Chicha San Chen Osmanthus Oolong Tea with Boba: Was recommended this Taiwanese bubble tea chain from multiple people after they opened just their second US location in Bellevue WA (the first is in San Gabriel in LA). It's located in a small strip mall a block away from the Bellevue Square Mall and while it has a tight, busy parking lot, there is some additional parking down the street. The line was ridiculously long and it took about 30 minutes to place our order, and a little over 10 minutes to get our drinks. Overall, the atmosphere ... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Tea King Iron Buddha Milk Tea with Boba: Another solid boba tea shop in Seattle is Tea King, which has both quality fresh brewed teas and a wide range of fruit teas made with fruit syrup made in-house. Their Iron Buddha Milk Tea is an oolong tea, which had a lovely roasted flavor. (Oolong is my go-to option when I'm looking for something a little more nuanced than black tea but don't want the floral notes of jasmine tea). 25% sweetness was perfect for my sugar tolerance, and the boba was excellent too. 4.0/5.0
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Young Tea Rose Green Milk Tea with Boba: Young Tea is a local Seattle tea chain that started off in the International District and now has a location in Wallingford. They brew a wide variety of loose leaf tea, catering to customers that want multiple options for their oolong (e.g., red, rock, golden lily, or high mt.). I really enjoyed their purple rose green milk tea, which had an ideal combination of punchy herbal green tea flavor with an aftertaste of floral rose (not quite as pronounced as the purple-pink mixture might sugges... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Binggrae Samanco Brown Sugar Boba Ice Cream Sandwich: A Korean brand's take on frozen Japanese taiyaki featuring Taiwanese bubble tea, this trinity of representation incorporates milk tea ice cream alongside brown sugar "boba." Unlike the packaging would indicate, the split between ice cream and boba is not 50/50 but more like 90/10, with a thin layer of brown syrup containing popping-type boba that's neither chewy nor bursting, a texture all its own. Having experienced the Monaka Jumbo ice cream sandwiches in Japan, with its iconic crispy wa... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Yuki & Love Boba Milk Tea Mochi: A product of Taiwan, the motherland of boba milk tea, these mini individually-wrapped mochi snacks are about two inches in diameter and contain a moist, mulit-layered filling. An outer layer is lighter tan in color, resembling milk tea, while a dark brown center takes the place of boba. The inside is a gelatinous core that's pleasant in its milk tea flavor, if not accurate in texture, though the texture of the mochi itself is surprisingly intact and satisfyingly chewy. Purchased at 99 Ranch. 3.0/5.0
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Yifang Matcha Brown Sugar Bubble Tea: I was delighted to come across the Taiwanese bubble tea shop Yifang in Shin Okubo, the Koreatown of Shinuku in Tokyo. I wish I were able to read the menu of fruit tea options, but I had to go by the pictures and decided to try their matcha latte with brown sugar, a drink that has a fixed amount of sugar (unlike some other menu items, where you can adjust how sweet you'd like it to be). I did find the drink to be sweet for my taste, but the combination of bitter matcha with sweet brown suga... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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