Tea Era Apple Seed Green Tea: Got to visit an old favorite with old friends on my last trip to the South Bay. Tea Era is a bubble tea shop on Castro in Mountain View that always has an expansive menu of uniquely-flavored beverages. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the apple seed green tea, which is why I decided to purchase it. The least amount of sugar they could do was 50%, and I purchased the tea hot on a brisk evening (though you could also get it cold). Half sugar was the right amount, as it had a somewha... (read more) 3.5/5.0
mountainview california recommended drinks chinese teaera apple seed green tea 3.5
The Penny Ice Creamery Lemon Poppy Seed Ice Cream with Blackberry Compote: Waited in line for about 20 minutes to enter this small ice cream shop in downtown Santa Cruz. Entire clientele was student-aged. They make all their ice cream in house, and they had some interesting flavors like celery and raisin sorbet (which I sampled but found did not taste as much of celery as I would like). I got a mini scoop of their lemon poppy seed ice cream with fresh made blackberry compote, which cost a little more than $4. You can tell from the texture of the ice cream that ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended pennyicecreamery santacruz icecream dessert thepennyicecreamery lemon poppy seed ice cream blackberry compote 3.5
Trader Joe's pumpkin seed brittle: I am not against pumpkin flavored things, as you may have guessed from my steady stream of pumpkin snack reviews from Trader Joe's. This week, I purchased seasonal brittle, dusted with sugar and pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom) and with whole pumpkin seeds throughout. Immediate out of the box, the permeating smell is butter. And since smell plays such a key role in taste, I can't help but feel like I'm eating a crunchy stick of butter. The scent even lingers on you... (read more) 2.5/5.0
traderjoes brittle pumpkin pumpkinpie spiced sweets 2.5 seed
Trader Joe's Blueberry Poppy Seed Cookies: Finger-length shortbread cookies embedded with dried blueberry pieces. Crumbly and buttery biscuit. Poppy seeds are more decorative than flavorful. Still, the cookies are a solid treat. 3.0/5.0
recommended biscuits traderjoes blueberry poppy seed cookies 3.0
Trader Joe’s 3 Seed Multigrain Beet Crackers: A textural crossover between a tortilla chip and a cracker, this multigrain seeded beet snack from Trader Joe’s has a vegetal flavor without being uniquely identifiable as beet (beyond the color). Because of its crisp and slightly irregular texture, they seem like a slightly more unique substitute for corn tortillas and would probably pair nicely with a creamy dip. On their own, they’re a bit salty. 3.0/5.0
traderjoes 3 seed multigrain beet crackers 3.0
Wei-Chuan lotus seed paste buns: I love mantou, a Chinese steamed bun often consumed for breakfast. I recently purchased this Taiwanese lotus seed filled bun from Hmart and am a huge fan. The filling is very lightly sweetened (2g of sugar), and after about 10 minutes of steaming, the bread is pillowy yet slightly chewy. It's very difficult to find a brand of filled frozen buns that isn't insanely sweet, and these were also reasonably priced. 4.5/5.0
hmart exceptional frozen chinesetaieanese weichuan lotusseed 4.5 breakfast asian lotus seed paste buns