Matchabar Fuji apple ginger iced matcha tea: Was feeling sleepy, so I picked up this matcha beverage at The Foodhall en route to The Chapel. This dark green beverage is a mix of green tea, Fuji apple, and ginger. It has a fantastically clean and balanced flavor, where each component is easily identifiable. The ginger leaves a tingly spiced flavor in your throat, as any good ginger beverage should. And it definitely woke me up, but not in a way that made me feel jittery or gave me a headache. Super quality beverage that I would recomm... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional drinks matchabar fuji apple ginger iced matcha tea 4.5
Asha Tea Pineapple Oolong: I’m not a huge fan of pineapple but have exhausted the entire Asha tea seasonal fruit teas and decided to try this one. It was perfectly balanced - just sweet enough without being tart, with a very fragrant oolong tea. It’s no wonder I always bring visitors to this worthy Tea Shop. 4.5/5.0
exceptional drinks berkeley tea ashatea pineapple oolong 4.5
Happy Lemon Lemon black tea: Textbook mediocre black tea. Tastes like Lipton, and it probably is. On the plus side, the drinks contains an entire lemon, sliced into wedges. But the overall effect is black tea I can easily make at home. Good thing it was free (from the buy one get on free promotion during Happy Lemon’s opening weekend in Berkeley). 2.0/5.0
drinks berkeley happylemon lemon black tea 2.0
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
Asha tea Blueberry green tea: Another great fruit tea from Asha tea in Berkeley. The drink is tea-first, with a mild herbal flavor that’s clean and refreshing. It pairs well with the fresh blueberry pulp, which turns the drink a deep shade of purple. 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks boba ashatea blueberry green tea 4.0
TeaOne Buckwheat Purple Yam Milk Tea with Boba: Located on Telegraph on the edge of Berkeley's campus is TeaOne, yet another bubble tea shop in Berkeley. I decided to try their Buckwheat Purple Yam milk tea because it's a flavor I haven't seen elsewhere. Unfortunately, it is a flavor that probably shouldn't exist elsewhere because it has a starchy, grainy texture almost reminiscent of sesame breakfast porridge you get in powder packs at Asian grocery stores. The boba was also overly soft, with little discernible taste. 2.5/5.0
drinks boba bubbletea teaone buckwheat purple yam milk tea 2.5 berkeley