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First dibs: LiHO’s Black Truffle Series — yes, the mushroom

Truffles are quite the diva, they’re strong, loud, and always steal the show. Sure, I like my truffle chips, truffle fries, and even truffles with my butter. So, when I saw that I’ll be trying LiHO’s The Black Diamond – Black Truffle Series, I was curious, to say the least.

“The mushroom or the chocolate?”, I asked Corliss, our social media executive, just to be sure. “Yes, the mushroom”, she answers tentatively as we both walked to LiHO, curious to see how this rather savoury mushroom would fit into LiHO’s range of teas.

Group of Li Ho Black Truffle Series
Group of Li Ho Black Truffle Series

The series is made up of three drinks: you have the Marble Black Truffle Latte (S$5.5o Medium, S$6.50 Large), Fudgy Black Truffle Chocolate (S$6.50 Medium, S$7.50 Large) and the Velvety Black Truffle CheezHO Oolong (S$6.50 Medium, S$7.50 Large). At first glance, these drinks are of a rather interesting colour, they all came tinged with a moody grey hue. Still, ever the adventurous and intrepid food writer, I shall reserve prejudices and judgements till I have tasted these drinks.

Marble Black Truffle Latte
Marble Black Truffle Latte

First up on the list is the Marble Black Truffle Latte. This tall cup came in a shade that maybe Christian Grey would approve. With a truffle blend and green tea base, things can’t wrong, can they? As each creamy swirl melds into the murky tea, I can’t help be mesmerised and wonder how these taste testers actually came up with a truffle based drink.

On the first sip, everything seems fine and dandy and you get those clean green tea notes that we’re all so familiar with. It’s the aftertaste that is really a jolt to the senses. You are assaulted by the pungent, almost savoury taste of truffles that left my palate a little confused and battered. Sure, I can appreciate the pristine quality of the tea and the powerful scent of truffles, but you know, time and place, people.

Fudgy Black Truffle Chocolate
Fudgy Black Truffle Chocolate

Okay, so the first one wasn’t all that great but we shan’t throw in the towel just yet. Let us take a deep dive into the Fudgy Black Truffle Chocolate. With chocolate, it seems that nothing can truly go wrong. With this creation, we have a gorgeous and indulgent swirl of cream that comes with a shower of biscoff crumbs.

With the slate-grey bottom of LiHO’s truffle blend followed by a chocolate drink, this looked promising for sure.

Fudgy Black Truffle Chocolate
Fudgy Black Truffle Chocolate

Alright, here goes a sip. Here, the truffles have wilfully (maybe, unwillingly) taken a seat. You have the richness of the chocolate which was welcomed by all means in my book. Perhaps, it was the fact that the truffle blend was at the bottom of the drink and subsequently paired with the heavyweight of the chocolate that made this drink all the more bearable.

Of course, truffle being truffle, she does peek through sometimes but the chocolate manages to temper her ferociousness quite a bit.

Li Ho Black Truffle Series 3
Li Ho Black Truffle Series 3

Now, for the last drink on our agenda, the Velvety Black Truffle CheezHO Oolong. A drink that comes with a thick, pearl-grey layer of CheezHO layer that’s paired with LiHO’s signature oolong tea. A colour combination that resembled a century egg and I was all for it. Plus, it was topped with Oreo bits which certainly couldn’t hurt.

With any cheese foam drink, you have two choices: sip from the top to have the cheese foam or use their straw to have the tea first—it’s a bubble tea drinker’s choice. LiHO has always been top-notch with their tea, so there’s no surprise there. The cheese foam laden with the intoxicating scent of truffles, which to my surprise, wasn’t all that bad. After all, cheese and truffles do play well together.

Maybe the combination of the tea is what made this drink a little way off the beaten path. Still, the Oreo was still incentive enough for a second sip.

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