Spillin’ the Tea

By Naomi Lin ’24 and Sophie Bücker ’24

Tea & Others lies within a quaint building at the corner of Haight and Divisadero. Upon entering, one is greeted by the warm, enticing aroma of tapioca pearls, foreshadowing the delightful concoctions to come.

On the wall adjacent to the counter, there was a glorious selection of drinks, ranging from popular drinks such as the classic black milk tea to unique drinks we have yet to have seen elsewhere in the city, such as the Sunny Side Up, a drink made with salted egg yolk and tea.

However, we were not so bold as to order such exotic beverages, and thus we stuck to ordering the generic options: a medium Thai tea, a dirty matcha latte with brown sugar, and a strawberry matcha latte, all with tapioca pearls.

Despite some claiming that $7 for boba is unreasonable, which it probably would be if you were living in the early 2010s, it is quite reasonable in this day and age, considering its size.

The floral notes of the Thai tea were balanced by the sweetness of the condensed milk. Thereupon our initial sip, we could immediately tell that the tea was brewed with real Ceylon tea leaves, not the powder commonly used by other establishments. However, we also felt that the tea was a bit milky for our taste. We would recommend the Thai tea though.

In addition to the Thai tea, we ordered the Dirty Matcha Latte accompanied by oat milk. Upon sipping it, we detected a distinct smooth matcha flavor that was not overpowered by the sweetness despite having thoroughly mixed the brown sugar with the matcha.

The final drink we ordered was the Strawberry Matcha Latte. The drink consisted of a strawberry puree created with real strawberries and incredibly smooth matcha. However, despite us ordering with 100 percent sweetness, we thought it was not sweet enough; thus, we advise ordering the drink with 150 percent sweetness.

Overall, this aesthetic small boba shop offers a unique selection of drinks at an average price. If you are looking for a quiet setting with outside seating and a creative drink, we greatly commend this place.

By Ivana Maldonado ’26

San Francisco has many sights to see including, The Golden Gate Bridge, Twin Peaks, and the abundance of boba tea shops on every corner. Today, however, I am focusing on one shop very close to the Riordan community.

I wanted to try something different that’s not on most boba tea menus. I ordered an Organic Rose Buds Black Tea with Cream Cheese Foam from Sweet Cupz on Ocean Avenue, which just recently opened.

The first thing I noticed about the drink was the flavor. The taste was very unique and nothing like most other drinks. You could definitely taste the rose, though it wasn’t too strong.

The different flavors of the drink all blended very well and complemented each other to create an almost relaxing taste. I found myself wanting to take sips of this drink every second. Since it is a black tea, it did have caffeine in it, but the rose balanced it out very well.

The cheese foam at the top also added a fun twist to this drink, though what I liked about it was that it wasn’t overwhelming. The drink also has some rose petals and rose jelly in it, which also makes it very pretty.

What really sets this boba shop apart from other places is the menu. It’s not boring, or repetitive, and has a wide range of unique and different drinks for you to try. Another plus is that they also serve food.

My overall thoughts are that the drink is definitely worth trying and my experience was really pleasant. I would say I found my new goto boba shop and I’m definitely going back soon. This drink gets a five-star rating and I can’t wait to try some of their other options.

By Rose Baik ’26

I went to a bubble tea store in South San Francisco called Milk Tea Lab. As I went into the store, the interior design was like a chemistry lab. There were colorful beakers and test tubes, along with a huge periodic table, but instead of having elements in the rows, there was the menu, listed like they were elements. I found that to be a creative way of displaying their drinks.

I eventually ordered a mango milk tea with mango stars and honey boba. The drink was $5 and it tasted great because it was freshly made. It was sweet, cold, and I could really taste the mango flavor. The honey boba and mango stars were bursting with flavor and was the perfect combination to put into this mango milk tea.

Something I like about this store is that you can “create your own drink.” There are many toppings you can choose from, like grass jelly and egg pudding, and you can mix and match them however you like it.

I rate this drink 5 out of 5 mango stars. I definitely recommend getting this drink, but if you do not like mango, you have a ton of other options, like lychee milk tea, matcha milk tea, cupid tonic, and a lot more! So, the next time you are in South San Francisco, or Irving street in SF, make sure to stop by Milk Tea Lab to get a satisfactory beverage!

Scan the QR code to read another boba drink review.