My Boba Diary

My Order:

• Roasted Oolong Latte
• Large
• 0% Sugar
• Less Ice
• Brown Sugar Boba Pearls

My wife was picking me up from work and found a neat little boba spot nearby.

This was the strongest oolong milk tea I’ve had in Singapore. Maybe ever. It was very bitter, a super heavy roast, and had strong flavor resembling a light coffee. Almost no floral flavors present at all. I really enjoyed it! Not creamy enough though- if it was more creamy and some extra floral notes this would be a 10.

The pearls were no bueno. Stiff and hard and not chewy. I think they were sitting for too long. Brown sugar flavor wasn’t very complex or rich either, just sweet.

You have to like intense tea flavors that punch you in the face to enjoy this drink. Proceed with caution.

Score

• Topping: 3
• Drink: 9
• Tea strength: 10
• Tea flavor: 8.5
• Creaminess: 3
• Creativity: 5

Boba Powa: 6

My Order:

• Fresh Milk
• 0% Sugar
• Less Ice
• Pearl of the Day
• Medium
• Less Topping

An outpost of Hollin has opened at Singpost Centre. Rejoice! I think the only existing bubble tea shop there was GongCha.

I ordered an unusual drink because I’d just had Christmas lunch and I didn’t want to bloob too much. Also I got it at 6 pm, which is too late for my body to take caffeine.

Hollin’s gimmick is a different pearl flavor every day of the week. Today was cocoa, so I had to give it a try.

The pearls have a strong cocoa taste, almost like unsweetened chocolate. This makes sense for obvious reasons. They were a sticky kind of chewy and a bit too hard for my liking. I prefer the soft sort of mochiesque chewiness (like Playmade). Personally I didn’t enjoy this pearl flavor, but my wife didn’t see how they could have been any more perfect.

The drink was just milk. Not the best milk ever either. Granted, I don’t like drinking milk all too much even though I love milk tea.

Hollin is definitely worth checking out- I’d recommend one of their RSMs (rock salt macchiatos, which is just a fancy name for their cheese foam). Look up their pearl flavor schedule ahead of time online and choose a day with a flavor you like.

Score

• Topping: 4 (Wife’s score: 10)
• Drink: 3
• Tea Strength: N/A
• Tea Flavor: N/A
• Creaminess: 8
• Creativity: 7

Boba Powa: 3.5

My Order:

• Grapefruit Green Tea

Since this collab with Perrier is a seasonal special, I wasn’t allowed to make any modifications to the drink. No toppings allowed either. I quite like Perrier and other flavored mineral waters- there was a period of time where I drank mineral water instead of tap water.

The combination of flavors and textures in the drink is definitely very uncommon/surprising. It is very sour, fizzy, grapefruity, and a bit sweet at the same time.. There are nice bits of grapefruit pulp at the bottom. The green tea flavor is barely noticeable amidst everything going on.

This drink isn’t for everyone, but for those who like grapefruit flavored mineral waters, this is delicious!

Score

• Topping: N/A
• Drink: 7.5
• Tea Strength: 1
• Tea Flavor: 1
• Creaminess: N/A
• Creativity: 8

Boba Powa: 7.5

My Order:

• Osmathus Oolong Milk Latte
• No Sugar
• Half Ice
• Grass Jelly

This was another drink I purchased in the evening for the next day. I’ve hard Artea before at VivoCity and I remember liking it, so I had moderate expectations.

Tea was had a nice milky flavor which I would say was the feature of the drink (Latte means real milk). I’m disappointed that the floral notes from the tea weren’t too strong, but it was nice. Not too many roasted or earthy notes. There were little bits of nuts in the drink, which were probably sprinkled on top. I think they were either almonds or walnuts. Didn’t add anything to the drink IMHO.

The grass jelly came in smaller pieces and was quite smooth. It was a bit thicker than average and had a mousse-like texture. I really like how boba shops all have their own twist on grass jelly (or different suppliers).

If you like a milky, floral drink, try this.

Score

• Topping: 6
• Drink: 5
• Tea Flavor: 4
• Tea Strength: 4
• Creaminess: 7.5
• Creativity: 5

Boba Powa: 5.5

My Order:

• Brown Rice Latte
• Large
• Less Ice
• Coconut Pearls
• Less Toppings
• Normal Milk

This was quite an expensive drink at 8.80, but I needed something caffeine-free and I had a chrysanthemum milk tea recently.

I could taste the roasted brown rice, kind of like corn puffs. Unfortunately, the flavor was super watered down. I’ve had the same drink at Societea and that one is wayyy better.

Coconut pearls were just as nice as last time- nice creamy coconut flavor.

Score

• Drink: 3
• Topping: 8.5
• Tea Strength: 2
• Tea flavor: 7
• Creaminess: 5
• Creativity: 6

Boba Powa: 6

My Order:

• Muscat Black Tea
• Large
• 0% Sugar
• 0% Ice
• Crystal Pearls

The Muscat Black Tea is one of The Alley’s seasonal specials along with their La France Tea. The La France was sold out, so I opted for this.

The drink was terrible. Quote my friend, “It is like tea flavored water.” I can’t remember the last time I had a tea with less flavor than this. You can taste a hint of tannins and a hint of muscat grape, but it’s barely noticeable.

Crystal pearls were decent, above average. They had a nice springiness to them and had a slight chew.

Score

• Drink: 1
• Topping: 6
• Tea Flavor: 2
• Tea Strength: 1
• Creaminess: 0
• Creativity: 3

Boba Powa: 3.5

My Order:

• Chrysanthemum Milk Tea
• Less Ice
• 0% Sugar
• Coconut Pearls

My wife and I haven’t had PlayMade in a few weeks and we were craving it. Their Chrysanthemum Milk Tea makes for an excellent evening drink for those who are very caffeine-sensitive.

Their seasonal pearl was coconut flavored. I’ve heard bad things about these pearls from two different sources, but I tend to enjoy their seasonal offerings (grape, bandung, etc.).

I really enjoyed the coconut pearls! I like that the coconut flavor isn’t overpowering. The pearls are just a bit sweet and have a slight milky coconut taste. I think they’re my new favorite pearls at PlayMade. The texture of Playmade pearls is always on point. Very chewy, but somehow quite soft at the same time.

Chrysanthemum Milk tea was excellent as usual. Creamy with pronounced floral flavor (like Vita/Pokka chrysanthemum drink flavor mixed with milk).

Would highly recommend their chrysanthemum milk tea to everyone! I also recommend trying their black sesame pearls if you don’t like coconut.

Score

• Drink: 8.5
• Topping: 9
• Tea Flavor: 7
• Tea Strength: 7
• Creaminess: 7.5
• Creativity: 7

Boba Powa: 8.75

My Order:

• Earl Grey Milk Tea
• No Ice
• 0% Sugar
• Osmanthus Jelly

I purchased this drink for the next morning, as I needed to get up quite early.

Osmanthus jelly wasn’t very smooth, so it ended up as a block at the end. The taste was quite nice though. It had the nice classic osmanthus flavour. I’m not sure if it is possible to make osmanthus jelly more smooth, but I think they should have cut it up into smaller blocks. I’m sure this would have been better if it hadn’t been stored overnight.

The drink was okay. The citrus/fruity flavor wasn’t too pronounced and I felt the drink wasn’t creamy/milky enough.

Score

• Topping: 3
• Drink: 4
• Tea Strength: 4
• Tea Flavor: 4
• Creaminess: 4
• Creativity: 2

Boba Powa: 3.5

My Order:

• Royal Afternoon Milk Tea
• 0% Sugar
• Less Ice
• Grass Jelly

This is one of my go-to milk teas. It comes with pearls by default, but I decided to give their grass jelly a try.

As usual, the tea (I think it’s an earl grey) was fragrant, flowery and had a rich caramel-like quality to it.

Grass jelly was not smooth at all. It came in a large lump which doesn’t work when the jelly isn’t slurppy. I finished the drink and there was just a block of grass jelly left behind. I’m guessing it just came from a can.

I recommend this milk tea for those who love strong milk tea flavor. Definitely avoid the grass jelly though- stick with the pearls or try another topping.

My Score:

• Drink: 9
• Topping: 3
• Tea Flavor: 9
• Tea Strength: 7
• Creaminess: 7
• Creativity: 2

Boba Powa: 6

My Order:

• Cassia Black Tea
• Cream
• Grass Jelly
• Less Ice
• 0% Sugar

I had to wake up at 7 AM, so I ordered this drink the day ahead of time.

I chugged this drink so fast and I was not nearly awake enough to properly evaluate the taste of this drink.

Cream was a bit sweet and gave it a nice flavor. It was a bit sweet and strangely was less creamy than their fresh milk. I’ll have to give it a try again because by definition cream should be fattier than milk. Tea wasn’t too strong- most flowery and not too sappy or tanniny. It was very chuggable and I needed every last bit of the caffeine. Grass jelly was slightly above average, but it had been sitting for a while.

Score

• Drink: 8
• Topping: 6
• Tea Strength: 4
• Tea Flavor: 7
• Creaminess: 7
• Creativity: 2

Boba Powa: 7