Matcha Tapioca (抹茶タピオカ) – 珈琲苑

Today I stayed in town today, and the weather was pretty nice, so I went out on a walk. Well, my real purpose was to go out to try boba from the cafe next to the bus station. When I first arrived, I noticed this cafe had a bunch of flags out front advertising they had boba and as a boba fanatic who just moved to a place with no selection, I was pretty intrigued. Unfortunately, my friend introduced me to the other place in town that had boba a while back, and my experience there was not that great…that I’ve almost wiped it from my memory, although they have an incredible selection of drink flavors. I’m not sure if I’ll go back to that place for boba, but maybe their other snacks, if someone wants to go…Anyway, thanks to that, I had my doubts about this cafe, but since summer is here, and I figured I should at least give them a shot, I’m here today for an afternoon pick-me-up. Plus, this place has no pictures on Google Maps, but recently someone posted a photo of their boba on there. It looked seemingly promising.

They have a few flavor options on the menu for boba, but today I went with matcha, since I like myself a matcha milk tea, and matcha is usually a premium drink. They’re all priced the same though, and takeout is the same price.

When the drink came out, it seemed to be a mostly milk base, with a bit of matcha syrup/paste around the glass and brown sugar syrup on top. I stirred it around to hopefully mix in everything, and took a sip. Like how it appears, the matcha flavor is light, but just slightly there to make it a “matcha” drink. Otherwise, it’s mostly a slightly sweet, slightly matcha milk. The glass is slightly smaller than a medium size cup I think, with a few ice cubes. Hey, for 450 yen, you kind of get what you pay for.

Here’s what we’re all here for: the boba. The consensus? It’s actually not bad, and compared to my expectations, surprisingly good. It’s on the just a bit smaller side sizing wise, has just a bit of texture that you can chew it but still a bit soft (not mushy though!), and is coated in some kind of syrup, giving it a particular sweet taste.

Conclusion: I’d come back to try their other selection, and I wouldn’t mind getting their boba from time to time. I’d like it a little bigger, but Japanese sizing, and with the price, it ain’t bad for the convenience in the small town I live in.