Sun Shine Muscat Yogurt Milk Tea (SUNシャインマスカットヨーグルミルクティー) – Gong Cha

I’m in Sapporo today to go see the Yosakoi Soran Festival! It’s one of the biggest events in Sapporo every year, and I was excited especially so because one of my coworkers is dancing in it. Apparently people come from all over Japan to participate, and there are so many teams participating this year according to the site. Everyone’s outfits were so pretty and unique today, and unfortunately, there’s so much going in that there’s really no way you can see everyone. Anyway, as always, I’m getting boba for the ride home, and it’s Gong Cha this time, because their new seasonal this time around is shine muscat grape themed.

I’m a huge shine muscat fanatic (they’re a bit expensive though…), so I was pretty excited to see this pop up. Apparently, the drink uses shine muscat sauce, shine muscat jelly, alishan oolong tea, along with a yogurt flavor to make the drink. For expectations, I highly doubt I will taste the tea, but otherwise it sounds interesting and refreshing. Of course, I’m adding boba!

Upon first sip, I get some of the drink, some jelly, and some boba. The drink tasted almost exactly like every other shine muscat flavored thing I’ve had so far: kind of like an aloe drink flavor, but sweet and reminiscent of the juice of a shine muscat grape. The drink is sweet, not overwhelmingly sweet, but a bit artificial, though I’ve thought this about every other shine muscat flavored thing I’ve tried. Maybe it’s because the juice itself is so sweet? Or they use the same stuff to create the flavor? It’s not entirely a bad thing, just not super shine muscat reminiscent, at least for me. I do like the flavor itself though. The jelly itself is just a bit sour than the drink, which actually provided a nice contrast. Boba today is good, very chewy, and goes along well with the sweet drink. I don’t get that much yogurt vibes, but maybe that’s just me. As expected, can’t really tell there’s tea there.

Details: Sun Shine Yogurt Muscat Milk Tea; medium; less sugar; less ice; pearl; from Gong Cha (Sapporo Apia)