Musings from an Iced Green Tea Latte Snob

Iced Green Tea Latte Adventures

Taken from the pages of "Epic Asia Trip 2012"...

So I love iced green tea latte.  It can be freezing cold winter and I would want one.  I got hooked on my last epic adventure right after college, at a Starbucks near my hotel in Singapore.  It's just not something that I can find at every Starbucks in the U.S.

On my most recent Asia tour, my friends always saw me with IGTL.  Since I won't have the time to write about the whole adventure, I will do an IGTL review.  You have your beer or wine snobs; I consider myself as an IGTL snob.

Our 2-week adventure started in "the Land of the Morning Calm", or Korea, mainly around Seoul. There was an abundance of cafes and bakeries with IGTLs in the capital of South Korea...

1. noi lounge cafe

This place was one of the stops on our first evening exploring Seoul.  We came across this on a side street.  One of the non-chain cafes around the Hongdae (Hongik University) campus, it has a open patio setup and seems to tailor to hipsters and college students (Hongdae is a fine arts college).  We also discovered the coffee-beer combo here, although the fad never took off.

On the right is the view looking out of the cafe towards the evening cityscape.

The IGTL was a nice break for a long night ahead... which lasted well into the morning.

Sorry, no pictures of the drink itself... couldn't wait, needed my fix.

Being the first IGTL in a while, it's hardly to establish a baseline, but it's a satisfactory start.

Pro(s):

- Great balance of latte and tea

Con(s):

- Big chucks of ice, risks diluting the flavor when they melt

2. Paris Baguette (PB)

PB is a chain cafe / bakery all over South Korea.  This one sits on the corner of the intersection across from the main entrance to Hongdae.

Nothing special about this IGTL... ordinary is the best word to describe it.  Didn't come with any whip cream, which I think it's important for this drink.

However, it complemented nicely with some bakery treats, like an egg tart and... I don't remember those other two things were (see photo on the right).

3. Cafe Nescafe

This place was on the other corner of the intersection across from the main entrance of Hongdae.  I had a late night craving while giving our late arrival friend a quick neighborhood tour (the Asia tour party arrived on different days).

This IGTL was probably the worst out of all the places I tried.

Had a very "generic" taste, like something I get from a store-bought powder mix.  Too much ice, also in big blocks.  It had a heavy green tea after-taste.

The plus side is that the place's open late.

I guess I was bound to hit a bad apple soon or later...

4. Beans Bin

We stumbled upon this place after a long day of palace touring.  We were wandering (unknowingly) our way up to Bukchon.  One of the better IGTLs that I had on this whole epic adventure.

Pro(s):

- Crushed ice

- Smooth texture

- More latte taste, but still maintained a great balance of tea and latte

- Came with a cool-looking buzzer to tell you when your order is ready

Con(s):

- Expensive

- Takes a while if you also order food (in my case, it was a half portion waffle with apple, cinnamon, and whip cream!)

5. Waffle. Coffee

This place's below street level, on the road leading to the main entrance of Hongdae (it's a slight uphill). From its name, I would guess it serves waffles and coffee?

Along with some excellent baked goods and coffee drinks, this nature-themed cafe has a small petting pen which only has lambs.

We sat next to the lambs.  Sure, there's the animal smell, but it didn't take away from the deliciousness of our food and drinks.

Besides the glass of IGTL with generous amount of whip cream, I got a whip cream-strawberry-ice cream waffle combo.  Note that this was some time in the afternoon, long after breakfast.

Hands down, the best IGTL I had on this adventure.  Just as expensive as the one from Beans Bin, at least it came in a glass.

Generous portion of whip cream, even had some green tea sprinkles.  Nothing but goodness from this green tea and latte creation.  I even have to give it props for aesthetics.

6. Dunkin Dounts (DD)

This was near the end of our Korea leg of the epic Asia tour.  We're now in Haeundae, Busan, right next to the beach.  Unfortunately, our stay here would be short, almost like a layover before the ferry to Japan.

DD is everywhere in Korea, similar to KFC in China.  I had this IGTL every morning in Korea, since a DD was attached to the building of my hostel, but chose not to write about it until now.

Pro(s):

- Convenient and cheap, since DD is commonplace

Con(s):

- It's a hit or miss.  Quality varies from store to store.

- Common problems include too much ice, too frothy, a heavy tea after-taste.

7. Starbucks (SB)

No pictures of this place or the drink, since I actually don't remember when or in which country I had it.  However, I need to grade SB since it's the origin of my addiction to IGTL.

Whether I had this in Korea or Japan, it was probably OK since it didn't stand out in my memory.

Pro(s):

- Came with whip cream

Con(s):

- Too heavy on the latte side

The 2nd part of our epic journey took us to "the Land of the Rising Sun", or Japan.  This leg took us from Hakata, to Hiroshima, to Kyoto, and finally to Tokyo, with a few detours here and there.  Let's see how the Japanese fare with my favorite latte drink.

8. Cafe Du Monde (CDM)

My first encounter with this chain cafe was actually in New Orleans for one of my marathons (that's the secret of how I can drink so much IGTL w/o getting chubby: extreme amounts of exercise)...

Surprisingly, I didn't find a place that serves IGTL until the middle of the Japan leg, in Kyoto.  This CDM was on the 2nd floor of Kyoto Station.

I say the Japanese didn't have IGTL down as well as the Koreans.  Just look at how small it is!  The sandwich was alright though.


9. Light (Ra-i-to)

This was a small place off one of the shopping alleys in Kyoto.  Initially, I didn't count this as an IGTL because it's a tapioca drink.

It's in front of a small UFO Catcher arcade and a girl's glamour photo booth store (this is where a group of young Japanese girls goes to take sticker photos with these digital backgrounds, which can include magazine covers, etc.).  You can see both in the photo below.

How do I know these things?  Don't judge...

On the right is our Japanese friend looking intently at the menu.

Pro(s):

- Cheap

- Has tapioca

Con(s):

- Small

- Bland taste (can be a pro if you don't like sweet)

- Skimmed on the tapioca

- A bit heavy on the green tea taste

10. First Kitchen

This was more of a fast-food place than a cafe.  Situated across from one of the entrances to Leisureland and the ferris wheel on Odaiba, Tokyo, it just so happened to have IGTL on its menu.  After a long day of walking around this man-made island and disappointingly watching the famous giant Gundam move its head for 10 mins, an IGTL was a welcoming break.

Again, the Japanese didn't quite have it.  The small scoop of vanilla ice cream was a nice touch.  I think this's also a tapioca drink, judging by the small black spheres at the bottom of the cup.