iTea Lychee Green Tea: A rare miss at my go-to boba shop, I found the lychee green tea at iTea to have an overly sweet artificial flavor and very little herbal taste. The boba was also too soft, though the lychee jelly that comes with the drink had a nice bite and satisfying fruit flavor. I've generally found that the more traditional tea drinks are better than their fruit teas. 2.5/5.0
drinks itea boba bubbletea lychee green tea 2.5
Asha Tea Matcha: While I enjoy matcha-flavored snacks, it's rare for me to get matcha full on. I decided to give the matcha tea at Asha Tea in Berkeley a try and found myself reacting to the caffeine levels after only drinking half of the regular-sized portion. Symptoms including jitteriness and high distractibility. The matcha flavor itself was prominent and clean, but this drink is surely for those with higher caffeine tolerance than me. 3.0/5.0
drinks berkeley tea ashatea matcha 3.0
Asha Tea Blood Orange Oolong Tea: Blood Orange (one of my favorite citrus) + oolong (one of my favorite teas) somehow, in combination, doesn't reach the heights I was hoping for. The orange is faint, and the pulp is not as substantial as other fruit teas I've had from this establishment. It's not bad, but I wouldn't get it again. 3.0/5.0
drinks berkeley asha citrus tea ashatea blood orange oolong 3.0
50 Tea Longan Red Date drink with grass jelly: On my last visit to Oakland, iTea was out of ice and only offering hot beverages. Given the beautiful weather, I decided to go across the street to a new tea shop instead. Named 50 Tea, the shop is iconic Chinatown – half of the storefront is for tea and ice cream while the other half is for purchasing various goods like DVDs and small trinkets and gifts. Their walls are covered in hand-written menu additions with distinctly Asian flavors like winter melon and sour plum. I opted for thei... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks oakland tea grassjelly asian 50tea longan red date drink grass jelly 4.0
iTea Honey aloe green tea: At 30% sweetness, this drink still had a prominent but not overpowering honey flavor, but not as much tea as I would prefer. The aloe is gelatinous and plump, with a satisfying bite. Purchased at the iTea on Kearny in San Francisco, which I've found to be dependably good. 3.0/5.0
drinks recommended greentea itea honey aloe green tea 3.0
Asha Tea Grape Oolong tea with grass jelly: For whatever reason, this fruit tea is a $0.25 less than many of the other fruit teas on Asha's menu. It has a milder flavor than the Asian Pear oolong, with bits of grape skin at the bottom to remind you that you are, in fact, having a grape-flavored drink. This helps because the fruit flavor, while light and refreshing, is difficult to pin down. Their homemade grass jelly has a slippery soft texture that easily compliments the tea. 3.0/5.0
drinks ashatea fruit grape oolong tea grass jelly 3.0