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
iTea Roasted Oolong Milk Tea with Boba: While I previously have had very good experiences at iTea in San Francisco, I've found that the quality has seemed to decline over time. On my last trip, I ordered their Roasted Oolong Milk Tea with little sweetness and ice, yet the drink was still sweeter than I would expect and diluted tasting right from the start. The boba, too, was overly chewy without much character. I typically like to order new things every time I go, but if I find myself at iTea again, I will likely order one of m... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks boba milktea bubbletea itea roasted oolong milk tea 2.5
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
Dinosaurs Thai Iced Tea: Dinosaurs is a bahn mi sandwich shop in San Francisco with multiple locations, but the only one I've been to is right at the edge of the Castro. The seating is cramped, but they have excellent Vietnamese sandwiches, particularly their meatball bahn mi. It's almost as good as New Silverstar Deli, but Dinosaurs has more accessible hours outside the normal lunch rush. I stopped by before seeing a show at Swedish American Hall (a few blocks away) to get a caffeinated beverage since I was feel... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks dinosaurs thai iced tea 2.5
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
bubbletea Toronto drinks ichatea chrysanthemum pu’er tea boba 2.5
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
drinks bubbletea greentea jasmine chinatown sf boba steap lychee love tea 2.5