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Off Campus Highlight: Boba Cruz

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSC chapter.

Dining halls just not good enough tonight? Looking for something to do to get away from campus? No idea on where to get a specific thing? Completely lost the minute you get off at the Metro Station or just looking for a recommendation? Have no fear OCH is here!

For those of you who don’t know, boba milk tea is a Taiwanese tea-based drink, usually made with a tea base with fruit or milk, with chew tapioca balls called boba, pearls, or bubbles, that is drunk through an extra large straw. It’s extremely popular in Asia and has started taking over in the USA.

 

(Boba Cruz)

 

Boba Cruz is one of the only places off campus to get some quality boba milk teas. Not only can you get the classics with boba for $3 (The Thai seems to be the most popular choice), you can also get boba tea with flavored milk. They also give you the option of adding toppings such as apple jellies, crushed strawberries, and, to correspond with their “Boba” Fett display, Dark Vader: Frozen Expresso cubes (a shot of Vietnamese style expresso frozen cube).

 

(The menu)

They don’t only do boba milk teas, though. They also do coffee, mainly Vietnamese iced coffee style. If you’re a non-coffee drinker like me and have absolutely no clue how the ethnicity of coffee makes a difference in the taste, let coffeegeeks.com enlighten you: “At its core, Vietnamese iced coffee is a combination of concentrated coffee brew, condensed (very sweet) milk (nb: do not use evaporated milk; always condensed milk), and ice. Super-sweet condensed milk is used for a few reasons, not the least of which is the bitter nature of most authentic Vietnamese coffee brews.”

 

They also feature a large array of signature specials such as the “Granny Smith Strikes Back” with green apple flavored green iced tea with boba, fresh diced granny smith apples, and green apple jellies (these guys really do love their Star Wars references), the “Fuzzy Momo” with peach black milk tea, chopped peaches, and black boba, and the “Banana Slug”, in honor of our campus, with banana milk tea with pudding, coffee jelly, and black boba.

 

(The counter with extras)

 

For fun extras they also sell extras such as Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and High Chews for $3 and $0.50 respectively.

 

Price Range: The drinks here range from $3 to $5, so if you’re only looking for a drink this should not break the bank. It is a little pricey compared to what other estalishments offer for boba milk tea, so it’s not recommended for a daily drink, unless boba milk tea to you is something you do enjoy drinking everyday. In that case, go nuts!

 

Hours

Tue – Thu: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Fri – Sat: 12:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Sun: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm

How to get here from the Metro Station – From getting off the bus from campus, go to Pacific Avenue, cross the street, and then turn right. It’s next to the Creamery, just look for the Boba Cruz sign and a neon sign that says Bubble Tea in the window!

 
Clarissa Hyun is a Class of 2016 Psych major at UCSC. She hails from the birthland of the Mac, which she states is very overrated. On her spare time she draws, attempts to write, and eats. Which is totally a hobby. Yes.