Good Taste: A mood ring, but for boba

You're beholding Good Taste, a menu for treating yourself in the Bay Area. This week, we present a discerning index for approaching our bottomless boba scene.

Au naturel

There's no refined sugar, gluten, or animal products used in the tea and coffee drinks at Aura (101 Spear Street, SF), which are sweetened with sugarcane-derived jaggery. Customers can stay in familiar territory with matchas and mochas, or try something different like banana milk or housemade almond milk flavored with saffron and cardamom.

Feeling fruity

With 14 Northern California locations, it's pretty easy to find a Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea , and it's a favorite among the many chains that exist in the region. Sure, you're still drinking a high-sugar beverage when all is said and done, but there's at least the appearance of health here with all the fresh (and presumably thawed from frozen) fruit. The cherry tea is particularly zesty.

Bad and bougie

If you like your boba bad and bougie in the most complimentary sense of the expression, there are three Bay Area locations of Urban Ritual (488 Fell Street, San Francisco; 140 South B Street, San Mateo; 100 N. Almaden Avenue, San Jose) ready to serve your fancy ass. There's always something new and seasonal to try, but I'm partial to the White Grape Yuzu (white grape oolong tea with yuzu honey) and the Feed Me Ube, a drink tribute to local boba expert feed meimei that has a purple crème brulée, taro, coconut milk, and rice milk.

Drop the beet

The afterparty

Lilikoi Boba has seven Bay Area locations, but just one is open late on weeknights and weekends. The San Francisco location at 3108 Fillmore is open until 11pm most nights, and until an incredible 2am on Fridays and Saturdays. Tropical drinks and horchata blends are the strengths here, with plenty of non-caffeinated options if you want to stop partying at some point—or not.