U-Cha Bomber Man milk tea with boba: After having a surprisingly good ginger milk tea last time I visited U-Cha in Berkeley, I decided to try one of their signature drinks, the Bomber Man milk tea. Unfortunately, the drink has nothing to do with our favorite Hudson Soft video game hero. Instead, the drink is essentially milk without tea. But even at 25% sweetness, the drink was overwhelmingly sweet as the honey boba has a caramel-like gooey outer layer. I wouldn't be surprised if even at 0% sugar, the drink would still be t... (read more) 2.0/5.0
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iTea Matcha milk tea with boba and red bean: This matcha drink from iTea in SF contains red bean and boba as default toppings. While the matcha milk tea was decent, the red bean was heavily sweetened so that this 30% sweetness beverage tasted more like a normal 100% sweetened drink. Texturally, the red bean also seemed canned as it was slightly too soft. As a result, I’d recommend getting the drink but skipping the red bean topping. 2.5/5.0
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Ucha Tea Ginger Milk Tea with Boba: Back when I first moved to Berkeley, UCha was one of the first bubble tea shops I tried given its high reviews online. I didn't find their barley milk tea to be very compelling though, so I never went back. Recently, on my way home from Pegasus Books, I had a sudden craving for milk tea and decided to give it another try since it's just a block away. Their ginger milk tea, which I ordered at 25% sweetness, was surprisingly good and spicier than most ginger teas I've had from boba tea shop... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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House Kombucha Ginger Fire Ginger and Green Tea with Hot Peppers: The first time I had kombucha six years ago, I found it so disgusting that I hadn't touched it since. But I do like ginger a lot, and this brand of House Kombucha was offered for free at work, so I decided to keep an open mind and give it a try. I expected it to have a very spicy flavor given the flames on the packaging, but it was much more mild (even if the heat built up a bit over time). Despite the lack of ginger heat, I was pleasantly surprised with the overall flavor, which was sligh... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Sconehenge Crystallized ginger and lemon English tea scones: At the checkout at Monterey Market in Berkeley is a variety of locally-baked good positioned as impulse buys. Cookies, chocolates, and small cakes are neatly arranged, mostly near the register closest to the exit. For a tea party, I purchased these Sconehenge crystallized ginger and lemon scones, which were of surprisingly excellent quality. These packaged scones were more flavorful, moist, and light than any scone I’ve purchased directly from a bakery. One of its most distinct qualities was... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Sweetheart Cafe Almond milk tea with boba: Every few months, I stop by Sweetheart Cafe for their preternaturally chewy boba, despite the fact that I’ve never had a particularly good drink here. This time, I waited patiently in line after a group of Cal students arrived for their bubble tea fix at 10pm (the busiest I’ve seen the place, though now that I think about it, I’ve only ever gone there at night). The almond milk tea had a sweet and predictable flavor (even at half sweetness), but the boba was very good. I wonder if they would... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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