Pearl Milk Tea Review (boba milk tea, bubble milk tea, boba nai cha) 

Pearl Milk Tea Review 
a.k.a. Boba Milk Tea, Bubble Milk Tea, Boba nai cha
A consumer's perspective (Last updated 02/23/07)


Pearl Milk Tea is sort of like my Starbucks Coffee for the morning or the night.
Pearl (tapioca pearl) tea is also known as boba tea, bubble tea, and boba nai cha.
Boba is the tapioca pearl that ranges from about 4mm to 7mm in diameter 
(Lollicup has lately incorporated mini-boba @ 3mm in diameter.)

Here is my review (after drinking over 800 cups of pearl 
milk tea over the past 9 years in a few different areas of the United States.)
Areas rated include San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles, CA), Bay Area (CA), 
Seattle (WA), Minneapolis/St. Paul (Twin Cities, MN), Austin (TX), Boston (MA), 
Portland (OR), Honolulu (Hawaii) and Tokyo, Japan. 
I'll include the Greater Los Angeles County (CA), more Bay Area (CA), 
and San Diego (CA) in the future.

My first boba milk tea encounter was most likely back in 1997 at a 99 Ranch 
in San Diego on 7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.

This is my own personal taste rating, and interpret the rating as one wishes.
  
"Boba Shelf Life" is a rating on how good the boba taste after being in a 
refrigerator for 12 hours. Since many boba places open around 11 A.M. or
noon, drinking a morning boba milk tea is not possible unless one buys
it the night before.

"Boba Texture" is how the Boba feels as I drink it.  (This rating is indirectly
related to Boba Consistency.)







I have recently been drinking Japanese green milk tea with boba recently.
My favorite spot for Japanese green milk tea with boba is a place called
Koots green tea where I order the "kuromitsu pearl latte".
There are 2 locations in Seattle and about 10 locations in Japan. 
This drink is really good & a great change from pearl milk teas. 
Just as I feel that Ray's Tea Time in San Mateo has the best pearl milk tea,
Koots green tea has the best Japanese green milk tea w/boba (as of 2/23/07).

 





San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles, California) & Simi Valley (Ventura, CA) area:






Irvine, CA (or should I say L.A. of Irvine, CA) area:






Bay Area, CA area:






Seattle, WA area:






Portland, OR area:






Minneapolis/St. Paul (Saint Paul) (Twin Cities, Minnesota) area:






Austin, Texas area:






Boston, MA area:






Honolulu, Hawaii area:






Tokyo, Japan area: