i-Tea [Financial District]

i-Tea Kearny in Financial District San Francisco

i-Tea is a milk and fruit boba chain around the US and beyond. Their stores are almost in every US city and their large selection of drinks and toppings is highly impressive. Furthermore, for $4, one is able to get a large size milk tea that was 20% more of what I could drink in one sitting but did it anyway. This place is simply impressive in all of its aspects from the price and size to the large selection of toppings and flavors for all cravings you didn't know you suddenly started to have after looking at their menu.

And now, for the breakdown:

Tapioca Balls:

Their boba was PERFECT! It was EXACTLY what I was looking for - perfectly textured boba (very soft and sweet). There honestly isn't anything else to say about their boba quality as I enjoy every single sip!

Overall Taste:

Thanks to the flavorful boba, the drink tasted absolutely wonderful. The Jasmine Milk Tea was full of flavor - a great balance of not too bitter jasmine and sweet milk. It didn't taste like powdered milk or tea and every sip was full of flavor.

Sugar Levels:

I was able to get 30% sweetness level and it was a bit more sweet than I often want with my milk tea. Especially the fact that this place actually had good boba with its own flavor, I think the sweetness level mixed with the natural flavor of the milk could get even lower than 30%. I wish I could taste the flavor of the jasmine tea as much but, other than that, it wasn't too bothersome.

Ice Levels:

I got less ice and it was perfect for a cold day in SF. However, there were definitely a couple of sips that were rather neutral temperature rather than what you'd expect from an iced drink. However, I admit that this was fully my fault for asking for low ice level. If you get a 50% ice level, it should be just cold enough to be able to drink in this cold weather.

Boba:Drink Ratio:

The ratio was a bit off. As mentioned above, their portions are much bigger compared to many other places, which is amazing. Nevertheless, to be able to serve such big portions, one should adjust how much boba they serve as it was definitely not enough to finish the drink together with the boba. I had about 25% of my drink left when I realized I finished my boba on accident. In other places, I put a lot of effort to portion the boba to be able to not leave any behind once the drink is over but, in this place, that didn't need to happen.

Overall Rating: 9/10

Go visit i-Tea at 253 Kearny Street and let me know your thoughts in the comments!