Bao Tea House Rose milk tea: This is a perfectly balanced rose milk tea from Bao Tea House, a serene tea and bao shop on the west edge of Washington Square Park. Faintly sweet at 25% sweetness, the drink has a clean floral flavor without overpowering, and the frothed milk is delicately creamy. I’ve had a good number of rose teas over the course of Tasty Snacking, and this one is by far the best. 5.0/5.0
exceptional nyc milktea drinks baoteahouse rose milk tea 5.0
Ample Hills Creamery Lemon ginger sorbet and Snap, Mallow, Pop ice cream: Family friendly ice cream shop Ample Hills Creamery is probably as Brooklyn as an ice cream store can get. The flavors are completely made in-house, hand-drawn illustrations act as signage, and flavors like “gooey gooey butter cake” and “Nonna d’s oatmeal lace” hearken back to an extremely classic American childhood that I can only imagine those that had cookie jars in their kitchens may have experienced. AKA this is a very white-person ice cream shop (not to denigrate - just stating the f... (read more) 3.0/5.0
brooklyn icecream marshmallow amplehillscreamery lemon ginger sorbet snap mallow pop ice cream 3.0
Utopia Bagels Mini Everything Bagel with Lox Spread: I never once had a decent bagel when I lived in the Bay Area, so I'm relieved to now have an abundance of options back in NYC. One popular bagel shop I had yet to try was Utopia Bagels, located all the way in Whitestone Queens. Arriving at around 11:30am, the queue to order snaked around the entryway, and for a New York institution, the pace was extremely slow; from getting in line to leaving with food in-hand took about 45 minutes. Not being too hungry, I ordered their snackable mini bag... (read more) 2.5/5.0
bagels nyc bread lox creamcheese queens utopiabagels mini everything bagel spread 2.5
Dr. Brown’s Diet cream soda : I typically drink diet soda to minimize sugar intake. I’ve gotten used to the taste of aspartame (disgusting, I know) and have found over the years that diet root beer seems to fare the best in terms of minimal fake-sugar taste. So I was curious about this diet cream soda, as root beer and cream soda share some similar flavor qualities. The diet cream soda from Dr. Brown’s was quite good as far as diet sodas go, with the vanilla (or more likely vanillin) aftertaste masking much of the unplea... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks dietsoda diet drbrowns cream soda 3.5
Boba Guys Lychee Green Milk Tes with aloe: I wanted to order one of the seasonal fruit drinks from Boba Guys at Canal St Market, but they aren’t able to adjust the sweetness level on their all-fruit drinks. Instead, I purchased their lychee green tea with aloe. Even at 25% sweetness, I found the tea a tad too sweet for my taste, but the sugar may have come from the aloe, which nonetheless had a satisfyingly firm bite. The milk tea otherwise had a creamy and clean flavor. Sometimes fruit teas don’t mix so well with milk, but lychee an... (read more) 3.5/5.0
drinks milktea nyc bobaguys lychee green milk tes aloe 3.5
Cha Cha Matcha Matcha softserve: I was worried this matcha cafe may be more trendy than good, but NYC-based Cha Cha Matcha’s matcha-flavored softserve (also available in a matcha and vanilla swirl) is very good, with a consistent smooth texture and clean green tea flavor. It has a pleasantly bitter flavor. Well balanced and also reasonably priced (this $5 serving can easily be shared and costs less than many of their $6 special drinks). Given its quality, I would not hesitate to come back to order some of their beverage ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended nyc softserve icecream chachamatcha matcha 4.0