

A pleasant enough drink but nothing I’d rush back for. I found it to be a very sweet mango drink, a little creamier than straight mango juice but with little of the fermented yogurt taste I’d hoped for. He shook it up, added the pearls that I’d requested, and sealed the top.

CoCo Fresh makes several beverages containing this sweet probiotic yogurt drink, including green tea yakult, lemon yakult, and mango yakult.Īfter I ordered the mango version, the counter person opened two tiny bottles of yakult and mixed them into a mango liquid. I returned to CoCo Fresh to try another drink that was new to me: Yakult. Mango yakult with pearls (Photo: Carolyn B. The color was a little lurid, with the green tea, yellow pudding, and black pearls, but the flavor was very nice. Her drink was well-balanced, the sweet, eggy pudding complementing the stronger matcha flavor. Matcha milk tea with pudding and pearls (Photo: Carolyn B. Rather than standard black tea, she opted for matcha milk tea. Talia offered to take one for the team and ordered her drink with pearls and pudding. “You mean a custard?” I asked, and she nodded. “Tofu?” It looked like a quivering chunk of golden bean curd. When I asked the cashier to tell me about the pudding, she reached for a serving spoon and scooped up a creamy yellow square. We’d all seen pudding at bubble tea shops before, too, but none of us had tried it. Two of the CoCo Fresh signature drinks – dubbed the “Two Ladies” and “Three Guys” – come with “pudding.” The Two Ladies is black tea with tapioca pearls and pudding, while the Three Guys includes pearls, pudding, and grass jelly. Poster advertising the signature “Two Ladies” drink (Photo: Carolyn B.

Of the drinks we sampled, this one was the all-around favorite. LET’S ROAST THAT ONEĪttracted by a sign on the counter promoting a special “roasted” tea feature, Hannah opted for “roasted milk tea with pearls.” In appearance, it resembled a regular black milk tea, but the flavor was much richer, with a more pronounced tea flavor. Blending it into the regular black tea, though, diffuses the flavor, making it more like a standard milk tea with a bit of a salty bite. The cream by itself tastes almost like salted caramel, a mix of sweet and salty. My “Salty Cream Black Tea” with pearls looked particularly pretty, with a thick layer of frothy white cream at the top of my cup and dark pearls lining the bottom. I’ve seen “salty cream” tea on bubble tea shop menus before, but since it’s not particularly common, I wanted to try the CoCo Fresh version. Roasted milk tea and salty cream tea, both with pearl (Photo: Carolyn B. The CoCo Fresh menu includes all the bubble tea standards, from milk teas to fruit slushes, but we were scouting the lengthy list of selections, scrolling across an electronic display above the counter, for options that you don’t find in every local boba shop. Post-it notes, where customers have left drawings and sketches, cover a section of the counter, and the communal table at the back of the café would make a nice work spot or meet-up location. In the Blundell Centre complex at 8100 No 2 Road, Richmond’s CoCo Fresh is a cheerful space, with white tables, yellow and lime green chairs, and a larger-than-life inflatable character welcoming guests at the front door.
