Iceskimo Shaved Snow: Located in La Jolla, Iceskimo is a self-proclaimed "artisan snow shavery" serving shaved ice inspired by those found in Taiwan and Hawaii. The shaved ice is a mix between ice cream and shaved ice - creamier than the shaved ice found on the streets of Taipei, shaved thinly into overlapping ribbons. They have many classic Asian flavors to chose from, from black sesame to matcha to Thai tea. I tried both the black sesame (pictured) as well as the Thai tea and found the Thai tea to be the mos... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended desserts taiwnaese shavedice blacksesame thaitea boba icecream iceskimo shaved snow 3.5
Mr. Boba Mixed grain slush with boba: There is no shortage of boba tea shop in LA’s Koreatown. Mr Boba is a small, humble shop with an expansive menu of slush, milk tea, and coffee options. I purchase a mystery mixed grain slush with boba, the ingredients of which the employee didn’t even know. In the end, it tasted like the powdered cereal packs you can get at asian grocery stores that you mix with hot water to give you a loose porridge consistency. You can commonly find them with a mix of ground barley and black sesame. As a s... (read more) 3.0/5.0
losangeles boba bubbletea mrboba mixed grain slush 3.0
Bubble Tease Milk tea with boba: Toronto has some of the highest concentration of bubble tea shops that I’ve witnessed. This classic black milk tea from Bubble Tease had a decent sweet and slightly herbal flavor. The boba was ok - a bit too soft and without flavor. 3.0/5.0
drinks bubbletea bubbletease milk tea boba 3.0
Volcano Tea House White peach oolong tea with boba: At 25% sweetness, this herbal oolong tea had a light and refreshing white peach flavor, though it did taste syrup-y. The boba was quite good-neither overly chewy or soft and just a tad sweet. Good enough that I would consider revisiting this Sawtelle-based bubble tea shop in the future. 3.0/5.0
recommended drinks bubbletea volcanoteahouse white peach oolong tea boba 3.0
Happy Lemon Mango Yakult Smoothie with Boba: My favorite Taiwanese bubble tea chain made its way to Berkeley, located dangerously close to the Downtown Berkeley BART station. This weekend, they're celebrating their opening by offering a buy-one-get-one-free special, which has led to insane lines from Berkeley students. They even taped off a maze-like line on the floor to control the flow of eager lemon-drink enthusiasts. I ordered their mango yakult smoothie along with a lemon black tea (review forthcoming). Immediately upon receiv... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks berkeley happylemon mango yakult smoothie boba 3.5
iTea Guava green tea with lychee jelly and boba: I can’t tell if the fruit teas are generally underwhelming or the quality of this bubble tea shop has just declined over time, but this guava green tea from iTea on Kearny in SF was too sweet, even at 30% sweetness, with a syrupy taste and no trace of green tea. Contains lychee jelly and boba, both of which were decent. Lines were incredibly long at the end of a weekday. Questioning whether I should just stop returning to this once-favorite place. 2.0/5.0
drinks bubbletea sanfrancisco sf itea guava green tea lychee jelly boba 2.0