Coco Review: Coco bubble tea and price discrimination
Last month there was word about a new bubble tea place in Midtown. Midtown Lunch uncovered the new chain in Midtown East. Apparently the chain is from Taiwan and the prices are right for midtown. Usually bubble tea in NYC is priced outrageously compared to what you might find in the bubble tea motherland of Taiwan. But if it’s between $3 to $4 and it’s not in Chinatown, that’s as good as it gets. One can tell that Coco Bubble Tea is different just from some of items on the menu.
I got the drink called 3 Guys. It has pudding, grass jelly, and tapioca or boba. Google tells me that bubble teas are fairly high in calories. Probably somewhere between 250 to 500 calories depending on size, sweetness, and amount and type of milk added. When you put pudding in there, it probably doesn’t help the calorie count but it’s fun to drink. Mostly the pudding just offers a jello-like experience. It’s very smooth and sometimes it could pass for the grass jelly.
If you’ve never had grass jelly, basically it tastes like nothing. I used to eat this stuff for dessert as a fat kid, and basically we’d just pour some sugar water on it. It’s a summery kind of dessert and for me it’s mostly a consistency/texture thing. Maybe some versions are more pronounced than others and perhaps they’re better in Taiwan… but at Coco they mostly taste of nothing. I don’t mind it though because it’s a fun ingredient in my bubble tea.
At some point bubble tea or boba becomes too expensive. Here in NY, I think prices around three to four dollars is normal, although in other places that’s excessive. You would never pay that kinda money in Taiwan for this stuff. I learned from the Planet Money podcast that this is Price Discrimination. Apparently this is what happens when people use things like coupons or Groupons.
Price discrimination works in a funny way because I’m sure folks from the west coast or from Taiwan (where it’s cheaper) would balk at the idea of paying $4 for bubble tea in NY. But consumers in NY are ready to pay that. I’m sure Coco could benefit from the exposure if they did a Groupon deal. But then someone like me would just get all like a couponwhore and wish for more coupons instead of buying more bubble tea. Ah, life dilemmas.
All of this to say that Coco does a good version of the bubble tea. Unlike some places, they appear to use real tea instead of just powder. They’re really close to Grand Central so for those who work in that area, this place could be a nice spot for the warmer months ahead.
Coco459 Lexington Ave.New York, NY 10017212-518-8808
Posted by Danny on April 11, 2011 at 6:57 pm
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