Tea Addicts Oolong milk tea with grass jelly: I love the herbal flavor and slippery texture of grass jelly, so I'm especially excited when I find a bubble tea shop that makes it just right (not too firm or sweet). Tea Addict's grass jelly is excellent and generous, and their oolong milk tea (which I purchased at 25% sweetness) was well balanced, tasting first of oolong tea with a creamy, milky finish. Easily one of the best bubble tea shops I've had here in Seattle. 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks seattle teaaddicts oolong milk tea grass jelly 4.0
Tia Lupita Foods Cactus Salsa Verde Tortilla Chips: Made with cactus, these tortilla chips have an extra crispy and light texture that's quite addictive. The salsa verde flavor is punchy on its own, with acidic tomatillo and a bit of heat (no need for an extra jar of salsa). Excited to try some other flavors from this brand! 3.5/5.0
recommended chips PCC tialupitafoods cactus salsa verde tortilla 3.5
Awan Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream: Awan is a vegan ice cream shop with a small "window" in West Hollywood where you can take scoops / pints to go. I'm not normally one to get coffee or chocolate ice cream, but after sampling a few flavors, the coffee chocolate chip was the clear winner to me. The texture is remarkably smooth and creamy for vegan ice cream, and the coffee flavor was toasty and rich, with chips of chocolate chip that had a quality snap in texture. Kiddie size was perfect even for sharing. 4.0/5.0
recommended icecream losangeles vegan awan coffee chocolate chip ice cream 4.0
The Base Co Strawberry Shiso Match + Oatly: Purchased at Holy Basil in Downtown LA, this canned beverage is one of many house-made drinks available including Hibiscus Oolong Tea and Thyme Orange Meyer Lemonade. The selection made it hard to choose, but given that I expected the Thai dishes at Holy Basil to have a bit of heat, I opted for a milk tea option. I really enjoyed the fruity, herbal combination of this strawberry matcha drink, which had a creamy finish that was distinctly oat milk (but not overly thick). It gave me nostalg... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended losangeles drinks thebaseco strawberry shiso match + oatly 4.0
Snacklins Barbecue Plant Crisps: I purchased this bag of plant-based "cracklings" from Whole Foods not knowing anything about the brand's Shark-Tank success story. The vegan crispy, puffed crisps are made with a combination of yuca, onions, and mushrooms and have a light, melt-in-your-mouth texture that is definitely the closest I've ever tasted to meat-based pork crackling (though more like the softer versions than the heavily fried crunchier ones). Comparing it to a meat product is a little unfair though, because they a... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended wholefoods vegan snacklins barbecue plant crisps 3.5
Kitkat Matcha Kitkat: I’ve probably had surprisingly few KitKats in Japan despite it being the dominant market for unique seasonal flavors, so I’m always grateful when they are gifted to me and I have an excuse to try one I haven’t had before. The matcha KitKat has a waxy coating that seems like it’s probably white chocolate based, rather than milk chocolate. The flavor was more nuanced than I expected - not just a standard matcha-flavor taste but a little more bitter than the typical. I think my overall take on... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended candy japanese kitkat matcha 3.5