Chemicals in your Bubble Tea!
What are people putting in my bubble tea? Poison!
Not really, but it's like the chicken nugget mystery. Most bubble tea places use non-dairy creamer because of the prevalence of lactose intolerance in the Asian population.
Non dairy creamer. That doesn't sound so bad, right? By non dairy creamer, they mean Coffee-mate. What is Coffee-mate doing in my bubble tea? Coffee-mate deceivingly tastes like super duper creamy half & half, but really a concoction of chemicals. This is not a hippie dippie exaggeration. The following ingredients were pulled from Wikipedia.
corn syrup solids
vegetable oil (including partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil)
sodium caseinate
dipotassium phosphate
mono- and diglycerides
sodium aluminosilicate
artificial flavour
annatto colour
EW - what is this? Trans fats & chemicals.
Coffee-mate is used because it's last forever and it's cheap. That is EXACTLY what I want in a refreshing beverage (sarcasm). Anyways, this is why some places can sell you milk tea for $2.75. You're paying to drink chemicals. What. These are probably the same places that use powder instead of real tea. End rant.
Here are some places in the Bay Area that will serve you real milk/half & half. I applaud these places and will spend the extra dollar to not be poisoned. Now that's honestea (I had to).:
Asha Tea House (Berkeley, CA)
Tea Lyfe (San Jose, CA) - This place is EPIC. I apologize for the interrogation session that one night. I just wanted to see if you used real milk. BTW - you are currently my favorite place in the Bay Area. I'm a fan girl.
Boba Guys (San Francisco, CA)
Share Tea (only the Milk Drinks) (various locations)
Bubble tea places, I implore you to use real MILK or healthy non dairy substitutes. I know Almond Milk and Soy Milk taste like YUCKYNESS in bubble tea, but I'm sure you can figure something out.
Boba places with real milk- I'm looking for you. Shoot me a comment and I'll come visit, and I'll add you to this list! Also, to those of you who are boba fiends like me, I apologize for any distress I may have caused from this post. You'll thank me later.
This information was collected by interrogating bubble tea places by asking "Do you use real milk in your milk tea or non dairy creamer?" Upon the non dairy creamer answer, I asked " Is your non dairy creamer Coffee-mate?"
If you like this post, you'll probably like the following posts:
If you’re a lactose intolerant bird, try reading this: Best Non Dairy Creamers for Your Boba
AND OF COURSE The Search for the Best Bay Area Boba
