Today I rode my bike to the ferry dock and went to Seattle. One of the places I went to was Uwajimaya and I went and got a total of nineteen cans of import coffee. I got Two from Taiwan and seventeen from Japan. I thought that I would review them and get some interesting content on this site that is not exactly about video games. When I am all done I am going to submit the review to Too Much Coffee Man Magazine . If that won't get them interested I have no idea what would. Actually one the ferry ride back to Bremerton I sat next to a interior design architect for Starbucks corporate. I plan on reviewing two or three a day because any more than that and I can't sleep and would be risking an early cardiac arrest.
Before going off about coffee I thought I would start and talk about Bubble tea. Bubble Tea is a contemporary drink from Hong Kong but it is getting popular in the young trendy crowds of of Asia. Now there is some debate wither this classifies as caffinated due to some of of it lacks tea and is more a sugary drink.
Bubble Tea is a creamy sweet cold tea that is mixed with fruit juices and milk but the thing that sets it apart is the balls of tapioca that you suck and chew with a big straw. Also it is served by laminating the lid on that you puncture with the straw. It is quite a trip and if you are at Pikes Place market or the International district of Seattle you really should check it out. The best place for bubble tea is Honey Moon Tea in the Uwajimaya food court. The help there is really nice the tea is good and cheap at two fifty. It is perfect for an semi-exotic contemporary treat.
Hmmmm... I always wondered what the little balls were. I suspected they were tapioca but I wasn't sure. I may have to try that some time, although I'm not sure I'd like it as I really don't like fruit juices that much.
Man, not to mention the young trendy crowd of domestic urban hipsters.
Well Judy you can also get it with just milk, tea and tapioca. I like it with mango and lychee.
And Jack I am in the young trendy crowd of domestic urban hipsters. Yesterday I spent two hours in a Seattle coffee show drawing in my sketchbook and sipping a latte. It was fun.
Yeah, I'm all about Chais, myself
I love bubble tea! I've only ever had the real stuff once (even then it wasn't with the sealed-on lid, just with a regular lid) but it was great. I tend to think of the fruity flavors as less "real" than the red bean and other flavors...the mango I had just didn't do it for me. There are currently two places in the local mall that sell bubble tea, but a new place called Teavana just opened up and they're going to have it too. They're mostly waiting on the machine, but an employee mentioned to me that they're also negotiating to be the only place in the mall that sells it.
Nah, honey moon is no good for bubble tea, really. what they make there isnt so much bubble tea as milk tea, i dont think, but theres not too much of a difference in most peoples minds. i think that the smoothies are alot better and, last time i checked, honey moon doesnt make them. there are other decent places in chinatown, like gossip, but oasis (across the street from uwajimaya) isnt good--they dont even make it fresh! in my opinion, the best place for bubble tea in the seattle area is either ginseng or koreana in the u-district or, if youre down south, highline teriyaki in midway/des moines. of course, like everything, the flavor of the tea and its quality is very different depending on the person making it... you just need to take a chance and try it at places. flavorwise, i think its always better to get the powder instead of fresh stuff if you can--alot of the times, the flavor is better and it doesnt separate like it can with fresh fruit. my favorite, definitely, is taro with extra powder--try this, all yall, because it is a godsend in the realm of asian drinks with flavors that come from roots.
Yum. Honeymoon's peppermint milk bubble tea. But I'm a serious weirdo and get it without the "bubbles". Cheaper too that way! One place to NEVER get bubble tea from is any place serving it in the Great Wall Mall near IKEA. Very soapy tasting all around. Yuck! Oh yeah, another thing to try at Honeymoon's is their ice cream shakes. Especially when it gets hot here.
I'm a very picky bubble tea drinker...
Pearl milk tea is Bubble tea...there is no difference, since Bubble tea has no real guidelines, or rather has many forms under the heading of "bubble tea". So far in my search for good Bubble Tea, Honeymoon has rated the highest, as I like to taste the tea when I order tea, and everywhere else I've ordered from has tasted like very sweet fruit-water. I also only drink black tea in bubble tea, for the exact same reason (I normally order lychee pearl milk tea); I cannot taste green or red tea in a bubble tea drink.
One word of advice, if you happen to be up north, don't bother with the bubble tea shop in Mill Creek. They charge $4.00 a drink, the tea looks like water (green tea I presume), and is so sweet, I actually had to dump half of it out when I got home and added my own tea to it to cut the sugar (and actually be able to taste some tea). I gave them a second chance, thinking it might be a fluke day, but the second time I got the same drink. A horrible drink for a horrible price.
Actually, Taureen, you don't even know what you're talking about. The only reason why some of Oasis's drinks aren't made on the spot is because they use actual REAL ingredients like fresh brewed tea, milk, fruit and fruit juice, which can't be left to be prepared by the baristas at the front. They are specially made fresh several times a day so that the store can provide consistant flavor, efficient service and the highest quality ingredients. If you go to Taiwan, California or any other area with large communities of Chinese people and taste the bubble tea there, you'll know that Oasis's drinks follow the same concepts and tastes of the major bubble tea stores.
How do I know all this? I have been working at Oasis since it's opening and for a store that has been open for less than half a year, we have one of the largest following of regular customers that I have seen. And how do I know this? I have been workin in the restaurant business for the last 10 years.
Jake, I think I saw you last time you came in. I think it was on Sunday 7/13/03. Right?
i think all chinatown's milk tea places are bad, except ambroisa. Gossip, oasis, and honey moon aren't good at all. Although I do like oasis' snow and slush. Oasis is not a good place to get milk tea if you want to go home feeling sick. Plus, the first time I got milk tea there--they asked if I needed extra sugar in my drink after they handed it to me.
honey moon milk tea tastes like water and gossip's tapioca are usually still uncooked. i haven't tried the two new places in chinatown and i haven't tried most of the bubble tea places in the U-dist except for Yunnie's which doesn't live up to their name. I ordered a pudding milk shake with tapioca and there were still huge chunks of ice left in it. the milk tea was satisfactory.
I still enjoy milk tea at ambroisa who makes it with tea--you can tell because it is so strong unlike the other watery drinks! (ambroisa is down the on the next block after gossip) =)
Wow you know your Seattle Chinatown Bubble Tea
My Taiwanese girlfriend is very angry at you. She says that bubble tea is from Taiwan, not Hong Kong.
Well my ex-girlfriend from Hong Kong thinks it from there. But I don't know since I am just a guailow.