Vegan balls

Chicago - Oh you dirrty. But no seriously, vegan boba - look into it! Argo Tea did, and they've come up with a quirky twist on the traditional tea drink, using coconut gelatin instead of tapioca. (Tapioca, like Jello, apparently contains bone marrow extract or something equally appetizing.)

Okay, I went to Berkeley and not even the nuttiest nutjob in the Capital of Weird came up with vegan boba (that I know of), so I was pretty impressed.

The gelatin cubes have the consistency of firm Jello, and are like tiny bursts of fruity juiciness when you bite into them. The tea itself (I tried mango and my friend had the coconut) is light and refreshing. Overall, a very pleasant summer drink to top off a very pleasant summer week in Chicago.

Just when you thought I had nothing left in my boba arsenal

I don't think I've ever posted the following DIY boba instructions. It's not groundbreaking, but I threw it together for a presentation a while back (um, don't ask) so I figure someone other than me should benefit from it. Knock yourself out and let me know how your boba turns out!



I'll be in Australia for the next month, so look out for updates from the land Down Undah!

The world's going green

I just had the greenest green tea ever. I think my stomach lining is the color of Kermit the frog covered in mint ice cream.

News

The good news: My work is about 50 feet away from a Happy Donut that serves 20+ varieties of $2 boba.

The bad news: The nice grandmotherly lady behind the counter takes about a week and a half to make one.

I mean, I love old people. They play a mean game of backgammon and tell the best stories about what it was like having a president that read books instead of comics. But damn.

What the world is missing: drive-thru boba. The first presidential candidate to suggest this will get my vote. Unless it's McCain. Haha...



It would probably be a Democrat though, no?

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...