Craving a cooling bubble tea or a cozy matcha latte? These three new Sacramento spots will satisfy your need to sip. Here are the newest places to check out the next time you're in the mood for some tea.
Tea 18
3880 Truxel Road, Suite 700, Natomas
Tea 18 is a Taiwanese chain of bubble tea shops that specializes in brewed-to-order tea drinks, rather than powder or syrup based drinks, as we previously reported. Located at 3880 Truxel Road, Suite 700 in Natomas, it also offers cold blended drinks.
The wide variety of teas on the menu includes Okinawan brown sugar milk tea, cheese foam tea and gold pomelo green tea. Customers can adjust the sweetness level and amount of ice in their drinks to taste.
Yelp users are excited about Tea 18, which currently holds 4.5 stars out of 99 reviews on the site.
"The milk tea was perfect and the boba were still warm and full of flavor, bravo!" wrote Yelper Douglas Y., who was one of the first users to visit Tea 18 on May 7 and has been back three times. "If the milk tea is always this good here, Tea 18 will be my favorite spot in the area."
Vicki V. praised the service and noted, "I like the fact that the drinks aren't overly sweet compared to the other tea shops, and the boba tastes fresh! I have ordered drinks with boba 30 minutes before the place closed and the boba did not taste stale and they did not tell me that they ran out of boba either."
Tea 18 is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. daily.
E Tea
900 15th St., Mansion Flats
E Tea is a spot to score bubble tea and more, connected to and in the same building as its sister teppanyaki restaurant Super Pan, as we previously reported. The location at 900 15th St. is the first expansion out of San Francisco for the dual outfit.
On the menu, look for unusual combinations like the guava green tea with aloe and boba; the salty cheese crema tea with roasted oolong; and the Thai tea with boba and grass jelly. Customers can also purchase bubble tea in a bottle for a more convenient grab-and-go drink.
E Tea's current Yelp rating of 3.5 stars out of 60 reviews indicates the newcomer is finding its way, but it's still early days.
"This is a good solid choice for boba in the area," said Mel L., who reviewed the tea shop on April 28. "They have a great menu with lots of creative options. We got the Thai tea and coconut paradise and both drinks were very good. My lychee jelly had good flavor as well as delicious coconut flavor."
But Yelper Alice A. wrote, "Love the milk options, but I hate watered down tea! Ordered a standard green tea with almond milk and boba and it straight up tasted like flavored water. ... However, the boba had the right consistency and chew to it."
E Tea is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. daily.
A Taste Above
7485 Rush River Drive, Suite 700, The Pocket
A Taste Above is an Asian fusion café that offers plenty of coffee and tea drinks along with its sandwiches, burgers and house-baked pastries, as we recently reported. Located in Suite 700 of the Promenade shopping center at 7485 Rush River Drive, it's bringing matcha green tea lattes and more to the Pocket.
Other tea options on the extensive menu include fresh house-brewed iced tea along with Numi hot tea, chai lattes and dirty chai lattes (with an added shot of espresso).
For those in search of an accompanying treat with their tea, A Taste Above serves house-baked Asian pastries and desserts, like pineapple bao with barbecue pork filling, or the fruit bowl with mango, pomelo and sago (tapioca-like palm starch balls).
Yelp users are generally positive about A Taste Above, which currently holds four stars out of 50 reviews on the site.
Yelper Chloe P., who reviewed the cafe on May 22, wrote, "Great service and there is something for everyone. The staff is very friendly and helpful. I ordered the matcha green tea latte with almond milk and it was very good."
"This place has some potential but I reserve judgement," said Yelper Wayne K. "Are they a coffee house, coffee/tea house, coffee and dessert place, snack place, Chinese restaurant, combination of some/all of that, or something else?"
Intrigued? Stop by to try the eclectic eatery for yourself. A Taste Above is open from 9 a.m.–8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 9 a.m.–6 p.m. on Sunday.
