Authentic Taiwanese drink in Los Angeles: Half and Half Tea House

As an international student, I often not only crave some decent Chinese, Taiwanese, Asian food, but also the drinks. Luckily, Los Angeles is the city that satisfies all your desires for food.

The most well-known Taiwanese drink is called Boba in SoCal, Tapioca in NorCal, and Bubble tea in New York.

So what on earth is Boba that makes both international students from Asia and Asian American crazy about?

According to Wikipedia, “boba is a Taiwanese tea-based drink invented in tea shops in Taichung, Taiwan, during the 1980s.^[1] Most bubble tea recipes contain a tea base mixed with fruit or milk. Ice-blended versions are usually mixed with fruit or syrup, resulting in a slushy consistency. Most bubble teas come with small chewy tapioca balls (粉圓, fěnyuán), commonly called "pearls" (珍珠, zhēnzhū) or "boba" (波霸, bōbà).^[2]

There are many variants of the drinks, and many kinds of ingredients are added. The most popular boba drinks are milk tea with tapioca and milk green tea with tapioca.

Today one not only can find a teahouse at almost every corner in Taiwan, but also in nearby countries such as China, Japan, Korea, and even in the United States and Europe. McDonald’s in German now serves boba drinks too. Of course, in Los Angeles, where many Chinese resides, there are many teahouses that also serve authentic boba drinks.

Now let us watch a video clip on how boba plays an important role in the life of Asian Americans.

So out of so many boba stores in Los Angeles, why are people particularly fond of Half & Half that it has become the premiere boba shop in San Gabriel Valley area?

Hordes of people wait in line. Yes, not kidding, the line is always this long.
 
Half & Half's innovation can be found in both design of the cup and the taste of tea.

Half & Half offers 2 sizes of cup, Unfortunately, the signature fatty cups don’t usually fit into the cup holders of ordinary cars, so better bottom up the drink before driving! (I doubt if anyone would have problem finishing it because it is just way too tasty.)

As for the taste of tea and boba, the owner modified the original boba tea. Instead of using milk tea, Half & Half use pure milk, and replace sugar with honey. The boba are dipped into honey before being added to the cup. This form of sweetening gives a more natural and rich flavor to the entire drink.

Let’s see what best sellers are.

I personally don’t like any of the drinks on the top 10. But I really like their original flavor, Iced Milk Drink with Honey Boba.

The flavors were purer than any other boba drinks I had. I always feel like I’m in heaven after having a sip of the iced milk drink with honey boba. Even all the boba shops in Taiwan, you can literally see boba shops at every corner in Taiwan, there’s no none of them that I think is good enough to even compete with Half& Half. The boba is great, chewy, and warm. Instead of using ice cubes, Half& Half blended ice into milk, so the drink will not get diluted when ice starts melting. However, I do think the normal sweetness is too sweet for me, so I usually ask for a quarter of sugar instead.

Other drinks Half&Half serves are iced/hot flavored milk teas, iced/hot flavored teas, iced flavored drinks & juices, smoothies, iced/hot Coffee drinks & latte, and hot Herbal Teas. You can add extras into any kind of drink of your choice, including honey boba, grass jelly, coffee jelly, pudding, clear jelly, lychee jelly and aloe vera.

Half&Half is also very understanding, they know you would be craving some authentic Taiwanese food after tasting their perfect drinks, so they have variety choices of food and snacks too. There are rice/noddle meal sets (chicken/pork/unagi/salmon), sandwiches, salads, brick Toast, pocket Toast, shaved Ice, & desserts.

Now, you must be wondering what if I don’t live in San Gabriel Valley Area? Don’t worry, Half&Half has 5 stores in different city. Wherever, you go, there’s at least one that is close to where your current location is.

The one that is closest to University of Southern California is

Half & Half Tea House

141 N Atlantic Blvd
Ste 112
Monterey Park, CA 91754

 (626) 872-0200 

Hours: Mon-Sun 11:30 am - 12:30 am

Cash only

What are you waiting for? Time to get the best boba drink that is worshiped by the SoCal boba-lovers.