Ring Tofu Donuts Yuzu Lemonade: I was surprised at how overly sweet this housemade yuzu lemonade was given the light, barely sweetened flavor of Ring Tofu’s donuts. It reminded me of a slightly more tart version of korean citron tea. Definitely stick to the Donuts. 2.5/5.0
drinks losangeles ringtofudonuts yuzu lemonade 2.5
OO Tea Jasmine milk tea with boba: OO Tea is a Taiwanese import of the brand “Wushiland.” As far as I know, there are only two locations in the US: one in a San Gabriel strip mall in LA and another in a Ranch 99 in San Diego. I went to the latter, which was an unassuming bubble tea stand without any seating; my order was taken in Mandarin, not English. Wushiland uses organic milk for their milk teas and it shows. I ordered their jasmine milk tea and found it to be the single best version of milk tea that I’ve ever had in the ... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional sandiego bubbletea milktea ootea jasmine milk tea boba 4.5 drinks
Boba Guys Horchata: For those who are tired of Asian bubble tea options, the horchata at Boba Guys is refreshingly sweet, with a pleasant spiced cinnamon flavor. 3.5/5.0
drinks recommended bobaguys horchata 3.5
Zico Coconut Water: For a while, I tried different brands of coconut water wondering what all the fuss was about. At the end of the day, most tasted about the same. But then I purchased this relatively inexpensive bottle from the vending machine and realized that coconut water can taste bad. This bottle had a strong slightly metallic flavor. Not good. 2.0/5.0
drinks avoid zico coconut water 2.0
Lemoncocco Lemon Coconut Beverage: Creamy-colored non-carbonated soft drink similar in appearance to Calpico, Lemoncoco has a slightly sharper acidic lemon flavor mixed with coconut water. I like lemon, and I like coconut water, but together, it tastes muddled. I wanted to like it much more than I did. 3.0/5.0
drinks lemoncoco lemon coconut beverage 3.0
Dinosaurs Thai Iced Tea: Dinosaurs is a bahn mi sandwich shop in San Francisco with multiple locations, but the only one I've been to is right at the edge of the Castro. The seating is cramped, but they have excellent Vietnamese sandwiches, particularly their meatball bahn mi. It's almost as good as New Silverstar Deli, but Dinosaurs has more accessible hours outside the normal lunch rush. I stopped by before seeing a show at Swedish American Hall (a few blocks away) to get a caffeinated beverage since I was feel... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks dinosaurs thai iced tea 2.5