Pa Tea Jasmine Green Tea with Boba: I really liked the brown sugar oolong milk tea I had from Pa Tea a few weeks ago and decided to return to try a different beverage. Unfortunately, this jasmine green tea was just ordinary. The tea had an slight floral jasmine flavor, but it tasted predominantly of milk. The boba was also quite bad, with a texture that was too soft. Given this quality, I probably would not go back again, at least not unless I just happen to be near Union Square. 2.5/5.0
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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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PaTea Brown sugar oolong milk tea with boba: I really love living in NYC, but one thing that was missing for me was a mom-and-pop super-asian bubble tea shop, the kind that has an overwhelming number of flavors that isn’t a major chain like Gong Cha or Coco. Those types of shops are omnipresent in the Bay Area, but not so much here. However, that gap has now been filled by PaTea, a very small bubble tea shop a few blocks away from Union Square. There, they have the “chubby” bucket-sized bubble tea cups in a variety of milk and fruit te... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Yaya Tea Clean Clothes kiwi and mango fruit tea with boba: This Little Italy-based tea shop has mixed fruit tea flavors with bizarre names like “Blue Blood” and “My First Car.” I ordered one of the weirdest ones, a mango and kiwi fruit tea called “Clean Clothes.” Somehow the tea managed to be simultaneously super artificial tasting yet also incredibly diluted, with a sweet yet sour flavor that reminded me of those Chinese jello snacks and Jolly Rancher candies. The boba was similarly subpar - overly hard and lacking any taste. Definitely the worst... (read more) 1.0/5.0
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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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Tea Hut Jasmine milk tea with boba: It’s kind of outrageous how saturated quality bubble tea shops are in the Bay Area. We’ve all become accustomed with fine-tuning our drinks to our exact specifications - with numerous toppings, sugar levels, and even the amount of ice, down to a percent. With the range of available options, tea shops are resorting to other ways of distinguishing themselves beyond ingredients, turning to the beverage’s vehicle itself: the humble cup. Here at Tea Hut, a small bubble tea shop right next to b. P... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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