so, i've got a little confession to make. (DON'T MURDER ME.)
i don't like tea. in my opinion it tastes like watery leaves, and i have no idea why everyone in my family is so in love with it. boba tea stores have been around hong kong for as long as i could remember, and recently, many of my friends have fallen in love with the drink. being a non tea drinker, i felt excluded from the excitement of it all. after some time, i finally decided to do something about it.
I WILL HAVE BOBA MILK TEA, WITHOUT THE TEA. when i told my friends about my dislike of tea, and my decision to have boba (sans tea), they were shocked. what? are you crazy? they said. TEA is the best part.
anyway, i was determined to prove them wrong, and that was when my quest for delicious boba milk began. without further ado, here is a complete list of the boba milk stores i have visited over the past few months. let's get started!
1. 品茶六境 pin cha liu jing
(photo credits to an openrice user.)
address: shop g01b, g/f, manhattan avenue, 255 queen's road central, sheung wan
okay to be honest, i've never heard of this boba tea store before the day i ordered from them. my friend and i were browsing foodpanda, hoping to order from sharetea, but their drinks were way too expensive so we ordered pin cha liu jing instead.
i had the brown sugar bubble milk, which cost me $28 HKD - it was my very first time trying boba milk (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ. the boba pearls were a bit too sweet, but i really liked their chewy texture. also, i loved the rich taste of the milk, but for some reason i couldn't taste any brown sugar at all. :((
ratings
price (cost of drink, delivery fees) - 8/10
convenience (location, customer-friendliness): 10/10
aesthetic (logo, packaging) - 8/10
taste (milk, boba, other ingredients): 7/10
overall (average): 8.25/10
2. 恰迷 cha me
address: shop 1d, g/f, elite industrial centre, 883 cheung sha wan road, lai chi kok
my friends and i were doing community service in the area, and after a long day of hard work, we decided to treat ourselves to some drinks. this store is just a short walk away from the lai chi kok train station, and there wasn't a long queue :D
i ordered the large bubble milk, which was $32 HKD. and oh my gosh, it was so big, it took me twenty minutes to finish the whole drink. the boba pearls were okay, but the milk tasted really bland and i didn't like it that much. i regret not trying the brown sugar bubble milk instead - my friends ordered that, and they really liked it.
ratings
price (cost of drink, delivery fees) - 9/10
convenience (location, customer-friendliness): 10/10
aesthetic (logo, packaging) - 7/10
taste (milk, boba, other ingredients): 7/10
overall (average): 8.25/10
3. 鹿角巷 the alley
address: shop f, g/f, alpha house, 27-33 nathan road, tsim sha tsui
the alley is one of the most famous boba tea stores in hong kong, and it is situated near the tsim sha tsui train station (and also the orthodontics center i go to, which is a huge plus!) i ordered the brown sugar deerioca milk (= brown sugar boba milk), which was $28 HKD, and it tasted like heaven.
it was raining really heavily that day, so the queue was shorter than usual - i waited in line for twenty minutes (IN THE RAIN. if this is not dedication then i don't know what is.). the brown sugar was warm and sweet, the boba pearls were chewy and delicious (♡∀♡), and the milk was rich and smooth. sadly the cup was really small - i finished the drink in a few sips.
ratings
price (cost of drink, delivery fees) - 8/10
convenience (location, customer-friendliness): 10/10
aesthetic (logo, packaging) - 9/10
taste (milk, boba, other ingredients): 10/10
overall (average): 9.25/10
4. koi thé
address: g/f, bowring building, 8-20 bowring street, jordan
this so-called "brown sugar fresh milk" ($26) from koi thé really disgusted me. the boba pearls were okay, but the liquid tasted like diluted brown sugar water. and, to be honest, the drink did not exactly look like milk? ughh just the thought of it makes me shudder.
i was so angry about it, since i had high expectations for the store. i really liked their logo design (if you tilt the "koi" sideways, you'll see that it looks like the chinese character "豆"), and it was founded by the owner of 50 lan (50嵐), a famous taiwanese boba brand. i posted a picture of my drink on instagram, ranting on about the terribleness of it all.
my friend then commented, "maybe they accidentally gave you bubble tea." well, that's highly likely, since the drink tasted like absolute crap, and in my opinion, tea tastes like absolute crap too (@ tea lovers, please don't murder me).
ratings
price (cost of drink, delivery fees) - 8/10
convenience (location, customer-friendliness): 8/10
aesthetic (logo, packaging) - 8/10
taste (milk, boba, other ingredients): 5/10
overall (average): 7.25/10
and we're done (not really ahahaha, i've fallen in love with boba milk and i won't stop drinking it anytime soon, so stay tuned for part two)! have you ever had boba milk / milk tea? what's your favorite boba store? let me know in the comments!
love, kisses and alpaca hugs,
chloe