Happy Lemon (Kearney Mesa)

Salted cheese. On top of milk tea. Who would think to put cheese with iced tea and who would want to drink it again?

Happy Lemon is a chain of tea and juice shops from Shanghai. This spot in Kearney Mesa is supposedly their biggest location anywhere – no surprise, shops in Asia are tiny – but both times we went, the place was packed and the line was out the door. It was just written up by Eater: https://sandiego.eater.com/2018/7/23/17603272/global-bubble-tea-cafe-china-happy-lemon-convoy-san-diego

Their claim to fame is their Milk Tea with salted cheese. Think cream cheese (is that even cheese?) and cream blended together into a thick sort of sour cream, poured on top of milk tea.

I found it hard to imagine. I for one avoided the cheese – I am a citrus lover and I loved both the drinks I tried, the Freshly Squeezed Lemon with Black Tea (Arnold Palmer, really), and the Fresh Grapefruit Green Tea which is absolutely delicious. The Green Tea is actually Jasmine Green Tea and the floral of the Jasmine blends amazingly with the more delicate flavor of the grapefruit which is a little pulpy. Perfect for a hot day!! Or sweltering evening!

Mr A remembers going to the Happy Lemon at Beijing Lu mall in Guangzhou back in 2009. Apparently it isn’t there now, but when it WAS there, it was very popular – I found references to it in multiple blogs. References to paying $1.25 for a milk tea!! That’s not what we paid in San Diego!

Check it out, you’ll be glad you did.

But for the record, Mr A was not a fan of the Salted Cheese…

http://www.anasiantraveler.com/2008/04/beijing-lu.html

http://desecratedsoul.blogspot.com/2017/05/guangzhou-2016-part-eight-bubble-tea.html