A taxing drink

Today, I hit up Tapioca Express in Cupertino with Mom. During the car ride back, we were both vexed by the following:

Jasmine Milk Tea (delightful, if a bit sweet) cost us $3.30. But the menu listed it as $2.75. Now, tax in Santa Clara County is 8.25%. So how does a drink that's less than $3 ratchet up a tax of $0.55? We then spent a good two minutes doing this:

Cat: Wait, wasn't it $2.75? How did it end up being $3.30?
Mom: ...
Cat: Cuz even if you rounded the $2.75 to $3, and the 8.25% to 9%, the tax still shouldn't be more than $0.27. (For the math-impaired: 3 x 9 = 27.)
Mom: ...
Cat: (doubting her mental math skills)...Right?
Mom: (silent for 30 seconds)
Cat: (silent for an additional 30 seconds, feeling either cheated by Tapioca Express and/or ashamed of being a math-incompetent Asian)
Mom: (digs up receipt)
Cat: Oh. They charged us $0.30 for tapioca.

Mystery solved. Also, I don't know if I used "ratchet" correctly. I don't think I did. But more importantly, who charges extra for tapioca? At a boba store?! WITHOUT TELLING THE CUSTOMER?!

Boba booze!

Two of my favorite things in the world come together to form one unbeatable drink.

For the record, many have experimented with this combination before. I'd say the NYT is a few steps behind...