Teamo – Rose black with honey pearls
Teamo Tea is the star of bubble tea in Downtown Iowa City. Their menu consists of various teas, boba, snacks and even slushies. One of their most popular flavors is The Rose Black, best with honey pearls. Sitting at $5.83, this small, sweet treat is truly a delight. The unique floral taste and color of The Rose Black earns the drink a 9.5/10; its only downfall is that it may be an acquired taste for some.
The Rose Black is popular with customers for its freshness, as Teamo brews all of its tea in-store and makes several new batches of boba a week to prevent hardness in the tapioca.
The store itself is also very welcoming. Customers have the option of sitting in comfortable cushioned booths or on benches near the front of the store with a view of the street. Features like its popular Post-It wall, where customers can write or draw little messages on Post-it notes and stick them to a cork board to make an accent wall. These unique features make the store truly unique and highlight it as a core part of downtown Iowa City.
La Tea– Signature (black tea) with konjac jelly
La Tea is the spacious, cutesy Boba shop right next to Teamo Tea.
The decision between these two tea shops can be tough, but let this rating of La Tea’s signature be your guide. Walking in, you’ll notice the long menu behind the ordering counter, manned by two college students. La Tea has dozens of unique drink choices, but their signature flavor is the first.
The Signature is extremely sweet, with no specific taste to identify. The topping choice of konjak jelly didn’t help, with a strange, firm texture. A personal rating of this drink would be a 5/10, one of its better traits being its price—$5.49 for a regular. The choice for this drink to represent the shop is strange, as La Tea does have more popular choices on its menu.
The shop itself is a different story, cozy with many options for entertainment. During your wait, you can play classic, arcade-style games, or relax on their comfortable seating.
The Bep – Korean strawberry with rainbow jelly
The Bep made a flashing entrance last year as a cute meet-up spot for couples and friends, satisfying customers with various sweet treats. The cutesy-modern vibe of the shop is highlighted by its large mobile ordering screens- which don’t take cash.
Customers and workers mostly do not conversate, making for a quiet, personal experience. The Korean strawberry with rainbow jelly immediately catches the eye with its vibrant colors; this unique flavor represents The Bep’s range of drinks and commitment to presentation. The flavor was overwhelmingly sweet and milky, but the small pieces of strawberry were a nice touch.
The rainbow jelly failed to add any flavor or highlight the drink, however, the texture had a nice chewy feeling; there’s no doubt that it added to the whimsicality of the drink as well. Overall, the drink was a nice experience, $7.05 for a regular, and nicely filling, earning a 6/10. While waiting for your order, you can enjoy a game of air hockey with your friends or choose your preferred seat out of the shop’s many options.
Soseki – Matcha with honey pearls
Located just outside of the Graduate Hotel, Soseki is popular for its authentic Asian cuisine; less featured, is the restaurant’s tasty drink options. Soseki has over 30 drink options, including tea, coffee, smoothies and of course, bubble tea.
Matcha can be a divisive flavor; if not prepared well the tea will become bitter and almost grass-like. Soseki has perfected its matcha, with the perfect flavor, color and price—$5.99 for a regular. Matcha is not very sweet, allowing it to pair well with sweet toppings such as honey pearls. The combination is enjoyable any time of year but reaches its peak potential in the summer months, so you might want to save it for an especially sweaty day, where it is a solid 9/10.
Besides their expertise in milk tea, Soseki has a wide variety of soft drinks to choose from. Coke, Sprite, Sparkling water, Fanta and Ramune decorate its shelves. The store itself is also very comfortable and worked by a friendly staff.
