"Spill the Tea!"《 a boba/tea appreciation thread ✧ 》

Chapter 6: Tainan / Kaohsiung, Taiwan

The thing about bubbletea in Taiwan that I just love is that they always pay particular attention to the teas they use. Each tea has its own specific flavour and is truly a culture. I don't think I've visited a single bubbletea place where they've used generic milk tea powder, which is a rather common thing in western countries.

Special thanks to @Doo once again without whom my world of bubbleteas would be so much more bleak!

Store: Tea and magic hand
Location: Tainan
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: This is one of the more popular brands of bubbletea in Tainan and I'm not disappointed! The teas are well made with a number of unique flavours to choose from. It's a solid option in Tainan. Be wary if you're not a sweet tooth though - their sugar levels tend to be on the slightly sweeter side than one would expect from other stores.

Spoiler

Store: Hua Da
Location: Kaohsiung
Rating: 5/5
Your experience: I have nothing negative to say about the tea at Hua Da. It's soooooo goooood, from the tea to the sweetness to the pearls. It's one of the most memorable things I took out of Kaohsiung (kekeke sorry tea is life and I remember nothing else. kidding.)

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Store: Bo Ge
Location: Tainan
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: This place's teas are apparently a local favourite particularly for the students after school / during lunch break. There was indoor seating at one of the branches I went to and lots of ?high school students were going in and out! I was particularly intrigued by the names and colours of their teas and their fruit/fresh teas were particularly refreshing.
Wish I had time to try their milk-based teas too

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Store: Brian Black Tea
Location: Tainan
Rating: 4/5
Your experience: This is a cute little store that I don't think can be found outside of Tainan. It's apparently quite famous and hosts very few menu items to select from. Their kuan yin milk tea boasted really rich tea flavours and is a must-try for those like me who travel around the world to try different styles of boba!

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Chapter 7: Taoyuan, Taiwan

Store: i'Milky (沐白小农沐场)
Location: Taoyuan
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: Special thanks to @JokerLiao for this one! Another one of the "we use fresh milk, we use fresh fruit, we use real tea" brands. I'm going to stop here because that's all you really need to know but I was particularly impressed by the brown sugar flavour here. I hear there's branches of this franchise in New York, Malaysia and Hong Kong - keen to hear the reviews for anyone who has been!

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Chapter 8: Hualien, Taiwan

Don't we all need something wholesome in life beyond forum drama? xoxo
This is the penultimate chapter of my Taiwan recommendations until my next trip there

Store: Presotea
Location: Hualien
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: I love the freshness of the teas here and just like the name of the place suggests this place gets ++points for their clean, refreshing, not too sweet tea selection. Just like many other franchises there are branches of this all across the world so be sure to give it a go!
Yes I did get no sugar no ice don't judge me pls was tryna drink this and eat some sweet shaved ice on that day

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So many new places to try when I go back to Taiwan after this whole thing is over :3 ty for all of the recs

No sugar, no ice gang have you ever been charged for no ice? I was shocked when I got charged once (about 50 cents in the US), but then they didn't charge the next time I went. I guess enough people complained haha

 

im getting on the MRT rn ^_^

 

Store: Black Sugar
Location: San Francisco, CA
Rating (out of 5): 5/5 ★★★★★
Your experience: I've been here so many times in San Francisco! But their mango matcha latte is to die for! Hours have changed during covid but if you can go they are soooooo good!
Parking can be a pain in the booty sometimes but definitely worth the trip out there or if you are around the area!

 

@June don't abandon your own thread even if you're quitting the game

p.s. Chapter 9 this week! Because I give concrete, finite deadlines to my updates!

 

Chapter 9: Taipei, Taiwan

Store: 陈三鼎 (Chen San Ding)
Location: Taipei
Rating: 5/5
Your experience: Hands down one of the best brown sugar boba fresh milks I have ever had. I don't know if anyone goes specifically to Asian cities to find dingy, small hidden gem restaurants because they are the absolute best, but this place is one of them in Taipei and it will not disappoint. Special thanks to @CeramicGirl for this one.

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Store: 50 Lan
Location: Taipei
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: A blissful franchise that is an all round solid option wherever you go. Their boba is "Q" af!! @Clematis @CeramicGirl @Seal Shoutout to the 3 of you!

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Store: Le Phare (乐法)
Location: Taipei
Rating: 4/5
Your experience: Random little place we went to because I yelled "I NEED BUBBLETEA NOW" :'). Didn't even get one with pearls in them because I was so damn full, but this turned out to be a solid option with lots of pretty items on their menu!!

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Aaaand that's it for my Taiwan adventures for now. Stay tuned

 

Chapter 10: Paris, France

Store: The Alley
Location: Paris
Rating: 5/5
Your experience:
Do you know what it feels like, walking along the streets of Paris in the middle of winter, holding a signature brown sugar boba milk tea from The Alley and feeling the warm pearls through the cup?

There might be better boba places out there but at that particular moment, The Alley was perfect.

Merry Christmas to you all.

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Chapter 11: Shanghai, China

Store: Super Daddy
Location: Shanghai
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience:
I know there are probably hundreds of bubbletea places in Shanghai but I was particularly fond of this place, which is the Nanjing Road branch of Super Daddy! Worth mentioning here that China's bubbletea quality is super specific to the particular branch you go to because I didn't enjoy Dalian's Super Daddy nearly as much

It's been so long now that I don't exactly remember what I liked about this place but I just remember their pearls being so chewy (as were their taro balls), their tea having a nice HK-style milk tea based taste and it was all round a nice thing to have on a winter's night after walking around aimlessly for 24 thousand steps

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This will be my last update from 2020. Happy new year to you all!

 

Chapter 12: London, United Kingdom

Store: Tsujiri
Location: London
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience:
Ok I'm cheating because Tsujiri doesn't even make bubbleteas but nevertheless it's a worldwide franchised tea place that does AMAZING matcha lattes. Give this place a try if you happen to be in a city blessed enough to have a branch of this open! They do dessert as well which is always a big bonus for after-meal excursions when travelling

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Store: Coco
Location: London
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience:
Are you surprised I haven't talked about Coco yet? It's one of the most well-known franchises of boba worldwide. I'm particularly fond of their fruities but their milk teas are also decent!

Shoutout to @Aeronautics I CROPPED YOUR HAND OUT but can always crop it back in if you want

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There's an amazing restaurant that does the best Mango Lassi in London too but I suppose we'll save that for a food thread instead

 

Chapter 13 incoming. Just came back from Brisbane last weekend! Stay tuned.

 

Chapter 13: Brisbane, Australia

Store: machi machi
Location: Brisbane
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience:
I liked this place so much I went 3 times in my 4 day trip... in all honesty I've had better teas before but the panna cotta at the bottom was so good omg. My favourite flavour is still the original! Rich tea flavour which complemented the panna cotta well.

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Store: Heeretea
Location: Brisbane
Rating: 4/5
Your experience:
Refreshing option - I don't get lychee flavoured milk based teas anywhere in Adelaide! In general I'm just glad there are still plastic straws elsewhere because we've since banned them and it's not fun slurping boba out of a paper straw Anyway, the tea base is decent and doesn't dampen out the lychee flavour! Would buy again.

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vaccinations = mini travel trips wew!

this is from pin ming in boston chinatown. their boba was nothing to write home about, but their tea was definitely solid. my friend said that their cheese foam was super good too. i even went out of my way to snap this pic just for u goons in this thread!!

https://i.filehostingsite/HdGwSMs/boba.png

 

Special San Chen edition:

Spoiler: Taichung OG store

Spoiler: Singapore

Spoiler: Los Angeles

Spoiler: Vancouver

I've now had Chi Cha San Chen (CCSC) from four different countries - including multiple branches in Singapore and the Taichung OG store.
General Thoughts:
- The OG store in Taiwan was a different experience by far. The taste of their tea came through extremely well, and the storefront is designed to immerse consumers in a high-end type experience that is somewhat reminiscent of artisanal coffee culture.
- In Singapore, there are now so many branches this branch has become any other bubbletea store. Notably the handled cupholder design remains, adding a personal touch.
- The queue was long in LA. The quality of bobas in Los Angeles in general is variable and it's hard to come by consistently good boba stores when you're a visitor, and judging by the persistent queue in San Gabriel I would suggest it's a similar experience for the locals.
- Service was really bad in Vancouver. There was a sense of weird superiority coming from the workers in the shop, mixed with the pettiness unique to Asian upbringing (when you can't get no ice as an option in non-smoothie based drinks - ?) which I didn't particularly enjoy.

Teas:
- Again, the flavour was strongest in Taichung, followed weirdly by LA, then it's similar in Singapore and Vancouver.
- Milk based teas here generally do better than fruit-based teas, imo. I rarely get pure tea/tea only with cheese foam.
- Can't comment on pearls too well as I don't generally get them anymore (in a desperate attempt to reduce caloric intake).

Nevertheless many thanks to @Rielle @boredxz @bibz for the 3000 ('San Chen') company.
And, of course, everyone else along the way.

Updates to come. Travel's finally reinstated itself post-exams, post-interviews and post-COVID!

 

omg are we reviving this thread????

Spoiler: BoBaPoP - NoVa

stopped by this kitschy lil' boba shop on my hour-long commute to h-mart last weekend because i'm desperate for azn groceries. they specialize in ~floral~ teas and i had jasmine milk tea with rose water. i forgot to take a pic of the boba because it was honestly kinda forgettable but i did force my friend to take this super cute pic of me in front of a mural they had at the shop because i'm a clout chasing e-girl who will do anything for likes!!!!

https://i.filehostingsite/WHtS22c/slutboi.png

miss u june xoxo