too milky to have much herbal flavor; the boba is slightly chewier than average. Generous cup given the price. 3.0/5.0
drinks boba bubbletea berkeley purplekow roasted oolong tea 3.0
Chester's Cheese flavored Puffcorn: Long gone are the days when Chester the Cheetah starred in his own video game (see Too Cool to Fool, NES 1992). While he's still featured prominently on Cheetos packaging, his name is a relic of 90s/00s commercial spots of my childhood. A quick search on YouTube for Cheetos ads reveals a shift away from pure animation to showing real people interacting with a CGI Chester. But on a recent trip to CVS, I found a bag of Chester's Cornpuffs, a product I had up to this point not seen before. It s... (read more) 3.0/5.0
junkfood cheddar chesters cheese flavored puffcorn 3.0
Full Tilt Ice Cream Mango Strawberry Sorbet: Part ice cream shop, part arcade, Full Tilt is a chain of family friendly shops located in various parts of Seattle. Along with their colorful assortment of flavors is their equally colorful staff (many heavily pierced and tattooed, at least at the time of my visit to the Ballard location). The texture of the mango strawberry sorbet I purchased could have been smoother, but the flavor combination was unique, although a bit sweet. I'm hopeful that they're able to maintain a sanitary environ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
seattle icecream dessert fruit fulltilticecream mango strawberry sorbet 3.0
San Pellegrino Aranciata Orange Soda: I think I've had every flavor of San Pellegrino fruit soda but have never written reviews of any of them. They aren't sodas I would normally choose to purchase; they're certainly better than Sprite or Sunkist, but I find them to be too sweet nonetheless. But when I found myself at Salumi, an Italian sandwich shop in downtown Seattle, I knew I would need a robust citrus drink to cut through a rich, meaty sandwich, and this cold fizzy Orange San Pellegrino worked wonders. Outside of this conte... (read more) 3.0/5.0
drinks soda orange sanpellegrino aranciata 3.0
Rachel's Ginger Beer: A Seattle-based venture, Rachel's ginger beer is available at restaurants around the city but has a mix of ginger + fruit concoctions available on tap at its Pikes Place shop. I opted for the classic, and it definitely tasted fresh, inducing a sharp tingly feeling in the back of your throat. I've made ginger beers from scratch at home that taste very similar. In other words, there's an important distinction to make: it tasted homemade, but not artisanal. Not as balanced as I hoped it would b... (read more) 3.0/5.0
drinks soda seattle gingerbeer rachels ginger beer 3.0
Vif Babka: Heated until the chocolate glistens, this slice of babka was more toast than cake but otherwise had a nice spiced flavor. Portion size is just right for it to be a rich but not too heavy breakfast. Purchased at a small cafe / wine shop in the Fremont district of Seattle, there they offer brunch on weekends and small pastries throughout the week. 3.0/5.0
seattle pastry chocolate vif babka 3.0