Steaz Peach green tea: At this year’s annual Mystery Hunt puzzle competition, my team was stationed close to the 26-100 lecture hall and its cluster of 6 vending machines. This tall can of Steaz came from the machine of non-Coca-Cola-owned beverages selling alternative caffeinated energy drinks. I was looking for a drink to get me through several more hours without the side effect of crashing, and for this, the can did its job-I felt alert and invigorated but not jittery. Flavor-wise, it didn’t stand out to me as ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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b. patisserie milk tea tart: At the corner of Divisadero and California in Lower Pacific Heights (San Francisco) is popular bakery b. patisserie, led by a former pastry chef at fine-dining establishments like Gary Danko and Manresa. The sizable shop feels like a luxury in San Francisco, with only a handful of bakeries able to afford real estate to seat multiple families and smaller parties; the line out of the door, with about a 15 minute wait to the counter, signified they're doing just fine. For Chinese New Year, b.... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Steap Lychee Love Tea: I’ve been searching for a quality bubble tea shop in Chinatown, San Francisco and tried this modern bubble tea spot on my most recent visit. Steap prides themselves on highly customizable fruit and herbal teas. The lychee love drink is a jasmine and green tea mix containing lychee jelly (I also ordered boba as an add-in). You could taste the ambition, as the tea was not as sugary as what you might find at a nearby chain, but it taste a bit diluted, and the boba was too soft. The search conti... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Asha Tea Kiwi green tea: I’m pretty certain this is the last seasonal flavor of fruit tea I had yet to try at Asha, the Bay-area-based tea shop. Like the others, this tea has fresh fruit mashed to a pleasant pulp, which adds texture to each sip. The herbal tea is of clear quality, and the kiwi flavor is slightly tart and fully refreshing. 4.0/5.0
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Pop & Bottle Matcha green tea almond milk: A pleasant but pricy matcha-flavored almond milk whose green tea flavor is relatively mild but enough to be identifiable. Bottle is misleading wrapped in a pastel green label; in reality, the beverage is a murky brown that’s significantly less appealing. A decent choice for those looking for a new flavored non-dairy drink. 3.5/5.0
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Icha Tea Chrysanthemum pu’er tea with boba: Icha Tea in Toronto bears a strong resemblance to Asha Tea in Berkeley; it brews all its tea in house and has a special tea bar for sampling an assortment of hot teas. It takes it one step further by offering house made pastries like black sesame tofu cheesecake. I didn’t get any desserts this time around but purchased an iced chrysanthemum pu’er milk tea with boba. They brewed the tea in front of me before mixing it with chilled milk, a process which took over five minutes. Somehow, though,... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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