QUICK PICK: HAPPY LEMON'S COCOA WITH ROCK SALT AND CHEESE

     What can you say about the whole Milk Tea craze? No disrespect to those who have been totally captivated by it, but I personally find the stuff disgusting. If you say the words "Gong Cha" or "Serenitea" in my office, everyone loses their frickin' minds, and BAM, it's a given.. They have to order delivery. 


     It's not like I didn't give it a chance either. During a monthly meeting, everyone was asked where we wanted to order merienda, everyone inexplicably answered "Gong Cha". I was baffled because I was thinking to myself.. "But.. That's not.. Merienda...". The fact that we wouldn't be eating any form of solid food (except for the pearls in the bottom of the drink, of course) wasn't an issue. I was suggesting San Lo's Famous Emapanadas but they wouldn't hear it. They wanted their Milk Tea, and nothing else in the world mattered.

My officemates reading the menu of Gong Cha

      My grumbling tummy, however begged to differ. Nonetheless, I decided to not let my pickyness spoil their Milk Tea Party so I played along and asked for a chocolate one, hoping the overpowering taste of the chocolate would blend beautifully with the tea. 


    It did not. 

      It became highly evident that, unless it's "C2 Apple" or "Nestea", I'm not a tea person. 


     So when I heard about "Happy Lemon", I brushed it off as just one of those Milk Tea places. A few months ago, I was reading up about it, and I heard about their famous drink, "Cocoa with Rock Salt & Cheese", and was immediately intrigued, and a little bit weirded out. 


     In my mind, I imagined a glass of the chocolate milk tea I had tried during our meeting, topped off with grated quick melt cheese and a sprinkling of salt. Weird, right? 


      I asked my friend, the lovely Donna, if she tried had tried it already, and she said she had, and she loved it. I then asked my officemate, and Serenitea addict, Chi, if she had tried it. She said "Yes, but I like Serenitea more". So I asked her why, and she replied, "Because Happy Lemon's Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese isn't tea. It's chocolate!"


     It seemed my disgust with milk tea clouded my thinking so much, I hadn't realized that Happy Lemon's Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese does not have the word "tea" in it at all. 


 Problem Solved.  


     So one fine day, when Rina and I were at Rockwell, we came across a Happy Lemon, sat ourselves down and decided to give the popular drink a try. 


    And so began our addiction to Happy Lemon's Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese. 



        The reason why this is a quick pick instead of a full on post is because I wanted to profess my love for this one specific drink. Like a lovesick cow that is convinced he has found his soulmate, I don't want to even LOOK at the menu of Happy Lemon anymore. I don't know how anything in their roster of drinks can compare to the awesomeness of the Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese.

          I'll be honest with you.. It wasn't love at first sight. Since my straw pierced straight through the white froth that comprises the top layer of the drink, and went straight to the chocolate liquid, i wasn't impressed on my first sip.     

       In fact, I actually found it a bit bland. I looked at Rina and said, "I don't get what all the fuss is about.". It came off to me as something like a watered down chocolate milk. 

      I then took the straw, and dabbed the white foam, and gave that a taste. I realized there was a certain sharpness to it that was meant to be mixed with the mildness of the chocolate. I gave the glass a stir with the straw until it blended with the chocolate. 

     My initial thoughts were that the white cream was the cheese, and the chocolate sprinkles was the "Rock Salt". Apparently, the cheese is already mixed in with the Rock Salt.

       

         And just like that, I was a goner. 

        As I suspected, the white foam blending with the chocolate turned this into a phenomenally refreshing drink. I have no use for pearls and all that crap. I love the Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese just the way it is (If that's not true love, then I don't know what is). The light creaminess of the chocolate is tempered by the saltiness of the cheese, creating a wonderful balance between the two.

       Every time my mouth takes to the straw, I run the risk of finishing the whole glass in just one sip. I've been back to Happy Lemon around five times... in the span of a month. Rina and I usually share one Large Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese (P100), but after the most recent incident wherein I checked my phone for a few mins and when I looked at the glass, all that was left was ice, its about time we start getting one each. 

        When going dining out, my focus has always been on the food. With my new found addiction to Happy Lemon, this could be the start of a drinking problem for Rina and I (We fight over the drink).