Boba Hot Pot, an Unlikely Winter Food Trend, Has Arrived in San Jose | Eater SF

"I tried the boba hot pot at Milk Tea Lab's San Jose location (1601 Branham Lane), an Instagrammable, hot take on boba served for $15.99 (for up to three people) that includes your choice of three toppings—from house-made boba to egg custard to assorted fruit jellies—and a large, shabu-shabu–style cauldron of tea warmed by a gel candle underneath. You add as much of the provided simple syrup and pre-warmed milk as you want, stir the mixture with a bamboo ladle, and ladle tea into individual cups (the owner advises putting toppings in your cup rather than the communal pot so they don't just melt into a sweet soup). Six vials of house-made fruit syrups allow further customization. The whole experience is enjoyably interactive and shows attention to detail: almost every ingredient on the tray exceeded expectations—especially the house-made boba and the egg custard—and the strawberry syrup tasted surprisingly close to real fruit. The fun is in mixing toppings and syrups so each cup from the pot can be a little different; introduced in mid-December as a seasonal item, it doubled this store's winter sales within two weeks, and for now the San Jose location is the only Milk Tea Lab in the Bay Area offering it." - Elaine Wu