Blue Hawaii Milk Tea (ブルーハワイミルクティー) – Gong Cha

I did not expect to be in Sapporo this soon after my Taiwan trip, but one of my friends will be leaving Japan soon, and I likely won’t see her for a while. Today we had a casual hangout, and after saying our goodbyes, I got boba for the bus ride home. After my drink last time, I had a coupon for a free drink, so huzzah!

This time around I’m trying the East representative in the domestic Gong Cha competition. I don’t know what Blue Hawaiian is other than this generic blue syrup flavor, but it’s definitely different than what you’d see on a normal boba menu. Apparently it’s supposed to evoke images of the blue sky, with Alishan oolong tea, a bit of orange and lime aroma with the original blue Hawaiian sauce, and blue Hawaiian jelly topping. Since this is sure to be an artificially sweetened drink, I opted for the first time ever for no sugar.

The drink is…interesting. It has this strong artificial ramune-tasting soda flavor, except it’s not fizzy, and even milky. I’ve never had a milky, non fizzy ramune before, so it takes a bit of getting used to, but otherwise, it’s fine. Jelly also tastes the same, and I can’t imagine adding extra sugar. Boba is fine, chewy, and goes well with the drink.

Details: Blue Hawaii Milk Tea; medium; no sugar; pearl; from Gong Cha (Sapporo Akarenga)