The Alley has been a bubble tea shop that opened its first location in Vancouver a few years ago. It has since opened up a few more locations. The interior of the cafe is small with a few tables and decor made out of wood with lots of plants all around. They also have quite a few motifs of a deer which is also their logo.
No. 9 milk tea
We both decided to get a rendition of the no. 9 tea based drink because based on the reviews, it was a must have. Grayson got the milk tea version while I got the latte version. I think this was easily one of the best bubble tea drinks I’ve had. The tea was strong in flavour but had both fruity and floral notes in it to brighten it up. The milk tea was much creamier in flavour while the latte made with real milk was “crisper.” Both of them had the same level of tea flavour though. I’d definitely order this one again in a heart beat!
Muscat Black tea with snow velvet
Grayson wanted to try one of their snow velvet drinks and this was the one he went with. The tea had an earthy taste from the black tea and a sweetness from the muscat syrup. The snow velvet on top was rich but as time went on, it slowly sunk to the bottom. There wasn’t a distinct taste to the foam beyond a light sweetness.
The Alley Trio milk tea
Since I tried the no. 9 milk tea last time, this time I decided to get their original milk tea. It had a depth of flavour with floral and fruitier notes which is my kind of tea. With that said, I preferred the no. 9 over this one because it was more floral. This drink came with rainbow jelly, coconut jelly and tapioca pearls. Even though there were 3 different toppings, there was barely any in the cup! It definitely wasn’t around to go around and you’d get much more toppings at Sharetea ordering the happy family. That’s something I’ve noticed at the Alley, they skimp on the toppings but excel at the tea.
Crunchy Tiramisu milk
Grayson decided to try this drink out because of his new love of tiramisu dessert. The drink was an absolute delight with the bitterness of the coffee balancing the sweetness of the pearls. It resembled a tiramsiu in a cup and was presented in a layered smoothie style with crunchy topping throughout. I wasn’t sure about this one but I would definitely get it again in a heartbeat.
Crunchy Strawberry milk
This was so reminiscent of a strawberry sundae! It had fresh strawberry sauce in it to add colour and oh so delicious. I loved the crunchy flaky texture on top and appreciated how the pearls were closer to the top so you could save them for the end. I didn’t like it as much as the tiramsiu but so tasty regardless.
Ube brown sugar puff
What an amazing monthly special! I wish it could stick around. The ube flavour is strong and it’s lightly sweetened with the brown sugar pearls and custard on the bottom. I wasn’t sure how I felt about having custard in a drink but it added such amazing vanilla notes! Yum! I wish it would stay all year round!
Crunchy cocoa milk tea
Grayson said that this one was not as good as the crunchy tiramisu milk tea. It reminded him of an elevated chocolate milk because of all the toppings and layers. The cocoa milk tea part is misleading though because it’s a slush and not a milk. It also came with the same creamy layer and crunchy topping as their crunchy strawberry milk.
