Boba Guys, T-pumps, Bambu, Chatime, Quickly, Teaspoon.
With the boba boom in the Bay Area, boba shops seem to be opening up everywhere.
Tea Hub is an example of one of these boba places that opened up over the summer in San Carlos. It is located further down Laurel Street, away from the main shops, so it can be easy to miss for those who don’t know about it.
My first impression walking in was that it was a cute little shop. The walls were all brick, which gave the shop a warm, rustic aesthetic. There were a few small plants and a wireless phone charging station as well.
The menu was on a decorated chalkboard and had an array of fruit teas, milk teas, smoothies, and snacks. I ordered two milk teas, the Thai iced tea and the tiger tea. Tea Hub allows you to pick the level of ice and sugar, which I found convenient. The way the shop was organized allowed you to watch as the workers made your drink.
The Thai iced tea came out unmixed and had a strong milky flavor. I’m usually not the biggest fan of Thai tea because I think the flavor is a little bland, but Tea Hub had the perfect balance of milk and tea.
The tiger tea also came out unmixed, with the syrup being on the insides of the cup. While tiger tea is usually one of my favorites, this one had a technical problem. The syrup was challenging to mix with the rest of the drink. When I initially tasted it — even though I had already mixed it for a minute or two — it just tasted like milk. I had to scrape the syrup off the sides of the cup into the drink, which took a surprisingly long time. However, once I finally got the syrup mixed in, it tasted amazing. The tiger tea, which originated in Taiwan, contains black tea, milk, and brown sugar syrup. It’s called the tiger tea because it resembles tiger stripes when the syrup mixes with the drinks.
The boba pearls themselves were softer than most other places I’ve been to. There was also a lot of boba in the drinks, which I like. One of my main complaints about T-Pumps is that they give you a minimal amount of boba, but that was not the case for Tea Hub.
Overall, except for the tiger tea not mixing easily, Tea Hub was enjoyable. The atmosphere of the shop was cute, the tea tasted delicious, and the ingredients — especially the milk — were high-quality. I hope to go again soon to try their other drinks and snacks.
[star rating=”4″]
