Located near Hsinchu Giant City, the newly opened 🔸Tea Neighbors🔸 hand-shaken drink shop is currently in trial operation from 8/15 to 9/15. Both the Dongmen store and Hsinchu Giant City store are offering a promotion where single tea orders are only 10 NT dollars. As a tea enthusiast, I definitely had to give it a try! 🤤 (I personally prefer pure tea with a strong flavor, unsweetened and without ice).
✅ Oolong Green Tea 🍵
Upon taking a sip, you first experience a slight astringency from the green tea, followed by the sweetness and aroma of the oolong. It's very smooth and sweet.
✅ High Mountain Oolong Tea 🍵
This oolong tea is fragrant and its aroma lingers in the mouth for a long time. My friend finished a sip and continued talking to me, and I could still smell it! 🤣 The aftertaste is not as pronounced, but a month ago at the Dongmen store near Chenghuang Temple, I tasted an oolong with a very evident aftertaste. 🤔
✅ Honey Jelly Black Tea 🥤
I had bought this at the Dongmen store before. The honey jelly has a honey flavor 🍯. The texture is soft, not too chewy. Ordering it with unsweetened black tea makes it a bit too astringent. It’s better to eat the jelly together with the black tea to mask the astringency.
Overall, the pure tea offerings were quite average, but the honey jelly was very tasty. Next time I pass by, I’ll want to try other signature drinks!
❤️ Yesterday I couldn't drink the Lychee Oolong, so I had it in San Chong today. However, at this price, I thought I was just drinking fresh milk.
Each post will have actual dining photos; even if it's just a drink's photo, this is to avoid some users claiming to have dined without including food photos.
Overall rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
📍 This place is on Zhongyi North Road in San Chong, and parking is a bit inconvenient. There are no indoor dining options in the store, nor is there a restroom available.
🚗 If driving, it’s advisable not to park at the Ping'an Street parking lot, as cars may be moved frequently. It's recommended to park at the Zhongyi Elementary School parking lot (30 NT/hour) or the Guangxing Elementary School parking lot (30 NT/hour).
🏍️ For scooters, it’s suggested to park in the nearby alley to avoid being ticketed by the police.
💬 Recently, at the end of August, they started collaborating with Bathing Ape and launched a limited-edition Oolong tea (black tea meets lightly roasted oolong with a rice aroma) and Lychee Oolong tea (a delicate blend of black tea with lychee and grapefruit).
Since it’s served in an eco-friendly cup, there are no limited-edition camo cup designs.
The staff kindly introduced the content of these limited-time items, but it’s suggested they mention that the Lychee Oolong might be a bit sweeter to prevent customers from finding the drink too sweet.
Food quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Service quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Restaurant ambiance: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Price-to-value ratio: 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
📍 No. 22, Zhongyi North Road, San Chong District, New Taipei City
☎️ 02 8988 1555
⏰ 10:30 AM - 9:30 PM
💰 No service charge
🚇 Located next to the bus stop at the corner of Zhongyi and Xinzheng Roads, you can reach the store immediately after getting off. The MRT can take you to Taipei Bridge Station, which is about a 7-8 minute walk away.
For detailed food reviews, please continue reading below ❤️
I personally think that Yi Yi Lan is one of the more stable and affordable chains among all the numerous beverage shops, both in terms of price and quality.
My favorite drinks to order are their pure tea beverages because I feel their quality is more consistent compared to other chains.
Originally, there were two Yi Yi Lan shops in Gongguan, but due to reasons related to the pandemic, only this one remains.
This time, I had green tea. Although the price has risen from $30 to $35 and now it’s already $40, I feel it’s a bit pricey, but it's still a nice choice for me occasionally!
I personally recommend using the online platform to place your order first, and then set a time to pick it up. This way, you can save a lot of time waiting for your order.
Basically, Yi Yi Lan is the chain brand I have seen that has the least wait time but can make drinks the fastest. Apart from one male staff member who has a consistently less than pleasant attitude, everything else is quite recommendable.
Oh, and just so you know, the number one location is only available outside of the southern regions (unless customized). Personally, I think the less sweet option in Taipei is equivalent to the half sugar option in Tainan, so if you’re not a fan of sweetness, you might want to keep that in mind.
It is recommended to try their UG milk tea / farm delivery series, which performs better than pure tea!
In simple terms, milk tea has a stronger floral aroma, for example, the signature San Yan Fifteen Jasmine UG milk tea has a distinct jasmine fragrance, while the Tea Flower Red Oolong has a camellia aroma, and the Hibiscus Pu-erh does not taste like the typical Pu-erh tea; it has a floral scent similar to apple!
I personally tried three kinds from the UG milk tea series. The UG milk tea is their own recipe, which makes the tea aroma more pronounced—currently, my favorite is the Tea Flower Red Oolong/UG milk tea, with just one portion of sugar! But if it’s the San Yan Fifteen Jasmine milk tea, I recommend ordering up to three portions!
The farm delivery series, on the other hand, uses pure fresh milk, and it is said to have a stronger milk aroma!
I quite like it, but their milk tea all has floral scents; if you don't like tea with strong floral notes, you might not enjoy it as much—you can decide based on your preference!
I suggest ordering online first and picking it up when you see that the tea is ready. If you order on-site now, you might have to wait over half an hour 😂😂.
I highly recommend the fruit milk shop "Bodhi Bodhi Fresh Drinks" that I personally visited this time. Don’t you think the owner opened this shop with a kind heart? The papaya milk I drink the most is super cheap, and it's not too watery either! Amazing! 🤩
Papaya Milk
This one is only $30!
Usually, the prices you see in other cities are around $60-70.
That's basically half price!
I personally find the sugar level at this place just right with half sugar and full ice. I found that the slightly sweet option wasn’t sweet enough for me.🤣
Banana Milk
This cup is $35.
I think this one can be ordered with no sugar to a little sugar because bananas are already very sweet!
(On a side note)
Sometimes I also make banana soy milk to drink, which is not bad!🤣
Watermelon Juice
This cup is $25.
I ordered the watermelon juice with a little sugar; I think it tastes pretty good with a nice watermelon aroma.
I think even with no sugar, this drink would still be refreshing!
Additionally, the shop offers a very generous service where they sometimes give out free cookies. The last time I ordered two cups of papaya milk, they even gave me Maltese chocolate balls!
This time is even crazier—
If you spend over $90, you get a gift box of ginseng essence...
I'm really curious if the shop is actually making money!🤣
Anyway, as for me... it's delicious, so I will keep drinking!
❤️ Today, passing through Wugu, I surprisingly didn’t see the familiar "Kobok" and ended up coming further to Bali to have Kobok~
Each post will include actual dining photos, even if it’s just a picture of a drink, to avoid some users faking their dining experience by not including a food picture.
Overall Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
📍 This place is on Zhongshan Road, Section 2 in Bali, parking is slightly inconvenient. The store does not offer dine-in seating and there are no restrooms available.
🚗 It is recommended to park at the outdoor parking lot at Fushan Parking, Bali Commercial Port Road.
🏍️ Most scooters are parked outside the store for quick purchases.
💬 Each Kobok outlet has a tea can wall decorated with tea canisters, providing a unified décor element. Since its establishment in Taichung, it has been loved by many, but in recent years it has been affected by market share due to Chinese investments.
Recently, starting from the end of August, they have collaborated with Bathing Ape and introduced limited edition Wumi black tea (black tea paired with slow-roasted oolong with a rice fragrance) and Lychee Wumi tea (a delicate blend of black tea combined with lychee fragrance and grapefruit).
Since eco-friendly cups are used, there are no limited camouflage designs or molds for the cups.
The staff made me wait a bit at first because they needed to check if they had enough spring red tea stock before closing, but they spoke too quickly for me to understand at first; later I found out that they were talking about this 🐵
Food Quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Service Quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Restaurant Atmosphere: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Price-to-Value Ratio: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
For detailed food reviews, please continue reading ❤️
The chain beverage store 【Daming Benchmark Tea House】 originated in Taichung🧋
There are so many beverage stores on Yitong Street! It’s a first-class battleground for drink shops, making it really difficult to choose. Seeing the bright orange Daming decoration from a distance, I habitually chose Daming again😆
Strangely, since purchasing from this Daming on 8/18, it still hasn’t appeared on Google Maps. However, I confirmed on Daming's Facebook page that this store is officially in operation!
🥤 Ordered Drink Items
🥑 Avocado Milk Cap Red Jade ($65):
Daming’s avocado milk cap is a very special signature item. You can seriously taste the rich aroma of avocado oil, combined with the milky flavor of the cream cap, which blends perfectly together. Its thick texture is very similar to whipped cream, bringing a sense of satisfaction akin to eating dessert.
Red Jade has a stronger tea flavor, making it a great match with the avocado milk cap.
Unfortunately, this store seems to have just opened, and the cream cap felt lighter than I remembered, more like the texture of yogurt. The cream cap blended with the pure tea more quickly, which diminished the layers of the entire drink a bit.
⚠️
Note: On the day of ordering (8/18), the staff mentioned that electronic payments were still being set up, so only cash payments were accepted. However, normally, Daming allows payments via Line Pay or Jkopay!
📍Located within the Yan San Night Market, although there are many beverage shops on this street, the one I recently prefer is Dezheng, particularly their oolong tea series which I really love.
🍽️Environment
The decor is consistent with Dezheng's design style, minimalistic with a touch of artistic vibe. The shop is clean and tidy, and just being able to enjoy the air conditioning while waiting for your drink after ordering is already better than other beverage shops. You can also get a discount of 5 NT dollars if you use an eco-friendly cup.
🧋Menu
▪️Spring Oolong $35
Dezheng’s oolong series is quite good, and you can choose the roasting level based on your preference. I usually order spring oolong or light oolong, and this time I ordered the spring oolong.
The spring oolong is made from winter-picked, four-season oolong tea leaves, which have a fragrance similar to high mountain tea. As usual, I ordered it unsweetened and lightly iced, and it has sufficient tea flavor without being too astringent, with a slight tea leaf aroma.
🗣️At this price, I personally believe that it’s a great choice for those who enjoy pure tea. The reviews for other add-ins or special blends are also quite good. Moreover, there are more and more branches in the northern region, so I recommend trying a cup if you see one on the street.
❤️ Located in Mong Kok, the rest stop branch had drink prices that led me to only order two smoothies. Each post includes actual dining photos, making sure that even if it’s just a drink picture, it prevents some users from pretending to have dined by not including food images. Overall rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
📍 This is a small alley called Shandong Street next to Nathan Road, near Mong Kok station. The shop does not provide seating.
🚗 Due to the narrow streets nearby, it’s recommended to take the subway or other public transport to get there.
💬 The staff are quite polite and will switch to Mandarin if they hear it to converse with customers. After placing the order, they call out the number for pick-up. I looked at the menu and chose a smoothie that seemed to have a better value. Even at eleven o'clock at night, there was still a little wait for the food, but having a smoothie on a hot summer day is definitely enjoyable.
Food quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Service quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Restaurant atmosphere: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Price value: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
📍 Shop A3 and A4, G/F, 40P Shandong Street, Mong Kok, Hong Kong
☎️ 4636 7704
⏰ 12:00 - 23:00 (open until 23:30 on holidays)
💰 No service charge
🚇 About a 3-minute walk from Mong Kok station.
For detailed food reviews, please continue reading below ❤️
▶Double Q Orange Honey Green $79◀
Double Q is a combination of coconut jelly and agar, so it has a dual texture when chewed. I really like this combination! The orange flavor blends well with green tea, and the addition of honey is just perfect! It tastes like a completely refreshing drink with no guilt.
▶Frozen Honey Blossom Water $65◀
Isn’t this name too cute! Their homemade honey jelly combined with honey water makes a simple yet delicious drink. This is a great option for people on a diet who want to indulge a little! Plus, friends who don’t drink caffeine can enjoy it too. The honey jelly has a chewy texture, similar to brown sugar cake! It's bouncy and has a rich honey flavor.
▶Honey Fragrant Duo Green $75◀
I often drink Duo Green, but theirs also adds honey, which gives it an extra fragrance! The owner added two bottles of Duo, and I was initially worried it might be too sweet, but it’s not sweet at all! The overall blend is fantastic.
