An Introduction to Bubble Tea (From Ten Ren)

On an average day as I walk through Downtown Berkeley seeing a shop proclaiming the existence of Bubble Tea is not an anomaly. This was not the case approximately thirteen years ago when I tried this tasty libation for the first time. At the time I was a wee youth making my way through elementary school, while my sister was an even wee-er youth. My mother had read about Bubble Tea in the food section of the San Francisco Chronicle and thus decided that we should sample this beverage. While on said journey she forgot the name of the thing we sought yet upon seeing a picture of bubble tea in the window of Ten Ren we knew that we had reached our destination. We then ordered a Honey Dew milk tea with Boba(tapioca balls). My mother and I were very satisfied but my sister was less so do to the fact that she was to small to have the suction nessacary to suck the Boba through the straw. In the months following we return to Ten Ren many a time. So much in fact that they began to recognize us. They even gave my sister a cup of just Boba on her birthday.

Now that Bubble Tea is a more wide spread fade, at least in Berkeley, over the next month or so I will visit at least five of the local bubble tea places as a means of providing better recommendations to people searching for a good Bubble Tea in the area. 

The image shown above is another one of my sister's creations, made to represent both of us at the time we first tried Bubble Tea.

Breakaway Matcha

Some time ago I came to the realization that most of the good matcha costs more than I usually like to spend on tea. Henceforth until very recently I only had a somewhat cheap matcha that I used primarily for baking. However to celebrate the occasion of my birth this year my aunt sent me a tin of Breakaway Matcha. I feel a bit tentative recommending this tea to others because I've realized that I try to recommend teas that are more affordable. As soon as I find a cheaper matcha of similar quality I'll be sure to alert you, gentle reader*, of its existence.

In order to prepare this matcha I first mix approximately a teaspoon with cold water in a mug. Then I mix in the matcha using either my milk frother or a very small whisk. Subsequently I fill the remaining space in the mug with hot water. At this point I occasionally sweeten it but Breakaway Matcha is equally magnificent unsweetened.

*gentle reader is currently my favorite salutation.

Northern Lights Tea (From Metropolitan Tea Company)

On of the best parts of having a tea blog (and talking about it in public at every opportune moment) is occasionally I am the lucky recipient of tea related gifts. This happened recently after a dear friend of mine went on a canadian adventure and returned with what she deemed "the most canadian gift." Whether Northern Lights Tea is really more canadian a gift than maple syrup in the shape of a moose that comes with free healthcare I'll let you, gentle reader, decide. Regardless Northern Lights proved to be a marvelous tea. It offers the solidness of a black tea with just enough embellishment to be simutanioisly caffeinate-ing and fun.

Unidentified Tea-like Substances

In an effort to support my tea related endeavors my mother recently presented me with two different teas. Her intent was that I with my tea related prowess might be able to judge whether the teas were still good and what kind of teas they were. To begin this task I entrusted my senses and smelled the tea. Although I inhaled a bit of dust which then triggered my allergies this making it harder to smell, the teas themselves at least seemed to have a standard tea like aroma. Unimpressed with my sense of smell I proceeded to taste. The tea show in the center seemed that it was indeed past its prime. It was a weak black tea. Any flare it had once possessed mostly gone. The tea shown in the lower most image turned out much better. It was a still potent jasmine with an especially floral flavor. 

AFC Canned Green Tea

I don't usually drink tea out of cans but when I do its probably because I'm really tired and very susceptible to any tea related marketing. I found this particular tea, awaiting my sleep deprived self, perched above the sushi I was in the process of surveying. At first I dismissed the tea, I assumed it was thoroughly sugared and I had already partook in a very sugary lichee juice that day. However upon closer inspection I found that the tea was unsweetened so I purchased it to accompany my sushi. The tea itself was surprising good. It had a complex flavor set off but what I can best describe as nuttiness.

Yet my biggest take away from this experience was: why buy tea in a can when I am fully capable of canning my own tea? I simply need to brew tea in larger batches and then I can keep it in jars until the time comes to drink it. More on that to come....

Chai (Again!) (From Tony's Coffee)

I used to think that coffee shop baristas were on a level that paralleled wizardry. When they went behind their counters they made caffeine magic. However I have gotten to a point where I acknowledge that this is not entirely the case. I've discovered that many coffee shops instead of creating their own chai blends simply invest in large quantities of Oregon Chai, which then then mix with steamed milk: a far cry from magic. After I realized that my campus coffee establishments were some of the culprits that outsource their magic to oregon I stopped buying their chai lattes for a while, and subsisted off london fog alone when I needed milk to accompany my tea. Yet I couldn't stay away for long. As much as it pains me to say Oregon Chai is a splendid beverage. I am still eternally grateful to coffee shops that make their own chai blends but I'll try not to complain too much.

Morning Glory Chai (From Zoka Coffee)

Once again I found myself on my way into a coffee shop. I anticipated ordering another standard chai, but this time was different. I scanned the menu and I was surprised to see that there were three different types of chai latte offered. Could it be that this was a place where chai is able to stand its ground? I feel like a lot of coffee shops offer chai because it is the cool coffee shop thing to do, but they have little regard for the actual tea. Yet on that day I found something different. I feel like Zoka actually presented their own take on chai, it was refreshing in more ways than one. Its flavor was more spicy than sweet and with each sip I continued to explore the rich blend of spices that made up the chai. It was an all together pleasant experience.

I drank this fabulous beverage in part to give me some semblance of energy on my way to a graveyard picnic. It was successful although I was still not awake enough or possibly I was too exited about the graveyard to remember to document it with a photo. Fortunately, I was able to solicit more representative tea art from my talented sister.