Assam Milk Tea

Last week, my family and I stopped by Shanghai Wholesale Market Place in St. Paul (across the road from Menards in the Midway neighborhood) for the first time. I found an aisle full of drinks:

Lots of fun things to try!

I went back on Sunday with both of my boys (1 boy was gone we we first stopped by) and I grabbed a drink:

A smaller can: 10.48 oz.

The non-English side of the can.

I love things lost in translation: "If sedimentation or oil slick from the milk fat agglomeration
of the case is a product characteristics, quality without fear, please drink at ease."

Brand: Assam Milk Tea.

Origin: Siehe Village, Taiwan.

Purchase Place: Shanghai Wholesale Market Place, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: unknown.

Review: I often get a "royal milk tea" from local tea shops (like Sencha and Niko Niko Boba), so I know the flavor of that... or at least what I EXPECT. This was a lot sweeter! It almost had a lavender flavor to it. I determined that it wasn't lavender, but some other "perfumy" flavor. It was good, but not as smooth as the milk teas that I knew of. The flavor was sweet and a bit unique. It was tasty!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

p.s. I picked up some tapioca pearls at Shanghai Wholesale as well, so I made some pearls to have with my milk tea:

Inotea Brown Sugar Bubble Tea

I grabbed this while shopping with my son at Aldi recently:

Brand: Inotea Brown Sugar Bubble Tea.

Origin: Newark, NJ.

Purchase Place: Aldi, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar and Brown Sugar.

Review: The tea was quite good! I shared a sip with my boys, and they both loved it. It was what I'd expect from a boba tea store when I order a "Milk Tea" or anything along those lines.  (One store near us calls it a "Royal Tea Latte" even though it doesn't have any coffee flavor.) I had no complaints about the tea!

But the tapioca pearls were another story. They were kind of pasty and hard. They weren't "chewy" in a good way, but in a bad way. They almost wanted to disintegrate when bit down on, but only after a fair amount of force. I like tapioca pearls, but apparently they need to be fresh. The drink ("pre-pearls") would have earned about an 8.5, but I had to knock it down after having the pearls. 

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Rico Brown Sugar Bubble Milk Tea

I was in Hy-Vee recently and this caught my eye:

Note that it's 12.3 oz and a little taller than usual.

Brand: Rico Brown Sugar Bubble Milk Tea

Origin: Taiwan.

Purchase Place: Hy-Vee, Oakdale, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar and Brown Sugar.

Review: The first sip was VERY pleasant. This tasted JUST like a milk tea I've gotten from my local bubble tea place. I was quite happy and surprised. But as I kept drinking, I finally got to the "bubbles," and they were... odd. They were extra chewy and more jello-like than I was used to compared to "fresh" bubbles at my local tea place:

Extra "foggy" and chewy. Very odd.

I'm sure there's an issue being able to make and keep these bubbles or pearls in can for many months, and that ruined the experience a bit. The taste of the milk tea itself was super sweet and spot on, but then the bubbles knocked this down a few points.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.