It’s a battle of the boba, a tapioca smackdown.

The challengers: Boba Suite Tea House, located at 713 S. Crouse Ave., and Unique Tea House, located at 171 Marshall St.

I’m not making this competition stuff up, either. When we went to Unique Tea House, we had just come from Boba Suite and had a Boba Suite cup with us. A Unique Tea House employee told us, “We don’t allow Boba Suite drinks in our seating area. They’ve already talked enough crap about us.”

We quickly stashed the cup away in a backpack. This bubble tea rivalry was fiercer than we thought.

Choosing between Boba Suite and Unique Tea House can be difficult, especially if you’ve only been to one or the other. But as you will soon see, not all bubble tea is created equally.

To try and give as fair a review as possible, we ordered the same drinks at both Boba Suite and Unique Tea House: the Almond Milk Tea and Chocolate Smoothie. Both of these drinks were available hot or cold, but we opted for cold both times.

Boba Suite Tea House

Walking into Boba Suite, the first thing that hit us was the smell of blueberry muffins. I was confused until we saw the shop sell muffins and cupcakes, including flavors like red velvet, in addition to drinks.

The cashier was friendly enough and the service was quick. We received our drinks in about four minutes.

One nice thing about Boba Suite is its diverse menu. There are traditional flavors, like Taro Milk Tea, as well as more unconventional ones, like Cappuccino Milk Tea. You can also add additional toppings besides the standard boba, including egg pudding, coffee and lychee jelly.

Our first drink, the Chocolate Smoothie, $3.25 for 16 ounces, wasn’t what we expected. The “smoothie” was more of a Chocolate Milk Tea, and we couldn’t help but wonder if they got our order wrong. Whether it was a smoothie or milk tea, the chocolate flavor was weak.

The Almond Milk Tea, $3.25 for 16 ounces, was an even bigger disappointment. The almond flavor tasted artificial and was disappointing, however, it still managed to overpower the weak milk tea. I couldn’t taste the flavor of the milk tea at all. The drink was so unappetizing that we had a hard time finishing it.

Unique Tea House

After taking a wrong turn on Marshall Street, we almost ended up in a tattoo parlor trying to find Unique Tea House, having never been there before. Unique Tea House has a single sign indicating its location on the second floor of a building.

Walking up the steps to the teahouse, I was hit by the smell of smoke. Not exactly the appetite-inducing blueberry muffin smell we got at Boba Suite. However, upon entering the teahouse, my eyes lit up with excitement.

Unique Tea House feels as if the staff is paying more homage to the traditional bubble teashop. They sell Asian candy and sweets like Pocky and Hi-Chew, a Japanese chewing gum. Everything from the tables, which have an Asian motif, to the lantern lights makes the place seem more authentic.

Although the menu is slightly smaller at Unique Tea House, they still have plenty of tapioca drinks and smoothies. There are also more exotic options, like a Mung Bean Milk Shake and virgin cocktail drinks.

Despite the aforementioned warning from the Unique Tea House employee, the service was very amiable. Our drinks were ready in less than two minutes, much quicker than Boba Suite.

The Chocolate Smoothie, $3.25 for a short, was everything Boba Suite’s version was not and more. The smoothie had a slushie texture, was rich in chocolate flavor and had plenty of boba at the bottom.

Our second drink, the Almond Black Tea with Milk, $3.95for a regular, far exceeded Boba Suite’s version as well. I distinctly tasted the milk tea and almond flavors. The almond was especially pronounced without being overpowering and tasted pure.

The Verdict

Don’t waste your time and money going to Boba Suite. Unique Tea House has better drinks and a better atmosphere, despite having slightly higher prices. Unique Tea House, by far, offers the best boba for your buck.

Published on March 6, 2013 at 2:44 am

Contact Riddley: rsgemper@syr.edu