VanFoodies.com

Another bubble tea shop opens in Vancouver. Hailed from Taiwan, Baroness is by design a boutique franchise with only 3 locations in Taiwan, 1 in Hong Kong, and now 1 in Vancouver. They are located near Broadway and MacDonald.

Baroness specializes in brown sugar pearls, so when you order pearls, you are guaranteed to get the brown sugar pearls in your drink. The franchise owner created his own recipe of brown sugar and he continues to oversee the production of this secret recipe to ensure quality.

Drinks

I was invited to a tasting of some of its signature drinks. They included:

Brown Sugar Milk (pictured right below) – Obviously I had to try this drink, since I’ve been on the hunt for the best Brown Sugar Milk. The drink was quite tasty. There was a lot of caramel flavour from the brown sugar, without being super sweet. I found the pearls to be softer than others but after talking to the franchisee, they explained that their pearls are typically softer in the first hour, while they are still warm. It worked out because as the drink was being brought to temperature with the ice, the pearls were of just the right texture for me. It had a softer exterior but nice and chewy inside.

Purple Yam Milk (pictured left above) – What a pretty drink! This drink was quite light even though it’s prepared with full sugar level. Some may actually find it too light. I ordered it without the pearls, though, since I already tried the brown sugar pearls. I bet the drink would be sweeter once you add a topping. Some had it with pudding, which I thought could give it a creamy texture. Without any topping, I could taste the purple yam and it definitely feels healthier than most other bubble tea drinks.

Egg Yolk Smoothie – This was not on the menu but was offered for me to try, so the name may change when it finally makes it on the menu. Apparently adding an egg yolk to your drink is quite common in Taiwan so they are experimenting with it. There’s egg yolk, milk and lychee syrup, with no extra sugar added. There’s some red-coloured syrup at the bottom for colour but is not meant to add any flavour. Even though there’s no sugar, it had just the right amount of sweetness. People may be skeptical about the egg yolk but I couldn’t really taste it; instead, it added extra creaminess to the drink. It reminded me of a calpis drink/Yakult 益力多/哇哈哈 and I love those drinks! I got to choose between lychee, passion fruit and sapodilla and I chose lychee. I’m curious what sapodilla tastes like – never had it before.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed the drinks I tried at Baroness. The signature brown sugar pearls had good texture and not overly sweet. They also offer oat milk as an alternative to milk, which I believe would be a tasty option and great for those who cannot have milk. I saw that they have Uji Matcha Latte and Thai Tea Latte. Would love to give them a try too.

Disclosure: This tasting was provided to me complimentary of the tea shop. However, the views and opinions are my own.

Baroness
2790 West Broadway, Vancouver
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