Nature's Soy Black sesame soy milk: I love Asian soy milk, which tends to be a lot less sweet and taste of actual soybeans/tofu compared to American soymilk (there's a very good chapter on this in the book Organic inc.), so when I went to Hong Kong Supermarket in Chinatown NYC, I checked out the refrigerated, fresh soy milk options. This brand happened to have black sesame and matcha soymilk, two of my favorite flavors. Since the half gallons we're quite large and black sesame is a bit more unqiue for this category, I purchase... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Chinatown Ice Cream Factory Ginger and Black Sesame Ice Cream: I finally made it to Chinatown Ice Cream factory, a shoebox-sized shop that specializes in Asian flavored ice cream like durian and Thai iced tea. It reminds me of Garden Creamery in SF in terms of selection. The ginger ice cream was impressively smooth and had a pleasant ginger flavor, though I personally would prefer it to be spicier and less sweet. The flavor of the black sesame ice cream was very special - quite savory, and sprinkled with real black sesame seeds, it was nutty and not t... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Churro Cone Charcoal black sesame churro ice cream: Like a pop-up version of Chikalicious's Dessert Club (now closed), this standing-room-only shop has a variety of ice cream flavors served in churro cones. The charcoal black sesame (legally referring only to the color rather than the additive, as that is no longer legal in NYC) contains shards of savory black sesame which pairs nicely with the creamy and sweet black sesame soft serve. The churro cone, purchased at the end of the day, was a bit dry and verging on stale, but I appreciated that... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Hanco’s Black milk tea with boba: Went to 5 different supermarkets in Brooklyn to look for fish sauce and could only find Thai Kitchen brand. Stopped by Hanco’s, a Vietnamese sandwich shop a few blocks from where I live, to ask where to find. They told me there were no asian grocery stores in the area and I would probably need to go to Chinatown. The sandwiches at Hanco’s were pretty good, but this bubble tea was quite bad - very diluted and milky tasting, with overly chewy boba. Might need to go to Chinatown for that too. 2.0/5.0
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House Kombucha Rose black Kombucha: Strikes a decent balance - not overly floral yet still clearly tastes of rose. Rose mixed with a vinegar-y fermented flavor is hard to pair with food, though, so this is more of a drink to have on its own. 3.0/5.0
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FK Frozen Custard Black Sesame and Matcha White Chocolate Ice Cream: The last time I had ice cream from FK Frozen Custard, the brand was still named "Frozen Kuhsterd," and they were a food-truck-only business. Now they have a brick and mortar in the Lower Haight in SF, still offering a mix of classic flavors and asian-inspired options like black sesame, milk tea, and ube. I ordered one scoop with two flavors, which was generously sized and easily sharable – though I had the entire scoop for myself. (: My previous experience with Frozen Kuhsterd involved an ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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