Guest post! (From Tea Fever)

Although I am currently taking a break from critiquing the bubble tea of downtown berkeley, my darling sister still has a lot to say on the subject. Additionally I have been encouraging people to show off their tea knowledge by guest writing and she was the first person to seriously take me up on it. So without an further ado I present the thoughts and art of my charming sister:

Hello, subtlety tea readers! I'd like to start by saying that I am incredibly excited to guest write. As you may remember from previous posts, I really enjoy a going to Tea Fever. When I went there last, I was pleasantly surprised to see a poster with a list of specials awaiting me at the door. There were three or four milk tea drinks on this poster, all with something special about them, like the addition of red beans. Best of all, there was a black tea with both boba and pudding. At first, I must admit I was a tad perplexed. I had never heard of adding pudding to a drink, especially one which already had boba. Since it sounded so interesting, I knew that that was the drink I would be ordering- how could I possibly resist such a splendid opportunity? (It worth mentioning here that I am usually not so adventurous with food. Or at all. But this was pudding, so it was a completely different matter).

Anyway, it goes without saying that this beverage was absolutely delightful. The pudding (which was vanilla, by the way) complemented the black tea in a wonderful way, absorbing its flavor but still keeping its own. The texture combinations worked surprisingly well. One of my many favorite things about tea fever is the perfect consistency of their boba- soft but not too flimsy, chewy but not excessively so. The pudding provided a lovely contrast to this. It was much more liquid, and it seemed to become significantly softer in my mouth. Anything else one could want from this combination could be found in the black milk tea. It saddens me to see some of the newer boba places not being able to do simpler teas like black or green tea. Many of them seem to have too little or too much sugar. Of course, Tea Fever's black tea is simply lovely and has an exquisite flavor.

I would love to encourage you now, gentle reader, to rush to Tea Fever and sample some or all of these exquisite drinks. But, alas, due to a lack of promptness on my part in writing this guest post which I can only ascribe to my busy schedule, I doubt that they still have these specials. So, instead, just go to Tea Fever and try one of their normal drinks. I assure you they will be worth your time. Also, they have really good crepes and waffles.

As you may have guessed, I drew the picture above. I also took pictures at the time but they didn't really show the pudding clearly. I used my previously mentioned "fancy drawing app" which is generally referred to as paper by 53 to create this representation. I highly recommend this app. That is all I have to say. Farewell, gentle readers!

Sad Tea Fact (From Women's Health.Gov)

I was researching anemia partly for class, when I came across a somewhat disheartening tea fact. Apparently drinking tea or coffee with a meal makes it harder for the body to absorb iron. After a brief moment of panic I did more research. Apparently most people get enough Iron that drinking tea with meals isn't a problem, but since I don eat meat it might be. This was an especially unsettling thing for me to learn because as I was doing my research I was eating my lunch and drinking tea. Now as you may know I drink tea quite frequently so it was hard for me to come to terms with this. I've also been drinking extra tea with meals lately due to the fact that the water in my house comes from a lake and tastes a bit like algae.

On a side note I've mildly disliked breaking down food into nutrients ever since I started reading Micheal Pollen. He talks about how when we do that it stops up from enjoying food and make us consume simply to fill a quota. This is very sad to me because I adore food immensely and want to enjoy it as much a possible. However, I have began to drink less tea during meals. Although I suppose a better move would be to find out if I'm actually anemic.

Source:
http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/anemia.html

Motto: Sparkling Matcha Tea

I chose to purchase this beverage because I was looking for affordable matcha alternatives. However I found it to be less affordable than the high quality Breakaway Matcha I already own. Additionally it tastes a bit strange. Although the second ingredient listed is matcha, this did not taste very much like the the matcha I am familiar with. This might be due to the addition of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar.

While Motto may not be a good matcha equivalent, its label boasts that it is worth the caffeine of twelve cups of green tea of a third of a cup of coffee. Looking at it in that light I would strongly prefer the Motto drink to other energy drinks. It is surprisingly pleasing if one can resist comparing it to more traditional matcha.

Homemade Chai (Recipe From www.gimmesomeoven.com)

I've been known to complain about coffee shops using Oregon Chai instead of creating their own unique chai blends. To prove that I am serious about this complaint, I decided to make my own chai. While I admit that gathering the ingredients was a bit challenging, once gathered, the process was quite simple and took a mere 30 minutes.

The recipe I choose made a chai concentrate rather than a something one could put in a tea bag. To use this chai concentrate one must only mix one part concentrate with one part water or one part milk. I decided to go in this direction because I tend to be a cantankerous lump of a morning creature and if I'm going to consume anything during those wee hours it had better be simple.

The only alteration I made to the recipe is I added coriander, my favorite spice. Additionally, I might choose to use a bit less cinnamon next time. I found the amount of cinnamon a tad excessive, however my sister was quite pleased with it.

My biggest mistake was making the chai the day before I moved into my new dwelling for this year. Under those circumstances, I only got to taste the chai briefly on my way to the airport. It was quite splendid, regardless of the fact that I lacked the time to savor it. I plan to recreated this recipe in the near future so I can write more in depth about the final product.

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/homemade-chai-tea-recipe/

Tea Fever

I am fully cognizant of the fact that in this picture my sister and I look less than enthused about our tea fever milk teas. I would like it to be known that we are in actuality quite pleased. We are just trying to be goth. Tea Fever is a place of the upmost importance to me, because it was my favorite bubble tea venue throughout high school. That was not saying much at the time considering it were only two bubble tea places in downtown Berkeley. Yet, even now when bubble tea shops have a tendency to  pop up like gophers, Tea Fever continues to produce some of the best bubble tea in Berkeley.

I have never gotten a drink that I was not pleased with at Tea Fever. Even when I go for some more extravagant combinations like Magic Mocha milk tea with coffee jelly and boba I still end up quite content. Additionally their matcha milk tea, while not quite as fantastic as the matcha at Asha Tea House, is superb. Their ice teas are splendid as well. Then there is Tea Fever's wonderful variety of waffles and crepes. My favorite of which is a dessert crepe that includes pieces of strawberries and mangos topped with whipped cream. Overall Tea Fever is a lovely place to fulfill all of ones bubble tea and snack needs.

Asha Tea House

I would like to start by expressing that this is currently my favorite place to be in downtown Berkeley, in part for its quality bubble tea in addition to its harmonious environment.The largest picture is of the matcha Latte with boba that I joyfully consumed upon my most recent visit to Asha Tea House. Ordering matcha is my go to way to ascertain the seriousness of a tea-venue. In my experience only the really good ones have really good matcha. This matcha was delectable. I offered a sample to my mother and upon tasting it she remarked "I didn't know if I like matcha but I like this."

My darling sister is featured on the top left proudly displaying her Moroccan Mint Tea with boba. She was very pleased with the mint flavor, the genuine pieces of mint, as well as the consistency of the boba. Her one complaint was that there was not enough ice. (One should note that she is in the midst of an ice obsession. It is strange.)

The picture on the bottom right is of a cool wooden shingle thing inside Asha Tea House. In addtion to that they have small wooden plaques displaying fun tea facts. For instance I learned that bubble tea is named after the foam that is created when tea shaken vigorously not after the bubble shaped boba. Apparently shaking tea brings out the teas flavors.

On a closing note, I am also considerably impressed with Asha Tea House's fruit tea drinks, which are a truly sensuious experience. The combination of the cool tea with tart puree; then the warm, sweet, boba. Then the texture of puree...I am at a loss for words. I would highly recommend that you, gentle reader, embark on this sumptuous journey if it is at all within your means.

Bobo Drinks

"These are probably the prettiest"

Berry Pom Pom Jar and Pineapple Paradise Jar

"This is an odd breakfast"

Bobo Ice Special

I tend to think of Bobo Drinks as that very cool new kid in town. I'd been lurking at Tea Fever and the late Tapicoa Express for years but all of a sudden Bobo popped up with its hip beverages and I was blown away. My friends and I originally gathered at Bobo Drinks for a farewell breakfast. Being in the mood to celebrate we ordered some of what we deemed the fancy things on the menu. Collectively we acquired a Berry Pom Pom Jar, a Pineapple Paradise Jar, a Bobo's sample and a fanciful concoction that I believe was called a Bobo Ice Special. The Berry Pom Pom Jar featured basil seeds which I like much better than chia seeds. Perhaps because they were smaller than chia seeds and therefore less slimy. Overall we were very impressed with everything we ordered. We decided that this was a place we would want to be taken on promising first dates. My one regret after first visiting Bobo Drinks was that I had not gotten a chace to sample Bobo's boba. 

A week later I returned determined to find out if Bobo could make a simple milk tea with boba as expertly as they had crafted their more elaborate specialties. To test this I odered a Taro Milk Tea while while my sister sipped on a Passion Fruit Milk tea. I found their boba particularly lovely. They had a silky texture while still being appropriately chewy. My sister remarked that sometimes people try to achieve his texture by putting boba in in hot tea but it is remarkable that Bobo managed while keeping the cold milk tea cold. One of the milk tea's more remarkable qualities was that it was rather creamy: a factor I was not entirely enthused about, yet my sister found it quite pleasing.