I’m not exactly sure whose idea it was for me to move all the way to Boston for school. Boston, a historical beautiful, diverse city, lacking in delicious bubble tea (as the East Coast calls it). Maybe it’s a good thing that there aren’t many options out here because I cut half my calorie/sugar intake when I’m at school. I’m always excited to go home and make my rounds to my favorite boba spots. In no particular order, I introduce to you, my favorite places for boba:
Fantasia: High School Favorite
Past Favorite(s): Taro Milk, Pearl Milk Tea
Current Favorite: Hot Grass Jelly w/ Taro Balls
Fantasia was my favorite boba place when I was in high school mainly for one reason: they used actual taro in their drinks. Taro milk was my favorite drink and still is my favorite to make at home. The reason why I’m so obsessed with actual taro is that consuming powder taro always ends up with me having a headache of some sorts. The other reason is their regular milk tea is delicious… coming from someone who was born in Taiwan, I think I have some credibility to say I know what good milk tea and boba tastes like.
I use to frequent the Cupertino location, but they have since changed managers along with their recipe for their regular milk tea, so now I occasionally visit the Milpitas location for some Hot Grass Jelly with Taro Balls in the winter and regular milk tea any time during the year.
Happy Lemon: Fiancé’s Favorite
Past Favorite(s): Black Tea Salted Cheese
Current Favorite: Mango Matcha
The brand Happy Lemon itself exploded in the Bay Area with various locations popping up all within two years! Every time the fiancé and I wanted Happy Lemon, we had a 15-20 minute drive to the nearest location. Now, there’s one literally minutes away from my house by car. You would think matcha and mango sound weird together, right? Because that’s what I thought! Until I tried it… and I was like WOWza. (Also, I love matcha lattes, but the makeshift at Starbucks and the actual ones at coffee shops. I don’t like ordering them from boba places.)
TP Tea: Best Overall Milk Tea
Current Favorite: Grass Jelly Milk Tea
TP Tea is my official go-to nowadays whenever I’m craving milk tea in particular. The wait can be long depending on when you go, and service may not always be the fastest, but I’m usually pretty patient. Sometimes, I’ll even bring in my Switch to play while waiting in line and after for my drink. If they had pudding as a topping, I would probably switch between grass jelly and pudding depending on my mood.
Ten Ren: Best Tea
Past Favorite(s): Passion Fruit Milk Tea
Current Favorite(s): Roasted Oolong Milk Tea, Honey Lemon Green Tea w/Ai Yu
I enjoy Ten Ren because they have decent tea, even though all my friends in Taiwan say Ten Ren is like the worst… In high school, I loved going to Ten Ren for their passion fruit milk tea. I don’t know when I stopped ordering it, but now I love having the honey lemon green tea w/Ai Yu during the summer and roasted oolong milk tea also with grass jelly when I’m not too full from whatever meal I may have had beforehand. Also, my fiance and I love coming here to redeem our BOGO deals heh.
Boba Guys: SF Favorite
Current Favorite: Hong Kong Style
Almost every time I make a trip to San Francisco, I cannot leave the city without stopping by Boba Guys for their Hong Kong Style milk tea. Come to think of it, I actually do get boba here on some occasions. Those few rare times. On top of that, they have mochi muffins from Third Culture Bakery that are just so delicious.
You may have noticed that I don’t have a current favorite drink with actual boba inside. This is kind of what happens when you have consumed too much boba. My other reason is that I’m trying to watch my weight, so I’m not too big of a fan of chewing on honey-soaked starch. They’re good, don’t get me wrong. Just maybe not what my body is looking for at the moment.