- Good morning, everyone!
So today I am going to be hopping on a plane to Vancouver,
and I'm very excited because I'm meeting
Emma Choo, otherwise known as @vancouverfoodie,
in real life. I've always been
a little low-key jealous of Emma because
based off of her feed, it seems like she's just eating
delicious, tasty-looking food all the time.
Seems like Emma really knows the best spots in Vancouver.
One of the things that I asked Emma
if we could go try together is boba tea
because I feel like I haven't really gotten a lot
of variety or just great options here in Manhattan.
So I'm very excited. I have a plane to catch,
I have to get ready, so I will see you
and Emma in a bit. Bye!
Emma: I'm on my way to meet Herrine for the first time,
and she has no idea what's in store because I'm gonna
take her to three different boba spots in one day.
So I'm born and raised in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada,
and this is the place, besides Taiwan, that is,
the land flowing with milk and tapioca pearls: boba!
And with boba, there are a ton of varieties. I mean,
there's milk-based, there's fruit, slushies, you name it,
but because you can't try so many all at once,
we're gonna focus on one, the one that is all the rage
right now, and that is brown-sugar pearl milk.
So is it boba, bubble tea, tapioca pearls?
It's all interchangeable, really!
I would love to tell you more, but I'm just about to arrive
at the first stop, so let's go in!
Herrine: Our first stop is Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea.
- Yi Fang is popular because people are keen on the
vintage interior style and also the authentic
Taiwanese flavor.
- Yi Fang's pearls are great because they're like
the just-right amount of chewiness, and they're not
overly sweet, but they're also not plain.
- Our top-selling drinks would be Yi Fang Fruit Tea
and our Black Sugar Soft Pearl Milk and milk tea.
Herrine: The Black Sugar Pearl Milk is only made
at 3 p.m.
and 7 p.m.
Tapioca pearls imported from Taiwan are stirred into
a boiling pot of water and cane sugar.
The pearls are ready to go when they start
floating to the top.
A generous amount of dark sugar makes the pearls complete.
Then, the pearls are topped with ice and milk
to create a pretty gradient.
- We will never shake the brown sugar for customers.
We will present it to them and probably let them
take picture first, and then we will ask them
to shake it before they drink it.
- So this, this by far is the most popular drink here.
- This is the one that people line up for.
This is the Brown Sugar Soft Pearl Milk.
- The Brown Sugar Soft Pearl Milk.
- Yes.
- How does one drink this? Do you just shake it or...
- There's this one word they call "Mudflip," and
it's a one-flip kind of scenario.
Ready?
- Three, two, one!
Oh, I see! It is trickling down.
- Yi Fang specializes in simmering it over time
so that the pearls actually soak up that flavor,
that rich, caramelized flavor that brown sugar actually has.
Yi Fang was like one of the first places to actually
bring it over from Taiwan.
- Is there a way to, like, stab it so that the hole
isn't just like a gaping mess?
- Yep.
- What's the trick?
- The trick is to have confidence.
Confidence is key.
- That's where, that's where it lacks.
- She lacks confidence?
It's OK, I'm gonna teach her a lesson right now.
Confidence, one, two, three!
Yaaaas!
- Confidence, the key to everything.
- Cheers.
- This is, one more time, the Brown Sugar Milk Pearl Tea.
- How'd I do?
- Brown Sugar Soft Pearl Milk.
- Mmm. - Ooh, that's nice!
- Fave!
- So I definitely get the brown-sugar taste,
like, kind of like a caramelly taste.
- Yes. And you know it's kind of been simmering there
for a while or else you won't have that
deep, caramelized flavor.
- It is like burnt sugar, kind of, yeah.
- Yeah, that's the key.
- OK, so boba now. I'm scared because, you know like,
when you drink the boba, sometimes it just, like,
shoots to the back of your throat...
- And then you choke, and then your life, like,
flashes before your eyes?
- Boba is the "treat yo' self" kind of dessert drink.
- Right, but it's also like, you could die.
- Yeah. - You could choke.
But it's a risk you're willing to take.
- Exactly, it's worth it.
- OK, all right, let's do it.
- Mmm.
- Oh, wow, OK.
- Soft, dense, chewy.
- So regular boba kinda just is like a blank-slate flavor,
right? It's just more of a texture thing.
- Pretty much.
- But because this was simmered in the brown sugar and
cane sugar, right...
- It comes out even more.
- There's more flavor, and that's why it's so popular.
- Yes. - Got it.
- Boom!
- Our second stop for today is Xing Fu Tang.
I hope I pronounced that right.
- Spot on.
- And what are they most known for?
- They're most known for their stir-fried
brown-sugar pearl milk.
- Stir-fried?
- Stir-fried!
- I've never seen boba stir-fried, let's go check it out.
- Let's go!
Herrine: Black sugar, is this the best store to get it?
- Yeah, I think it's the best.
Herrine: The shop stir-fries the pearls to get
a more pronounced char flavor.
The dark-sugar pearls are ladled on the rim of the cup,
topped with ice and milk.
Caramel salted cream and a dash of more brown sugar
add an extra element of flavor.
- So as you can tell, this lid, you don't have to...
- Stab with confidence!
I mean, there's a nice hole at the top, so, uh, bless.
- Ooh! I wanna stir it 18 times.
- OK, go for it.
- One, two, three, four...
- That was like, 19.
- Oh, sure, sure. - That's OK!
- You wanna fight?
- I don't know, which one do you like?
Do you like this?
Any critiques?
- I am more of like, I like the roasted flavor
of having it soaked in the brown sugar over time,
whereas this one they sort of just, like,
put it together, whereas they kinda do have that
show aspect at the front, but then Yi Fang cooks it
a little longer.
It, the chewiness, and the softness of the pearls
depends on how long you cook it, so it obviously starts off
very hard and dense, and the longer you cook it,
the softer it gets.
- Right. - Yep.
- So does this stir-fry, isn't fully, like, cooking it
to the point where it's, like, soft and squishy
like at Yi Fang.
- Yeah, no, I think they cook in the back first
and then they just incorporate it...
- Got it. - On the spot.
- I don't know, what wins for me here is that top.
That salted...
- That's what sets it apart.
- Toffee cream is, like, delicious.
- They do, it's almost like a crème brûlée topping
where they just little, add a little fire at the end
with the brown sugar.
Herrine: Our third and final stop is OneZo Tapioca.
OneZo is known for its different flavored tapioca pearls.
The shop also makes the pearls in-house.
Still, the Brown Sugar Dirty Mix is a top seller.
- I come here at least once a month.
I like the pearls, everything's, like, handmade,
and it's probably the best brown-sugar
tea in Vancouver.
I like Xing Fu Tang, but this is the best.
It's going everywhere!
Herrine: It starts with homemade dark-sugar
tapioca pearls,
ice, and milk.
- They made their boba in-house,
so I'm expecting this to be like
when it comes to the pearl part.
- Confidence?
- Oh, I got some spillage.
Confidence was not key. Cheers!
- Gonna mix it up a little bit.
- Whoa!
- Mmm!
Those pearls are good, very chewy!
It's interesting 'cause, like, when you see the pearls
up close, they seem a little more, like, translucent
than opaque. - Oh yeah, you're right!
- So maybe that's what happens when it's, like,
freshly made.
I feel like this one, like, blends
really well together, the flavors. It's not like
too, contrasted?
It's almost like a nice, warm feeling, sitting by the fire,
kind of caramel.
- This by far, like, the flavor of the brown sugar
is the strongest, the boldest.
And the pearls are like...
super soft.
- Super soft and chewy.
- And absorbed that brown-sugar flavor.
- This is good!
- This is real good.
- Ooh! Third time's the charm.
- We just finished our boba adventure. We went to
three places. Can you list 'em for us one more time?
- We had Yi Fang, Xing Fu Tang, and also OneZo.
- After a long day of just trying out all three places,
we picked our favorites.
- Yes, are you ready?
- Three, two, one. OneZo!
- OK, OK, OK! Unison, I see what we're doing here.
- Why was OneZo your favorite?
- I really liked how all three elements of
the fresh milk, the brown sugar, and the handmade pearls
really worked well together as a whole.
- I totally agree with you, and I think, just like,
the handmade aspect of it really sealed the deal for me.
The pearls were super, like, soft and chewy,
and just the right amount of texture, and it had that
very saturated, dark-brown-sugar taste.
All right, Emma, thank you so much for taking me
all around Vancouver and taking me to the best
boba shops. - The pleasure's all mine!
- I wouldn't have done it with anyone else but you.
I learned so much.
I'm gonna go lay down. What're you gonna do?
- I'm gonna hand over all the leftover boba
to my boyfriend now, so I'm gonna head out.
- All right, well, I'll see you again soon!
- OK! Hugs! Bye! Oh!
That's OK. Bye!
- Bye! - Bye!
Check out the goods! Gonna go back, bye! Have fun.
Herrine: Byeeeeeee!