i-Tea Honey Brown Rice Milk Tea with Basil Seeds and Agar Boba: From Taiwan, this bubble tea chain has all the signs of an authentic Taiwanese tea shop: its menu is ridiculously long; you can customize sweetness, ice, and toppings; it's cash only; there's absolutely no place to sit and chat (you purchase your drink and enjoy it elsewhere); and while there are lines out the door, service is fast. Drinks only come in one (large) size but are very reasonably priced. I ordered their honey brown rice milk tea at 30% sweetness, and the drink was one of the b... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional drink boba itea honey brown rice milk tea basil seeds agar 4.5 bubbletea
i-Tea Avocado slush with grass jelly: If you follow Tasty Snacking, you will have gathered that I am in love with this Bay Area bubble tea chain. I've had a lot of bubble tea in my life (an embarrassing amount, in fact), both in Asia and in the US, and i-Tea is as good as it gets. On my last visit, I ordered an insanely good avocado slush with a generous helping of grass jelly. Very fresh and creamy, and pleasantly sweet at 30%. The grass jelly had a delicious herbal flavor that complemented the creamy avocado well. Their j... (read more) 5.0/5.0
exceptional taiwanese drinks itea avocado slush grass jelly 5.0
iTea Honey aloe green tea: At 30% sweetness, this drink still had a prominent but not overpowering honey flavor, but not as much tea as I would prefer. The aloe is gelatinous and plump, with a satisfying bite. Purchased at the iTea on Kearny in San Francisco, which I've found to be dependably good. 3.0/5.0
drinks recommended greentea itea honey aloe green tea 3.0
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
iTea Roasted Oolong Milk Tea with Boba: While I previously have had very good experiences at iTea in San Francisco, I've found that the quality has seemed to decline over time. On my last trip, I ordered their Roasted Oolong Milk Tea with little sweetness and ice, yet the drink was still sweeter than I would expect and diluted tasting right from the start. The boba, too, was overly chewy without much character. I typically like to order new things every time I go, but if I find myself at iTea again, I will likely order one of m... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks boba milktea bubbletea itea roasted oolong milk tea 2.5
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