Diana introduced me to the wonderful delight that is bubble tea back in high school. But if you do not have a Taiwanese best friend in life to introduce her native drinks, I can try to explain this concept to you!
Bubble tea is basically a liquid beverage with tapioca balls. The most common flavor, and my favorite, is pearl milk tea: milk + tea + boba / bubbles, but bubble tea places typically have a myriad of milk tea flavors in addition to various fruit slushes.
I find that there are often two schools of people when it comes to bubble tea:
I've frequented several places in Chinatown, but am retrying them all again for the sake of documentation, and because everytime I enter Chinatown, the boba beckons to me like a mother bird calling its young.
Last week, I made a pitstop at ViVi, a bright friendly spot hip with young Asian girls--a group I still wish I fell into ;(.
ViVi offers both cold and warm tea options. I selected the latter, as warm bubble tea is a real treat: the tapioca balls become softened and wonderfully bouncy.
On the plus: it is the only place that I know of in Chinatown offering a frequent shopper card. Buy 5 drinks, get 1 free and save 20% on future purchases. Not bad!
Say hi to Homer when you go!
Bubble tea is basically a liquid beverage with tapioca balls. The most common flavor, and my favorite, is pearl milk tea: milk + tea + boba / bubbles, but bubble tea places typically have a myriad of milk tea flavors in addition to various fruit slushes.
- There's the one group who loveloveLOVES bubble tea (Diana and I fall in this group, naturally).
- There's the other group who HATES bubble tea. Their faces >>SCRUNCH<< at the thought of bubble tea like I do at the thought of goat cheese. These people either a) do not like to chew things while they drink, b) cannot get past the dark brown round things floating in the drink.
I've frequented several places in Chinatown, but am retrying them all again for the sake of documentation, and because everytime I enter Chinatown, the boba beckons to me like a mother bird calling its young.
Last week, I made a pitstop at ViVi, a bright friendly spot hip with young Asian girls--a group I still wish I fell into ;(.
ViVi offers both cold and warm tea options. I selected the latter, as warm bubble tea is a real treat: the tapioca balls become softened and wonderfully bouncy.
More often than not, Vivi is just okay; it will satisfy your bubble tea cravings but is nothing to write home about. This recent visit was fairly solid though.
Say hi to Homer when you go!
ViVi Bubble Tea
49 Bayard Street
New York, NY 10013-4950
(212) 566-6833
BOBA.
ReplyDeleteFOREVER.
and EVER.
i am LOVING vivi as a name. but, um, the logo?!? it's like a scary octopus!! hahaha. glad that the boba was solid, though! makes me want to get some right now...