Almond blechhhhhhhh

Chinatown, Los Angeles - At the behest of a co-worker who, like me, is not normally fond of almond milk tea, I braved the 5 p.m. downtown traffic, only to get some concoction that falls somewhere between diluted almond extract (barf) and almond tofu i.e. xingren doufu (yum, but not in liquid form. In liquid form, it's barf.). My, that was a long sentence.

I don't know why I thought it'd be okay. I actually don't like almonds at all.

Judgy wudgy was a bear

Santa Monica - I'll admit that I pre-judged Urth Caffe boba before I tried it. Mostly because I'm highly skeptical of things that claim to be earthy and organic, and things that have attracted a celebrity following because they claim to be earthy and organic.

But the mango boba was not repulsive. It doesn't come close to making my list of Top North America Boba (TNAB), but it was a hair above average. Maybe a B-.

Incidentally, TNAB is topped by:
1. Verde (Mountain View, Calif.)
2. Guppy Teahouse (Cerritos and Rowland Heights, both Calif.)
3. Waku-Waku Tea House (Windsor, Ontario. The reason I had to call this list "Top North American Boba" and not just "Top U.S. Boba.")

I tried Guppy over 4th of July but was so exhausted from sitting on my ass watching fireworks - a very taxing activity - that I forgot to blog about it afterward. So I'm now recruiting interested parties who'd like to come with me to Rowland Heights or Cerritos for Guppy Round 2.

Volcanic fail

Westwood - The idea of drinking milk with tapioca makes me want to puke. Milk tea should taste like tea with milk (weird, I know), not MILK....milk. Someone pass that message along to Volcano Tea, which should consider renaming itself Volcano.

Catch-up

A lot has happened since I last blogged, but my commitment to boba has remained unwavering. A couple highlights of my nearly two-month-long absence:



1. Blogspot is so 2000 and late. How do I make Bobalicious Twitter-compatible? I don't think I can get it all down in 140 characters...

2. Cafe Spot in Alhambra reminded me how delightful coconut milk boba really is. I used to get this all the time in Shanghai, at this place between campus and our dorm. Spot Cafe's version certainly doesn't disappoint, but is a thicker, frothier version than what I was expecting. Nonetheless, a solid effort. Another perk: it's served in a jar with a handle, which seems odd but is actually quite amusing. It makes you feel like a kid again, drinking out of receptacles that were never meant to be put in your mouth.

Boba in bulk

The advantages of buying boba for numerous co-workers:

1. Filling up your free boba card in one transaction

2. It's good practice for the boba delivery service I'm gonna start if journalism doesn't work out. And if my genius idea for a plush igloo company falls through, too. In other words, get ready to place your orders. I'll write them down in what used to be my reporter's notebook. FML.

BOBAma

Mini boba

Sucks.

My new thing

Alhambra - I really like mango. And I really like boba. So you'd think that I would drink mango tea w/ boba all the time, right? Fail. I have this thing where I'll only drink tea or milk tea w/ boba, because how would I be able to compare boba places if I don't have a consant by which to compare them?

But that has all changed. Call it renegade, but my last two boba experiences have been with mango tea so delicious that as a result, I've revised my boba-reviewing methods. So watch out world, I'm tackling flavors now!

FYI, the aforemented killer mango bobas were at TenRen in downtown LA (on Broadway), and Tea Station in Alhambra (on Main). If you like obscenely sweet mango-flavored tea, you'll love it! Promise. We did:


Braving the drizzly weather for boba goodness

Boba at work

Los Angeles - For the record, I would never bobablog at work. Off the record, I'm doing it right now, and it's awesome.

I'd like to take this opportunity to revise my previous assertion that Little Tokyo is a boba-less hole. In fact, Senka Cafe in Weller Court serves some quality milk tea with boba. They don't have a lot of flavors though, which is fine by me since I stick to standard milk tea so as to have a fair point of comparison from place to place.

It was so good, in fact, that a co-worker summed up its goodness by saying, simply: "Mmmm. I. Want. More."

Me too, Giggles. Me too.

What: Senka Cafe

Where: 123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St. #103, downtown Los Angeles 90012 (Little Tokyo)
Price: $2.90 for milk tea w/ boba

Memorable bo-ment: The guy behind the counter had a tattoo of Chinese characters on his arm, and when I asked him what it meant, he muttered something about prison. I ended the conversation right about then.

Update: It should be noted that the ratio of tea:tapioca leaves much to be desired. We all ran out of balls when there was still a lot of tea left.

Meh-ba

Los Angeles - I'm drinking what's got to be the most subpar green tea w/ boba ever, from a place in Little Tokyo that dares to charge $3.75 for crappy green tea that isn't even real green tea. I can't figure out WHAT this crap is - it's really green, so I'm guessing matcha green tea? Whatever it is, it's noticeably thicker than normal tea, and has a distinct powdery residue. Is it so much to ask to get normal green tea? Is it?!?!?! And I specifically asked for JUST TEA, because last time they gave me some blended icy crap that tasted like powder and ice. (And you know I'm not fond of blended boba drinks anyway. I'm not convinced they even deserve to be called boba drinks, as boba should be consumed in its purest tea or milk tea form. Just my opinion, feel free to disagree. And be wrong.) You try to be a nice person and give a meh boba place a second shot, and this is what happens. I hate people.

What's worse is that I had actual (legit) green tea w/ boba over the weekend, from TenRen, which is still the most legit boba chain I've encountered during my brief time in LA - far better than Tapioca Express and Lollicup. Except for the TenRen in Chinatown, which inexplicably closes at 6 p.m. What the fuck kind of respectable boba place in Chinatown closes at 6?

In conclusion: TenRen good, Little Tokyo bad. The place had some nondescript name like "Ice Cream and Yogurt" or "Yogurt and Ice Cream" or "Don't Ever Come Here For Boba." I blocked it out.