Jasmine Milk Tea (小山緑茶ミルクティー) – The Alley

My boyfriend made a short Tokyo trip over the weekend, and he came back today! On the way home from Sapporo, he got boba, and bought me boba (he did ask, and I will never say no to boba)! It is a bit late in the day, but I don’t want to save it, so I’m drinking it today and we’ll see what happens I guess…

Ok, so I’ve been curious about their Jasmine for a while, partially because a bit ago I was in a Jasmine phase and looking for and trying various “Jasmine”s while being disappointed with all of them, tasting vaguely the time, and not very Jasmine-y. Now, in Japanese, the name roughly translates to “Small Mountain Green Tea”, and the English on the menu says Jasmine. I’m not entirely sure if that’s the actual Japanese translation/name for jasmine, or if they’re just going for an English green tea name is. According the the description in the app, they advertise having the aroma of jasmine in the milk tea. Just from my experience so far though, I’m not sure if the places around me know what jasmine even taste like. Regardless, it’s intriguing, and another item I need to check off on the menu, ha!

On first impression, it’s not bad as a green tea. Is it a proper jasmine? No. Is it a green milk tea? Yeah. I haven’t had any other green milk teas around here recently, but I think this is a little better than other ones I’ve had. The green tea isn’t that strong, and I don’t think there’s even a sugar adjustment (I looked at the label). I remember getting less sugar for a jasmine at The Alley in America and that turned out like a slightly bitter green milk tea. Overall, it does taste a little general, but I don’t entirely mind it this time, though I wish they don’t advertise it as a jasmine. Boba is good though, nicely chewy and goes with the drink well.

Details: Jasmine Milk Tea; large; boba; no ice; from The Alley (Sapporo Daimaru)