Level of bubble tea expertise:
Kayla L: Knows nothing, used to like Taro Milk Tea with 100% sweetness, but graduated to Rose Milk Tea with 50% sweetness.
Kate L: Became obsessed after she found out that you don’t swallow boba whole, and once spent $600 in two months Uber Eats-ing it to school for everyone.
Kalia L: Owns everything (lychee jelly, egg pudding powder, egg puff maker, etc.) necessary to open a shop—which is not at all concerning.
So here are our opinions on all of the drinks! (left to right):
Peach Oolong Tea with Aloe Vera
Kayla: The aloe vera is actually good. In fact, it tastes like lychee. The peach oolong isn’t very strong but still very refreshing. 7/10
Kate: For anyone who has never tried aloe in tea before, it can have the effect of making your mouth kind of tingly (like after eating a lot of pineapple). The tea itself is good, though. 6/10
Kalia: Aloe vera does NOT taste like lychee *cough* but more like agar boba (gross and gelatinous). The peach tea is pleasantly sweet (25%) and not overly fruity. 5/10
Rose Black Tea with Lychee Jelly
Kayla: The tea part was pretty strong to me because I usually have milk tea. You can taste the rose, and the jelly was delish, but it wouldn’t consistently go up the straw. This tea is better with milk. 7/10
Kate: Really hecking good. I usually get Rose Black Milk Tea, but without milk it’s completely different, yet still has a really good flavor. The lychee jelly goes well with the rose tea in my opinion. 7/10
Kalia: I’m allergic to pollen, so I was just trying to not sneeze while sipping it. Lychee jelly is consistently delicious because it comes from a jar! 4/10
Almond Milk Tea with Egg Pudding
Kayla: I really like the almond—it tastes like almond extract! The pudding is okay, but it tastes a little bit off. It would be really good warm. 9/10
Kalia: Their almond milk tea is way better than other places’, but the egg pudding always has this weird, gritty film on top, which is bleh. 8/10
Kate: I thought that the pudding was gross, but the almond milk tea is good. Obviously, don’t drink it if you’re allergic to nuts. 🙂 5/10
Kalia: Or if you’re vegan.
Kate: But it’s okay if you’re flexivegan.
Kayla: Are you sure about that?
Peppermint Tea with Boba (Decaf)
Kayla: I personally really like the peppermint, although I think that we should have chosen a higher sweetness…The boba goes well with the peppermint, and I enjoy the mintiness. Stop judging me. 8/10
Kate: Ewwwwwww… Kayla, I’m judging you. 1/10 *proceeds to drink it anyway*
Kalia: Why the heck does Kayla like this?? I felt like I was drinking liquid toothpaste. The boba has a nice “qq” consistency though (If you don’t know what qq is, the New York Times has a cool article https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/world/asia/taiwan-food-q-texture.html). 1/10
Hot Coffee Milk Tea with Boba
Kayla: I don’t like coffee, and it tastes like coffee. Generally, I do like warm boba with milk tea, but again, it’s coffee. 5/10
Kalia: I also don’t like coffee, but I can confirm it’s coffee. For coffee lovers, see Kate’s comment. The boba is better warm. 6/10
Kate: Omg, it’s so good. Admittedly, it does taste like coffee, so don’t try it if you don’t like coffee. However, we got it hot and with boba, and it’s SOOOOOOO GOOD. OMG SJJSKXBSJRODKDK 100000000/10 (Update: I took it home and drank the whole thing. Kayla and Kalia are uncultured.)
Earl Grey Tea with Sea Salt Crema
Kayla: I don’t think that the sea salt stuff should be there. It contrasts too much with the sweetness of the earl grey, and it has an odd taste (I think that’s because I got a huge chunk of it at once; it was fine in the beginning). Maybe with something else it would taste good, but not with this. 4/10
Kate: I actually like it a surprising amount. The crema takes a minute to get used to, but I think it goes pretty well with the Earl grey, and it blends in with the tea, making it like milk tea. 6/10
Kalia: Not as terrifying as I expected! The sea salt crema complements the sweet tea nicely. 7/10
Mango Slushie
Kayla: It’s what you’d expect from a mango slushie. I don’t really like the consistency, but it tastes fine. 6/10
Kate: Pretty much what it sounds like. It’s really sweet, so you should get it with the lowest possible amount of sugar. 5/10
Kalia: Generically good. Not the best on a cold day, since it’s pretty much mango blended with ice and sugar. 5/10
Guava Tea with Mango Popping Boba
Kayla: The mango taste feels artificial and overwhelms the taste of the tea, but the tea itself is good. 4/10
Kalia: I prefer grapefruit or passion fruit teas. You can’t really taste the mango in the popping boba. It’s better in frozen yogurt. 8/10
Kate: The popping boba with the tea is a good combination. Guava tea is kind of hard to explain. It’s kind of like if passion fruit and Ariana Grande had a baby. 8/10
Kalia: That is the last thing I’d describe it as.
Kayla: Agreed.
With so many drinks, you might wonder… who kept what?
Kayla took home the peppermint tea and almond milk tea.
Kate saved the coffee milk tea, rose black tea, guava tea and earl grey tea.
Kalia threw away the others and ordered a jasmine milk tea despite the extreme judgement of the people working there.
Thanks for reading! If you’d like us to try out different drinks before you invest your $5, let us know here! https://forms.gle/PGk9JcWDoPthd9Ls6