Hanco's Honey Green Tea with Lychee Jelly: I'm not homesick per se, but I do find myself frequently sad about the lack of good bubble tea options in NYC. I think I had 5 different bubble tea stamp cards in the bay area, and I only have one for NYC, at a bubble tea shop that closes at 8pm during the week (Mr. Wish). Given that most of my bubble tea purchases in Berkeley or SF were late night impulses, I don't get to drink much of it here. Hanco's, a Vietnamese sandwich shop close to me, has pretty bad boba from my previous experie... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Trader Joe's Blueberry Lavender almond flavored beverage: I've tried a few of these flavored almond milks from Trader Joe's up to this point, and I'm starting to wonder why I'm still bothering to purchase them. The matcha flavor I bought previously was not very good, and this drink reminds me of a liquid form of blueberry-flavored yogurt, with an artificial blueberry flavor that doesn't taste very much of the normally slightly tart fruit. I wasn't able to discern any lavender flavor, though it tasted more of vanilla to me. A really weird drink t... (read more) 2.5/5.0
2.5 beverages flavored almond lavender blueberry traderjoes almondmilk drinks
Almond Dream Pumpkin spice almond drink with cinnamon: Purchased from Whole Foods, I was hopeful about this seasonal pumpkin spice almond drink, but it became immediately obvious upon tasting that this is meant as a flavoring for coffee or other beverages, rather than something desirable to drink on its own. I tried adding it to chia seed pudding and even to oatmeal, but the flavoring just made me want to eat those things even less. Too sweet and artificial tasting. 2.0/5.0
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Nongfu Spring Matcha milk tea: I purchased this bottled beverage from JMart in Flushing because of its uniques shape and also because there was no English translation of what it contains other than "matcha" and "tea." Although I was hopeful, the drink was super sweet and had a watery consistency for a milk tea. If I had to guess, I would think it was a matcha latte rather than a tea as I didn't taste any tea over the sweetness. The matcha flavor was not at all bitter and tasted like candy. 2.5/5.0
2.5 tea milk matcha nongfuspring greentea asian chinese jmart drinks
Nature's Soy Black sesame soy milk: I love Asian soy milk, which tends to be a lot less sweet and taste of actual soybeans/tofu compared to American soymilk (there's a very good chapter on this in the book Organic inc.), so when I went to Hong Kong Supermarket in Chinatown NYC, I checked out the refrigerated, fresh soy milk options. This brand happened to have black sesame and matcha soymilk, two of my favorite flavors. Since the half gallons we're quite large and black sesame is a bit more unqiue for this category, I purchase... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Dominique Ansel Bakery Blooming Matcha Latte: To celebrate their 7th birthday, the Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho recreated several desserts normally exclusively available at their other locations around the world, including Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo. This blooming matcha latte from Japan consists of a marshmallow whose petals unfurl when placed into the hot beverage. At the center of the sakura marshmallow is what seemed to be a sugar cube, acting as the pistil. The beverage itself has a rich but slightly bitter flavor distinct... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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