Tou Lan Tea Strawberry Latte with Boba: I had some bad experiences with several bubble tea shops when I first came to Japan (ones I didn't bother to review), but there was a highly rated spot not too far from the university that I decided to check out. They feature a handful of classic herbal teas along with a wider menu of fruit teas, smoothies, as well as a whole section of banana lattes (I'm not sure why!). The strawberry latte was excellent, like a milder and less sweet version of strawberry ice cream (I had it at their "les... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks tokyo toulantea strawberry latte boba 4.0
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
recommended drinks tokyo taiwanese boba bubbletea yifang matcha brown sugar bubble tea 4.0
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
recommended drinks seattle milktea youngtea rose green milk tea boba 4.0
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
recommended drinks boba seattle teaking iron buddha milk tea 4.0
Happy Lemon Lemon Jasmine tea with boba: I revisited the Boston location of Happy Lemon to try a citrus-based drink this time around and purchased this beverage at 50% sweetness. The boba texture was very good – firm but still chewy. Much better than other boba options in Boston. The drink itself was highly acidic, which was refreshing but masked any of the flavor from the jasmine tea. Still, a very solid drink. 3.5/5.0
boston drinks recommended happylemon lemon jasmine tea boba 3.5
Sweetheart Cafe Jasmine milk tea with boba: Sweetheart Cafe is a small bubble tea shop on Durant right on the south edge of UC Berkeley's main campus. The main draw to this inexpensive mom and pop shop is their boba, which as far as I'm concerned is unrivaled in the Bay Area for its chewiness and overall consistency. The Jasmine milk tea that I purchased alongside the boba had an identifiable Jasmine tea flavor but was more milk than tea. Would not be surprised at all if it was powder-based. 4.5 for the boba, 3.0 for the tea. Overall... (read more) 3.5/5.0
drinks boba bobatea milktea berkeley bubbletea sweetheartcafe jasmine milk tea 3.5