Sharetea Hokkaido black milk tea with boba: I stopped by this branch of Sharetea to scout out tea shops in downtown Berkeley; this one is located right on the edge of campus. Coming in around lunchtime meant there was a sizeable line of college students, and it took about 10 minutes total from getting in line to retrieving my drink. Their menu has several variants of classic black milk tea, including Hokkaido black tea, which supposedly has a roasted brown sugar flavor. Though I ordered it at 30% sweetness, it was more sweet than I wo... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Mr. Wish Black milk tea with boba: While I found the boba to be a bit too chewy, I otherwise found this classic beverage, which was not too sweet (I specified 25% sweetness) to be good. It is unfortunately too common to purchase black milk tea that doesn't actually have any herbal taste; this one fortunately avoids that pitfall. 3.0/5.0
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Mr Bartley's Black and White Malted Milkshake: For my last official snack in Cambridge, I had to get one of Bartley's famous malted "frappes" (milkshakes). Over the 9 years I've lived in Cambridge, I've had their milkshake a few times, spaced several years apart. One of my earliest memories is going on a trip with a few members of my undergraduate dorm, walking from MIT to Harvard Square just to get milkshakes to go. Their legendary shakes are thick (and stay that way, due to the incorporation of soft serve instead of ice cream), and ... (read more) 4.5/5.0
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Belly Good Cafe & Crepes Black Milk Tea with Boba: To accompany the crepe I purchased at Belly Good Cafe, I purchased a cup of black milk tea with boba. It was probably the single worst bubble tea I've had in my life. The tea had zero herbal flavor and tasted of watered-down sugar water with a bit of dairy. The boba was also complete mush, with no give and a slimy exterior. I hate wasting food, so I did force myself to drink the entire thing, but I will be scarred from drinking bubble tea again in the near future. 0.5/5.0
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Asha Tea House Peach Black Tea: I had a great drink at Asha Tea House in San Francisco, so I was excited to try another at their Berkeley location. I ordered their peach black tea with boba – I had tried to order their boba last time, but it was sold out. I found the boba to be a bit too soft for my taste, but it had a nice neutral flavor otherwise. The drink itself was refreshing and well balanced, but it wasn't as distinctive as the strawberry black tea I previously purchased. Still, I would come back to try another. 3.0/5.0
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Boba Guys lavender black milk tea with grass jelly: This distinct beverage had a clean lavender flavor without tasting too floral, or like soap as poorly balanced lavender-flavored things tend to. Though I ordered the drink with 50% sweetness, I found it to be on the sweet side. (I think they might sweeten the drinks more than the NYC location, as I've had the opposite impression there.) The flavor and texture of the homemade grass jelly was excellent, but it was difficult to suck up through a normal boba straw. 3.5/5.0
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