Tapioca Uji Matcha Latte (タピオカ宇治抹茶ラテ) – Matcha Cafe & Sweets RiQ

Today my boyfriend and I went out to Sapporo to see the Sanrio 60th Anniversary exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art! You can read about my day on my other blog, here. As per usual, we walked a lot, ate good food, and got boba for the way home! We were in the RiQ area, and I’ve been meaning to try out their boba in the area, being one of the few non-international chain places with boba here. They are more known for being a matcha and general sweets cafe, and not a boba shop, but I still wanted to eventually try them during my time here. I also think they have a hole in the wall branch elsewhere in Susukino. We were actually in their upstairs cafe for sweets earlier, but back for the boba to drink on the ride home!

Ok, so if it was any other place, I would have gotten the milk tea, just to try out their basics. However, because they are a matcha cafe after all, I went for their matcha latte option (they boast matcha from Uji Kyoto) that comes with boba (there’s an entire section of the menu for the drinks that come with boba!). Curiously, the matcha latte without boba combined with the boba topping comes out just a few yen more expensive than the combo. I guess it’s a good deal then.

Before getting to the actual drink, I want to note that I did get no ice. The drink was not filled up, which was fine. My boyfriend, whose drink I left the ice in, was filled up a little more than mine, but not all the way to the top either. I respect having a strict recipe to follow, but with a non-adjusted drink and not filling the cup seems weird to me. Either adjust the recipe to fit your cup, or adjust your cup to accommodate the recipe. It just seems like you’re losing out from a customer standpoint, but maybe that’s just us? I don’t feel like I’ve seen this elsewhere, either in Japan or at home.

Anyway, as for the actual drink, it’s a pretty good matcha latte, not too sweet, but still being able to taste the matcha and the milk. The matcha is has a standard matcha taste, not strong or too bitter, and I can also taste the milk clearly too (as expected of Hokkaido??). It is a bit grainy, but I feel that’s hard to avoid with this kind of drink. What’s kind of interesting is the boba. It’s not bad, a bit stiff-chewy, and at first has no taste. Then, almost like as you finish chewing or eating it, there’s a prevalent, lingering brown sugar flavor. A little odd, but not too bad. As a general boba drink, it’s certainly a little cheaper than others here, but comparatively the quality is also a little lower. I wouldn’t mind getting it if I was in the area, but if I had time, I’d go elsewhere for boba. I don’t regret it though!

Oh, and they also sell boba crepes!

Details: Tapioca Uji Matcha Latte; less sugar; from Matcha Cafe & Sweets RiQ