Brown Sugar Deerioca Creme Brûlée Milk – The Alley

So recently my laptop has been acting a little funky with the battery, which I guess might be kind of normal since I’ve had it for three years now, but still a little odd, you know? I normally would be fine with it, but since I’ve been video editing for work, lately I feel like it’s been really draining my laptop battery, so a temporary solution I’ve come up with is to use my super old desktop. Thus, prompting an impromptu quick Apple store run at the Spectrum before my make-up shift at 5 today. Man was the Spectrum crowded. To avoid crowds in stores, there were so many more lines and people outside…

Since I went out and had a little time, obviously I had to stop by The Alley to get some boba! 🙂 I’ve been meaning to go try it since there’s some hype around it and they opened this location last summer, but I haven’t really had a reason to go because of the pandemic. Plus, the Apple store and The Alley are basically at opposite ends of the mall, and a a slight time crunch meant lots of power walking. So I think a drink is worth it.

It’s a little later in the afternoon, so I decided to get a non-tea drink, which was a perfect opportunity to try their signature Deerioca Milk. I’m usually not a huge fan of the brown sugar milk drinks, since it’s basically sweet milk, but their #1 is actually the creme brulee version of the drink, and I figured I should try it out. Don’t get me wrong, brown sugar milk drinks taste great, but I usually go to boba shops for a milk tea drink, you know?

I couldn’t do less sugar, because apparently that’ll mean less boba, so I just stuck with most of the regular customizations. Comparatively to the large size, it didn’t look like much boba either, so maybe with a large you get more drink and not more boba…Anyway, it’s a nice drink, with an initial rich milky flavor (obviously, it’s a mostly milk drink, duh). The Creme Brulee part of the drink is actually a sweet, custardy pudding. I asked for regular cream because it’s my first time trying it out, and it’s an interesting additional to the drink. I don’t usually get toppings other than boba in my drinks, and it’s a nice contrast because of the smoothness and richness of the cream.

The boba is really good! It’s a perfect amount of chewiness, and it’s super flavorful too. You can really taste the deep toasty brown sugar flavor of the boba, something a little rare for brown sugar boba in my opinion. The boba is also comparatively smaller than the standard boba balls you get (definitely smaller than yesterday’s), but I don’t mind and it basically allows for more boba to get sucked up at once to chew on! Overall, a good first experience, and excited to try their other drinks.

Details: Brown Sugar Deerioca Creme Brûlée Milk; large; regular milk; no ice; from The Alley (Irvine Spectrum)