BY TARA BURKE

We’ve been on a matcha/green tea kick lately so when we heard of the Jasmine Green Tea Chiffon Doughtnut at BESFREN we had to try it. BESFREN is located on 5th Ave. in Koreatown right by the Empire State Building. It is a cute space with all their fabulous desserts on display, housing about five small tables. If you haven’t been to BESFREN before it may be safer to look for the Cafe & Ginseng sign since the company, Korean Red Ginseng, renovated their location to collaborate with BESFREN just last year. In fact, the other side of the cafe still sells red ginseng extracts and powders. Once you see Cafe & Ginseng you know you’re in the right place and you’ll soon see BESFREN’s rabbit logo.

In addition to our Jasmine Green Tea Chiffon Doughnut we also got a Ginseng Latte and a Ginseng Ginger Latte. We both really liked our drinks which were refreshing and a nice change from a normal iced latte. We loved the slight bite to the drinks and if you’re a fan of spicy ginger beverages you’ll love the added element the ginger brings to their regular Ginseng Latte.

And now for the chiffon doughnut! Other than it being really pretty we didn’t know what to expect from this unique dessert. The jasmine green tea flavor is both strong and sweet, and the texture of the doughnut is moist and airy. It also has yummy green tea creme in the middle. It was different from anything we ever had before, but we both liked it and would try their other flavors. If you’re in the area you definitely should try one for yourself!