TeaOne Buckwheat Purple Yam Milk Tea with Boba: Located on Telegraph on the edge of Berkeley's campus is TeaOne, yet another bubble tea shop in Berkeley. I decided to try their Buckwheat Purple Yam milk tea because it's a flavor I haven't seen elsewhere. Unfortunately, it is a flavor that probably shouldn't exist elsewhere because it has a starchy, grainy texture almost reminiscent of sesame breakfast porridge you get in powder packs at Asian grocery stores. The boba was also overly soft, with little discernible taste. 2.5/5.0
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The Juice Bar black milk tea with boba: Even with less sweetness, this cup of milk tea is a tad too sweet, but the boba is some of the best I've had in Boston. A good amount of bite without being too dense. The milk tea itself is not bad beyond the sweetness. Easily the best bubble tea I've had in Chinatown in Boston. 3.0/5.0
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U Cha Barley milk tea with boba: Continuing my bubble tea taste test across Berkeley, I found myself at a popular tea shop named U Cha on Bancroft. Their expansive menu has the fruit and milk tea flavors you expect from a Taiwanese-style chain. I ordered their barley tea with boba at 20% sweetness with little ice. The flavor was familiar but watered down and over-sweetened; the boba was too chewy. With better options, this one is a pass. 2.0/5.0
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U-Cha Bomber Man milk tea with boba: After having a surprisingly good ginger milk tea last time I visited U-Cha in Berkeley, I decided to try one of their signature drinks, the Bomber Man milk tea. Unfortunately, the drink has nothing to do with our favorite Hudson Soft video game hero. Instead, the drink is essentially milk without tea. But even at 25% sweetness, the drink was overwhelmingly sweet as the honey boba has a caramel-like gooey outer layer. I wouldn't be surprised if even at 0% sugar, the drink would still be t... (read more) 2.0/5.0
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Ucha Tea Ginger Milk Tea with Boba: Back when I first moved to Berkeley, UCha was one of the first bubble tea shops I tried given its high reviews online. I didn't find their barley milk tea to be very compelling though, so I never went back. Recently, on my way home from Pegasus Books, I had a sudden craving for milk tea and decided to give it another try since it's just a block away. Their ginger milk tea, which I ordered at 25% sweetness, was surprisingly good and spicier than most ginger teas I've had from boba tea shop... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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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
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