Happy Lemon Light Oolong Tea with Salted Cheese: As a frequent patron of Happy Lemon, I've always been curious about their salted cheese drinks (who wouldn't be), but I've been too afraid to try them. On my last trip, though, I decided to give in and ordered the most neutral flavor, a light oolong tea. I expected the cheese to come in solid form as a topping for the drink, but it was actually more like a thick milk that could be stirred to flavor the entire drink. The salted cheese had a slightly savory aftertaste but wasn't highly seas... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks happylemon light oolong tea salted cheese 2.5
Alta Palla Sparkling blood orange soda: Having never seen this California-based brand, I purchased this can from my local Andronico's. Unfortunately, while it's an organic product, it tastes strikingly similar to Sunkist and is unnecessarily sweet. The one good thing I can say about is that the amount of carbonation was spot on. 2.5/5.0
drinks organic altapalla sparkling blood orange soda 2.5
Sharetea Hokkaido black milk tea with boba: I stopped by this branch of Sharetea to scout out tea shops in downtown Berkeley; this one is located right on the edge of campus. Coming in around lunchtime meant there was a sizeable line of college students, and it took about 10 minutes total from getting in line to retrieving my drink. Their menu has several variants of classic black milk tea, including Hokkaido black tea, which supposedly has a roasted brown sugar flavor. Though I ordered it at 30% sweetness, it was more sweet than I wo... (read more) 2.5/5.0
bubbletea milktea drinks berkeley sharetea hokkaido black milk tea boba 2.5
Share Tea Mango green tea with lychee jelly: After attending an event in Palo Alto, I wanted to get a caffeinated beverage for my drive back to the East Bay. I found myself at Share Tea, whose Berkeley branch I had just tried several days before. This time, I opted for a fruit tea and ordered their mango green tea at 30% sweetness with lychee jelly. Even at 30%, I still found the tea to be too sweet, though it did have a nice herbal flavor that came through. I also liked the lychee jelly, which had a good amount of firmness. The m... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks sharetea mango green tea lychee jelly 2.5
I-Tea Pomelo Green Tea with Aloe: I was super surprised to find an i-Tea at the San Francisco Premium Outlets and purchased a round of drinks for my family. This location, though, proved that not all i-Teas are created equal. The pomelo green tea I had was fairly average as far as fruit teas go, with an artificial citrus flavor that made the beverage more of a juice than a tea. Chewy and crunchy cubes of aloe were a bit better, though still not much different than what you might find at a normal Asian tea shop. The 3G, w... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks itea fruit citrus pomelo green tea aloe 2.5
iTea Lychee Green Tea: A rare miss at my go-to boba shop, I found the lychee green tea at iTea to have an overly sweet artificial flavor and very little herbal taste. The boba was also too soft, though the lychee jelly that comes with the drink had a nice bite and satisfying fruit flavor. I've generally found that the more traditional tea drinks are better than their fruit teas. 2.5/5.0
drinks itea boba bubbletea lychee green tea 2.5