Bao Tea House Roasted oolong milk tea: Bao is a little gem in the West Village, easily missable as it’s below street level. But you would be amiss to not try their drinks if you’re a fan of milk teas; they have some of the best I’ve had in the city. This roasted oolong tea is classic but clean, with a nutty herbal flavor and creamy, sweet milk. I asked for it less sweet, and it was perfect for me. 4.0/5.0
recommended milktea drinks nyc baoteahouse roasted oolong milk tea 4.0
Pa Tea Jasmine Green Tea with Boba: I really liked the brown sugar oolong milk tea I had from Pa Tea a few weeks ago and decided to return to try a different beverage. Unfortunately, this jasmine green tea was just ordinary. The tea had an slight floral jasmine flavor, but it tasted predominantly of milk. The boba was also quite bad, with a texture that was too soft. Given this quality, I probably would not go back again, at least not unless I just happen to be near Union Square. 2.5/5.0
drinks milktea boba patea jasmine green tea 2.5
Boba Guys Chai tea with boba: A pretty good drink from Boba Guys in Canal Street market, but too sweet even at 30% sugar. Otherwise, a nicely spiced chai. I generally find the boba to be a bit inconsistent from this location. This time, it was overly chewy. 3.0/5.0
drinks nyc bubbletea milktea bobaguys chai tea boba 3.0
Teas’ Tea Unsweetened lemongrass green tea: I like lemongrass in curries, but in tea it just tastes off. The green tea is good by itself, but it’s nearly impossible to isolate from the savory and slightly floral lemongrass flavor. 2.5/5.0
organic drinks teastea unsweetened lemongrass green tea 2.5
PaTea Brown sugar oolong milk tea with boba: I really love living in NYC, but one thing that was missing for me was a mom-and-pop super-asian bubble tea shop, the kind that has an overwhelming number of flavors that isn’t a major chain like Gong Cha or Coco. Those types of shops are omnipresent in the Bay Area, but not so much here. However, that gap has now been filled by PaTea, a very small bubble tea shop a few blocks away from Union Square. There, they have the “chubby” bucket-sized bubble tea cups in a variety of milk and fruit te... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended nyc bubbletea drinks milktea chinese asian patea brown sugar oolong milk tea boba 4.0
Kuang Chuan Oolong Tea: I spent some time this summer looking for the best asian grocery store to buy bottled tea in Chinatown and ended up wandering into a handful of different small shops. To be honest, I don’t recall exactly which one this drink was from, but this bottle of oolong tea was decent - slightly roasted flavor, unsweetened, and thirst quenching. It wasn’t good enough for me to seek out again, though. 3.0/5.0
drinks tea chinese kuangchuan oolong 3.0