Hojicha Milk Tea (焙じ茶 ミルクティー) – Gong Cha

After 3 weeks I’m finally back in Sapporo! Now that I’ve got my internet set up, I’m thinking of taking a trip out every other week so I can at least get out, but not have to spend money on transportation every week. Of course, this is barring any other circumstances like a meetup or whatever…but at that point we’ll see. Not that I’m doing anything else with my money, but hey, I should still save to a degree right? Anyway I’m back at Gong Cha because it’s close to my stop, and I get a coupon every time which really makes me want to come back…such is marketing I suppose.

A new drink called The Queen’s Milk Tea actually debuted at the beginning of September. Even though this drink is inspired by English tea, this has nothing to do with recent events but I digress…At first, when I first heard of it, I thought it might be limited (though I can’t find a limit at the moment) and wanted to try it out. From what I know, the basic drink comes with an early grey/black milk tea, with tea jelly and boba, with caramel chips on top. It sounds decently good, so I was tempted, but ultimately I decided it was a bit extra and wasn’t actually that excited to try it. I actually wanted to get a jasmine milk tea this week, but when I went to the shop, they were out of jasmine! Which was sad. I then decided to get a Hojicha because I felt like that was the next thing I wanted off the menu. Plus, I had a big lunch today, and knew I wanted to get a medium size (shocking, I know), so splurging a bit on a medium Hojicha ain’t hurting no one (except my body, but I’ll be work it off tomorrow, probably).

The drink is really good! Although I did watch them make the drink this time and they do make their drinks from powders, the flavor is very strong and the texture is nice. It has that smoky roastedand deep tea flavor that is exactly what Hojicha is, and isn’t too sweet. The boba today has a good texture, but I’m not sure if it’s me today, but the sweetness on it tastes a bit artificial? Oh well, overall, good drink, and good for my boba for the week.

Details: Hojicha Milk Tea; medium; less sugar; pearl; from Gong Cha (Sapporo)