Teaspoon is a small chain of bubble tea shops, based in California. The menu has all the classics, including some signature drinks like their version of the "taro lover" and a fairly stunning layered "Strawberry Matcha Royale". They also have a slew of fairly unique drinks, like the "Mango on Fire" which has chamoy and taijin in it, and even a sangria inspired drink. They also have a few "Snows", a newer addition to the lineup.
I visited the San Francisco location, with a friend, one sunny afternoon.
Everything we ordered was high quality and pretty.
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| Taro Milk Tea & Snows! |
The shop was fairly busy, and the wait took longer than I'd expect. Staff were friendly though, and I'll gladly return.
Teaspoon is located on Polk Street, along a busy section of shops, right next to a poke place. (Yup, all the trends, in one little block. The poke place used to be a froyo shop, and this was a bakery with fancy cupcakes. #soTrendy).
They have a single bench out front, and only a small number of tables inside. I recommend getting your treat to go, and taking a walk.
The menu is digital, with a fixed screen on the left with the options to create your own tea, and special snows. The one on the right cycled through different specialty drinks.
Since it was dynamic, it was a bit hard to follow, and I wished they had a print one to look through. Am I old fashioned?
Toppings are listed on the menu board, but you can also peek at them at the counter, where each employee scoops them from.
"Taro milk with slow cooked taro chunks. Lactose free and no caffeine."
For my drink, I skipped all the actual teas, which is what Teaspoon is actually known for. When a place has taro milk on the menu ... I can't resist.
The "Taro Lover" was available hot or iced, but that was the only choice I had, unlike the other drinks where you specify sweetness level, and if you want cream. This one came pre-made as taro milk, with non-dairy creamer only, of the sweetness they decided to make it. This made me slightly concerned, thinking it might be crazy sweet, as, at most bubble tea shops, I find myself going for 25% sweet options. But it also made me optimistic that perhaps it wasn't just a taro powder? I opted for iced.
I'm still not sure what made up the taro milk, to be honest. It was purple, in the way taro powder is. It was sweet. I would prefer a bit less sweet, but, the slow cooked taro chunks they added helped balance it a bit. Still, overall, good taro flavor, creamy, good taro milk.
To my taro lover, I added two toppings: coconut jelly and almond pudding. I knew it already had the taro chunks mixed in, but I was inspired to try something like the pudding I had in my taro tea at Sharetea, and picked almond pudding over egg custard thinking the almond flavor might be nice. I added the coconut jellies wanting to add a touch of sweetness, in case the taro milk wasn't very sweet (which is often the case if it is real taro milk, and since I couldn't specify sweetness, I thought this might be the case).
Thus, I wound up with a cup that was like 40% mix-ins. I'm not sure this was a bad thing, but it was a bit silly perhaps, if a "drink" is what you are going for. But who are we kidding, this was a dessert.
Still, I'm glad I did the mix-ins. The coconut jelly was pretty standard bubble tea shop calibre, slippery rectangular pieces of firm jelly, that sucked up easily in my straw. They didn't taste very distinctly of coconut, but were sweet and did mix nicely with the taro milk. They filled the entire bottom portion of my cup, really at least double what I was expecting, which worked great, as I could suck from the top if I didn't want any, and push my straw down if I did.
Next, the almond pudding. I hoped this would be like the "almond tofu" that I just absolutely adore at Sushi Sam's. It basically was. Very large chunks (I hesitate to even call them chunks, as they were huge scoops really), of the pudding. Again, not particularly almond flavored, but, great texture and nice match for taro. I found that I preferred to not suck this up in the straw, and ate it with a spoon after, just like pudding, now infused with taro. This worked amazingly well, as there was soooo much of it, and it all rested on top of the jellies. I'm really stunned by the quantity of the toppings they provide.
And last, the slow cooked taro chunks that are part of the original drink. This isn't the best looking topping, a rather brownish ugly color. And it wasn't really "chunks", I was expecting cubes, and it was not. But that would be hard to suck up right? Instead, it was more of a chunky puree? Regardless, it was actually very good. Great taro flavor, and the texture worked very well for sucking up. Probably the best taro mix-in I've ever had in a bubble tea.
So, overall, this was a winner. Sweet, non-dairy taro milk that I enjoyed with sweet sips of coconut jelly or more savory taro mash, which I then followed up with a second dessert of taro steeped almond pudding with a bit of coconut jelly and taro mash. Two in one!
I enjoyed this, and I'd gladly get another, although I'd leave out the pudding next time. The $0.50 each toppings were worth it, given just how generously they were added.
"Lemon kumquat snow, with rainbow mochi, mint, and mojito sauce."
I don't like lemon desserts, in general. But still, we gave this one a try.
It was quite tart, as advertised. Intense lemon and kumquat flavor. Somehow too sweet for me at the same time, although, yes, very tart. Perhaps the "mojito sauce" was really sweet?
I liked the soft, pliable, very fresh rainbow mochi.
I loved the texture of the snow, I loved the concept, but, clearly not the flavor for me.
"Banana snow with rainbow mochi, almond flakes, and nutella sauce."
This one had a bit more going on. More toppings.
The snow was again such an incredible fluffy texture. And ... banana flavored. Uh, not my thing either.
On top was the same quality soft mochi, standard almond flakes, and a drizzle of very thick "nutella sauce". The mochi and almond flakes provided great contrasting soft and crunchy texture. The "sauce" was far too thick to really be a sauce, and didn't really taste like nutella, but, was otherwise fine.
So again, great concept, quality components, just not the mix for me.
Setting
We visited the San Francisco location, one of 20 (!) stores in California.
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| Storefront. |
They have a single bench out front, and only a small number of tables inside. I recommend getting your treat to go, and taking a walk.
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| Menu. |
Since it was dynamic, it was a bit hard to follow, and I wished they had a print one to look through. Am I old fashioned?
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| Toppings. |
Drinks & Desserts
Teaspoon offers two things: tea and snow. They don't try to over-stretch with the likes of popcorn chicken (hi, Quickly!), or slush/smoothie/etc options. Tea - hot or ice, and snow. No more.
Tea
Tea is the main attraction (it isn't called "Teaspoon" by accident ...). They have pre-defined specials, or you can make your own. If you make your own, you have all the standard choices. Hot or cold. Sweetness level (0/25/50/75/100%). Non-dairy classic cream or organic house cream. A slew of toppings (jellies in all flavors and shapes, a variety of boba, puddings, aloe, red beans, chia seeds, taro chunks, etc, etc). These selections alone are fairly impressive, but it is the tea lineup itself that really sets Teaspoon apart. 5 black teas, 3 green teas, 7 (!) oolong teas, and rooibos can all form your base tea. They are not pre-brewed, but instead are brewed to order in a machine that looks much like an espresso machine, but, isn't.
Noticeably missing from the menu is a big lineup of fruity flavored things, or other items clearly made with powders. The only drink that isn't based on fresh brewed tea is the single taro milk.
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| Taro Lover, Iced, plus Coconut Jellies + Almond Pudding. $4.75 + $0.50 + 0.50. |
For my drink, I skipped all the actual teas, which is what Teaspoon is actually known for. When a place has taro milk on the menu ... I can't resist.
The "Taro Lover" was available hot or iced, but that was the only choice I had, unlike the other drinks where you specify sweetness level, and if you want cream. This one came pre-made as taro milk, with non-dairy creamer only, of the sweetness they decided to make it. This made me slightly concerned, thinking it might be crazy sweet, as, at most bubble tea shops, I find myself going for 25% sweet options. But it also made me optimistic that perhaps it wasn't just a taro powder? I opted for iced.
I'm still not sure what made up the taro milk, to be honest. It was purple, in the way taro powder is. It was sweet. I would prefer a bit less sweet, but, the slow cooked taro chunks they added helped balance it a bit. Still, overall, good taro flavor, creamy, good taro milk.
To my taro lover, I added two toppings: coconut jelly and almond pudding. I knew it already had the taro chunks mixed in, but I was inspired to try something like the pudding I had in my taro tea at Sharetea, and picked almond pudding over egg custard thinking the almond flavor might be nice. I added the coconut jellies wanting to add a touch of sweetness, in case the taro milk wasn't very sweet (which is often the case if it is real taro milk, and since I couldn't specify sweetness, I thought this might be the case).
Thus, I wound up with a cup that was like 40% mix-ins. I'm not sure this was a bad thing, but it was a bit silly perhaps, if a "drink" is what you are going for. But who are we kidding, this was a dessert.
Still, I'm glad I did the mix-ins. The coconut jelly was pretty standard bubble tea shop calibre, slippery rectangular pieces of firm jelly, that sucked up easily in my straw. They didn't taste very distinctly of coconut, but were sweet and did mix nicely with the taro milk. They filled the entire bottom portion of my cup, really at least double what I was expecting, which worked great, as I could suck from the top if I didn't want any, and push my straw down if I did.
Next, the almond pudding. I hoped this would be like the "almond tofu" that I just absolutely adore at Sushi Sam's. It basically was. Very large chunks (I hesitate to even call them chunks, as they were huge scoops really), of the pudding. Again, not particularly almond flavored, but, great texture and nice match for taro. I found that I preferred to not suck this up in the straw, and ate it with a spoon after, just like pudding, now infused with taro. This worked amazingly well, as there was soooo much of it, and it all rested on top of the jellies. I'm really stunned by the quantity of the toppings they provide.
And last, the slow cooked taro chunks that are part of the original drink. This isn't the best looking topping, a rather brownish ugly color. And it wasn't really "chunks", I was expecting cubes, and it was not. But that would be hard to suck up right? Instead, it was more of a chunky puree? Regardless, it was actually very good. Great taro flavor, and the texture worked very well for sucking up. Probably the best taro mix-in I've ever had in a bubble tea.
So, overall, this was a winner. Sweet, non-dairy taro milk that I enjoyed with sweet sips of coconut jelly or more savory taro mash, which I then followed up with a second dessert of taro steeped almond pudding with a bit of coconut jelly and taro mash. Two in one!
I enjoyed this, and I'd gladly get another, although I'd leave out the pudding next time. The $0.50 each toppings were worth it, given just how generously they were added.
Snow
The other product, besides teas, that Teaspoon makes is snows, in assorted flavors, with a reduced set of standard toppings, although fully customizable.
I happened to visit on a day where they had a promotion for two new snows, so I got to try them out.
The texture of the snow was fascinating. Seriously fascinating. So light. So fluffy. Amazing, really.
If I were picking any snow, I'd most certainly go for the "Nutty Taro", with taro based snow, mochi, coconut flakes, almond flakes, and condensed milk. But since this was part of a promotion, I had a limited selection, and together with a friend split both of the options available.
Neither was quite for me, but, the snow concept, and their execution of it, was great. I just need to go for one I actually want next time!
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| Lemon Tart Snow. |
I don't like lemon desserts, in general. But still, we gave this one a try.
It was quite tart, as advertised. Intense lemon and kumquat flavor. Somehow too sweet for me at the same time, although, yes, very tart. Perhaps the "mojito sauce" was really sweet?
I liked the soft, pliable, very fresh rainbow mochi.
I loved the texture of the snow, I loved the concept, but, clearly not the flavor for me.
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| Donkey Kong Snow. |
This one had a bit more going on. More toppings.
The snow was again such an incredible fluffy texture. And ... banana flavored. Uh, not my thing either.
On top was the same quality soft mochi, standard almond flakes, and a drizzle of very thick "nutella sauce". The mochi and almond flakes provided great contrasting soft and crunchy texture. The "sauce" was far too thick to really be a sauce, and didn't really taste like nutella, but, was otherwise fine.
So again, great concept, quality components, just not the mix for me.
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