Thoughts for Food

Thoughts for Food

 Our regular reviews of culinary delights and disappointments around campus. Today’s critique: Jupioca.

Jupioca

On behalf of everyone looking for a refreshing beverage on the fly, or trying to replace their soda intake with something a little more nutritious, we checked out the newly opened Jupioca at 19 Hillel Place. At this bright little shop, you can create your own smoothie or juice by choosing from nearly two dozen fruits and vegetables. You can also choose one of the 13 options in the “Juice Farmacy,” which claim to aid everything from acne to high blood pressure. Or, you can order one of more than a dozen milk and flavored green bubble teas with large tapioca pearls called boba at the bottom. If you really love this place, make sure to pick up a reward card, which entitles you to a free beverage after a purchase of seven “Drinks From Jupiter,” all at reasonable prices.

On a scale of one to five (poor to excellent), we rated the following teas:

Almond Bubble Milk Tea (4 stars)

This “very smooth” option had a “nice, creamy taste.” The green tea and almond milk “blended very well.”

Ginger Honey Green Tea (1 star)

The “overpowering” ginger gave this drink a “medicinal” taste, which makes us think it would taste better and “less abrasive” if served hot and you’re home with the flu. Until then, it’s just “too harsh,” with a “surprisingly gross texture,” to be good.

Grapefruit Bubble Green Tea (3 stars)

This “mediocre” bubble tea had “next to no grapefruit taste.”  “Overly sweet,” its appeal fades fairly quickly, and you may just have to stop drinking it “a quarter of the way through.”

Honeydew Bubble Milk Tea (3.5 stars)

The “rich green color” and “fruity, mild, and refreshing” flavor make this option better than average, especially if you stick to the medium size, as it is “perhaps too sweet in a large,” as the tea flavor itself gets lost. The flavor dissipates as the drink warms up, so it’s “best consumed cold.”

Mango Bubble Green Tea (4 stars)

The “unmistakable” mango flavor of this “revitalizing” bubble tea will definitely please your taste buds. But most of us agree that it’s “a little too sweet for its own good.”

Rose Tea Bubble Green Tea (3.5 stars)

The “pretty color” and the addition of “real dried rose leaves” add to the appeal of this “very drinkable” choice. Just “on the edge of being too sweet,” some of us felt that its “perfume flavor” was a bit too much.

Thai Milk Bubble Tea (3 stars)

The green tea flavor “comes to the fore” of this solid option, with “a hint of coconut milk” that can either delight you or make this a one-time purchase.

And About Those Boba… (2.5 stars)

Half of us felt the tasteless tapioca pearls that you suck up through your straw “add a nice substance” to the sweeter drinks, offering a “noteworthy textural complement.” The other half, however, were turned off by the “goopy mini-blobs” that settle at the bottom and said “it’s no fun to chew your drink.”