Osmanthus Oolong Latte (桂香烏龍那堤) – Hechalou

Today I went on solo Jiufen outing, which is a mountain village town area that bears a striking similarity to Spirited Away (though Miyazaki has denied it). I came back to Taipei proper around late afternoon, strolled around the area, and looked for a new boba place in the area (there is no shortage, but looking for a reputable one and one I haven’t tried). I found this branch of Hechalou (no official English translation name I guess) on Google Maps, and it had like a 4 on Google with a few hundred reviews. After browsing the menu, I decided to try it out.

One of the reviews I read mentioned they have an Osmanthus Oolong, and that got me excited since I haven’t had it in a while (though I did buy some teabags at a tea store at 101 the other day!). I found it interesting that they recommended it in the plain tea section, but it wasn’t one of the recommended in the latte/fresh milk section). Nevertheless, I am a milk tea gal, and got the fresh milk with it. I also used my brain today and got a medium and not large since I had just had a snack, and didn’t want to have any stomach room for dinner.

Oh man, this was so good. It tasted the same as Osmanthus Oolong back home, and even then, it’s not very common to see it at places in America (I highly doubt Japan has any). It has that unique floral taste, but still with an oolong aroma, and as a not too sweet drink, it works well as a latte. They call their boba here honey boba, and it is a bit sweet, which goes well with the drink.

Details: Osmanthus Oolong latte; medium; Half sugar; No ice; with honey boba; from Hechalou