"Spill the Tea!"《 a boba/tea appreciation thread ✧ 》

Hi friends, will probably beautify this post later.
I had this idea- what if we could harness the global power of Royals to suggest our favorite boba places?
Whenever I travel, I'm always looking out for new boba places to try out. If you've never had boba/pearls/milk tea/fruit tea before, it's a (generally) sweet Taiwanese drink that contains tapioca bits inside. Some are fruity, some include dairy (EVEN CHEESE)... etc. Boba has exploded in popularity and spread all across the world.

Spoiler: What is Boba?

Click here for the article this picture came from lol

Leave a positive review and photo of your favorite boba/tea so people (whenever we can travel again) can try out!

Rules

1. No negative reviews. This is an appreciation thread and I'd like to keep it positive.
2. Do not bash other peoples' reviews. This is not a debate. Any disagreements upon boba quality/taste will be destroyed.
3. No trolling! Boba/milk tea/fruit tea places only!
4. You have to include a clear photo and location. If you're uncomfortable sharing your general geographic location, don't post! Feel free to lurk for some good recommendations. Quality among different stores in franchises may differ, so it's important to state the location of the franchise.
5. Have fun. Feel free to reply to posts with appealing drinks~​

Fill this form out~

Store:
Location:
Rating (out of 5):
Your experience:​

PS if no one posts then this is basically gonna be my boba travel diary lol but tHAT s OK
@Sen does this go here..... or in off-topic idk​

 

I GO FIRST!!!111

Store: Sinceretea
Location: San Jose, CA (USA)
Rating (out of 5): 4/5 ★★★★☆
Your experience: I got the mango (de-caff) chrysanthemum tea (pictured in the middle) at like 50% sweetness. SUPER r e f r e s h i n g, but their mochi egg puffs STOLE THE SHOW so I couldn't appreciate the tea as much LOL

the one on the left was really cool but tart so still refreshing

Spoiler

https://i.TemuTemuTemuTemuTemuTemu/S5gGHkt/image0.jpg

 

Store: Tan-Cha
Location: San Jose, CA
Rating (out of 5): 5/5 ★★★★★
Your experience: I've been trying to cut down on milk tea, so I got their super fruit tea. It was SO DELICIOUS THAT I GOT THE SAME DRINK THREE TIMES IN FOUR DAYS (the other day was sinceretea lol). The boba texture is sublime (chewy, fresh, and flavorful/sweet) and I dream about this drink every night

the other drink was their ceylon milk tea with foam, and it was delicious from one sip but i think i'm allergic to thick dairy bc my lips get all swollen n itchy

Spoiler

https://i.TemuTemuTemuTemuTemuTemu/R0s1TZf/image0.jpg

 

OMG YAAS I LOVE THIS THREAD! This is from The Alley, my favorite boba shop in NYC! Note: This is not my photo, as I am a boomer and I don't take pics of my food

https://i.TemuTemuTemuTemuTemuTemu/Ht4Z7jb/TA.png

 

Store: Tastea
Location: Irvine, CA (USA)
Rating (out of 5): 3.5/5 more of a quickie if i'm in the area
Your experience: I'm pretty sure the Peach Me Sweetea (pictured below w my sexy thumb pic) is one of their most popular drinks. The chain as a whole is generally consistent, but as a regular patron of this particular drink, their sweetness is not so consistent (totally coo w me LOL). their honey boba is what got me into fruit teas and pearls so i thought it was fitting i'd put a staple of mine here!!

Spoiler

https://i.TemuTemuTemuTemuTemuTemu/PrXzN41/image0.jpg

 

I drink boba a bit too much... Here's a few chains i've went to the last few months, my go to drinks are usually their milk tea's with less sugar not that it really matters right?

Store: The Alley
Location: Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
Rating (out of 5): 4.5/5 (usually my go to spot)
Your experience: Definitely my favorite place to get boba if i'm around the area! My go to drink is royal tea no. 9 with brown sugar tapioca!

Spoiler

Store: Chatime
Location: Waterloo/Markham/Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
Rating (out of 5): 3.5/5 (there's many chatime's here, would usually visit if i'm not near the alley)
Your experience: Probably tried every drink here considering there was one near my university... LOL. I like that they have a large selection but I had better drinks elsewhere.

Spoiler

Store: Pann Tea
Location: Markham, Ontario (Canada)
Rating (out of 5): 4/5 (local small business, so I like to support them especially during the pandemic)
Your experience: nice small cafe, which is locally owned that has variety of unique boba's such as white rabbit candy milk tea (i have yet to try it!!), desserts and discounts if you buy more than one!

Spoiler

Store: Tiger Sugar
Location: Markham, Ontario (Canada)
Rating (out of 5): 3.5/5
Your experience: Got the brown sugar boba with cream mousse, i liked the texture of the tapioca but it was too sweet for my liking compared to other chains (They didn't let me adjust the sugar level since it was fixed)

Spoiler

 

Woooooo! The post everyone has been waiting for!

Store: Yi Fang
Location: Toronto
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: One of my faves - have different variety of boba and fruit teas. Usually go with the brown sugar pearl milk teas & oolong tea lattes.

Spoiler: Yi Fang

Also totally second @Johnny and @Sen s pick on The Alley ... they have the cutest cups

 

YOUR NAILS ARE...... SO CUTE.....I also go to Yi Fang in Rowland Heights, CA and I really like getting their fruit tea (50%) sweetness for as a non-dairy option. It's pretty tart since they use pineapple jelly to flavor their drinks, and the quality of their teas is SO GOOD

 

The most exciting thread ever (✧ω✧)! Here are some of my favs, around the world Some of these stores have opened franchise over the globe but some countries brew it much better!

Store : Kissaten
Location: London
Rating: 5/5
Your experience: Kissaten makes their houjicha milk tea with rose pearls / honey pearls exactly how I want, the tea flavor stands out and the drink is overall not too milky, it makes you feel refreshed after drinking the whole cuppa boba without feeling any guilt!

Spoiler: Kissaten

Store: San Chen
Location: Singapore
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: I've always had to queue 30 mins for this, I love their Ding Dong oolong milk tea & their original bubble milk tea, their tea is really fragrant, overall the drink feels very light and guilt-free!

Spoiler: San Chen

Store : Machi Machi
Location: Malaysia, KL
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: My fav drink ever here is their taro balls black milk tea with no sugar!

Spoiler: Machi Machi

Tbh I could go on forever, I'm missing London's Coco fresh tea, Happy Lemon, Yi Fang, and so much more

 

Spoiler

... and then I gave up my bubbletea diary this year.

But yes, I'll update recommendations soonTM. I have hundreds of bubbletea photos on my phone to share with the world :')

 

Spam time owo

Chapter 1: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Store : Yifang
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience:
It was actually (surprisingly) the first time I had Yifang from memory and overall it was a great experience. I'm particularly fond of the tea base they use (always prefer properly brewed teas vs. tea powder based companies) as well as their unique take on fruit teas, which stands this franchise out from the rest in the market.

If there's a Yifang where you live, feel free to try their standard fruit tea to start with! Alternatives I've liked are their passionfruit, pineapple and longan-based teas.

Spoiler

Too bad my photo has my bubbletea cupholder and you cant tell what's in it x)

Store : InTea
Rating: 4/5
Your experience:
Back in June-July 2019 this was one of the only places in the world that did white rabbit candy flavoured milk tea... so yes I had to go and try it x)
@MysticalSt4r @Kirinsshi I googled this place and it's permanently closed now what

It was nice while the hype lasted. I eventually made this at home with my friends and it was gloriously unhealthy.

Spoiler

Store : The Alley
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience:
The Alley is one of the first franchises which populated the concept of "brown sugar boba" around the world and the branches in Vancouver did not disappoint. Whether it's their signature brown sugar boba milk tea, or their seasonal strawberry lulu this franchise will always hold a special place in my heart. And by default it's a good option if you have difficulty choosing a place to start your boba adventures.

I would be sticking to milk based teas to get a sense of this place, then you can branch out to whatever you like on the menu! @boredxz ya hear that? x)

Spoiler

Store : Xing Fu Tang
Rating: 5/5
Your experience:
It may not be the best franchise around in Asian countries like Taiwan / China / Singapore / Malaysia but this was certainly a highlight of my Vancouver trip in 2019.
Being an instagram-friendly boba location always gives it brownie points, and there are many things on this menu that I would go back and try out in a heartbeat.

Their brown sugar boba is kept heated and visible to customers, and the chewy texture combined with the unique sweetness of brown sugar was absolutely blissful.
I should remind those new to boba that their brown sugar boba milk tea is not an item you should choose if you're not particularly fond of sugar, as it's one of the few teas where sugar is often not adjustable.

Spoiler

I should mention that I've also tried Eggstatic, KungFu Tea and Taan Char in my short 5 day visit in Vancouver.
They weren't as memorable for me based on a single visit but don't write them off based on what I say!

 

Chapter 2: Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Unfortunately I exhibit a degree of selection bias and most places that have franchises in Adelaide I've tended to preferentially avoid when I travel. The following places are some of the ones I regularly visit when I go to Melbourne.

Preamble:
- I've been to Gongcha, Sharetea, The Alley and Yifang in Melbourne too, but can't find photos / haven't taken them / didn't save them from snapchat. The quality of bubbletea at these franchises is reassuring and Melbourne isn't an "exception to the rule".
- I haven't been back to Melbourne since November 2019 due to COVID-19 but I heard Xing Fu Tang has opened since then in their city centre and boasts long queues!

Store : TownTea
Rating: 3/5
Your experience: I was mostly sold by the unusual looking menu and the fact that you could reuse their bubbletea container as a drink bottle... the mint-based tea I ordered was unfortunately very reminiscent of cordial and somewhat underwhelming. I'm willing to give this place another go on a day where I feel like a milk-based drink though.

Spoiler

Store : Gotcha
Rating: 4/5
Your experience: I have nothing bad to say about Gotcha but also don't remember it very well. That pretty much sums it up for me, I think - nothing particularly stood out, but it was all round not a bad tea place. In somewhere less diverse than Melbourne I would probably frequent this place regularly - however being a traveller in Melbourne, other options are probably more appealing. Feel free to prove me wrong though!

Spoiler

Store : Blackball
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: This is one of the older branches of bubbletea in Melbourne and it holds a particular place in my heart even as its popularity has slowly died out due to more famous franchises opening. It was the only place I could find in the southern hemisphere, at the time, that did taro balls as a topping option. The tea itself was decent too - Blackball and Sharetea were my regular choices pre-2018. It had the added advantage of being in the same building as Tim Ho Wan... x)

Spoiler

Store : Milksha
Rating: 5/5
Your experience: Milksha is one of my favourite bubbletea places in the world and it's not just because of the milk it uses. I think Milksha is unique in many ways all the way from their pearls, to their taro, to their milk, to their tea. I am particularly fond of their milk-friendly teas they make, particularly their earl grey; as well as their taro-based tea which is a must-try for anyone who appreciates the texture, taste and 'earthiness' of taro.

Spoiler

Store : Jenjudan
Rating: 5/5
Your experience: Jenjudan is my current favourite in Melbourne. They do the best pearls I have had in the southern hemisphere - they're warm, soft, just chewy enough to give texture but also feels like they would melt in your mouth. Both fresh milk and milk tea works extremely well with the brown sugar boba pearls and those would be my recommendations here - Personally I think brown sugar based drinks work better with milk teas than fruit / fresh brewed teas. Despite being moderately lactose intolerant I have been back here regularly on every trip to Melbourne since it's opened.

Spoiler

Next up is probably Auckland... I barely have any photos of the bubbletea I have at home though :')
p.s. can other people post so I don't look like a cray cray bubbletea fanatic here

 

I LOVE YOU FOR THIS.

Store: Boba Guys
Location: New York City
Rating (out of 5): 5 out of 5
Your experience: I looove Boba Guys in the city for their chewy boba and unique flavors. I typically get their regular black milk tea, Hong Kong Style milk tea, or their specialties, like Calpico.

Spoiler: Boba Guys

Store: Sunmerry / Happy Lemon
Location: Edison, NJ USA or Fort Lee, NJ USA
Rating (out of 5): 5 out of 5
Your experience: Whenever I'm in the area, I ALWAYS go to Sunmerry bakery for their bubble tea (Happy Lemon branded). Of the ones I've tried, it's the closest to Taiwan's bubble tea in the area. I love it too much cri

Spoiler: Sunmerry

Not an actual store, but just putting this here in case anyone is experiencing Boba withdrawl as places go on shutdown.
Store: My Kitchen
Rating (out of 5): 5 out of 5 (a bit biased)
Your experience: I love making my own boba for those days I have a huge boba craving, but I can't go out to get it.

Spoiler: uwu

Spoiler: Recipe

• Boba - I follow Cooking Tree's tutorial on Youtube to make the boba! TL; DR:
  • Ingredients:
    • 90g tapioca flour; 45g brown sugar; 60g water
  • Recipe:
    • Heat water and brown sugar over stove top until steaming. While still on stovetop, add in a spoonful of tapioca flour. Keep on heat and mixing until it starts getting goopy. Once goopy, take off heat (and turn off heat).
    • Add in rest of the tapioca flour and keep mixing until starts to resemble a dough ball. Add in more tapioca flour/water depending on consistency of the dough. The ideal consistency is when the dough rips apart when pulled in two and it does not stretch apart. This consistency will help prevent the dough from sticking to each other when cutting the pieces.
    • Start rolling the rough into little strands and cut to desired tapioca ball size :")
  • To store:
    • As you're making the dough, toss the balls into a bowl with tapioca flour to ensure equal coverage. Can be cooked fresh that day or frozen until needed.
  • To cook:
    • Bring water to a boil. Add desired quantity of boba.
    • Boil for ~20 minutes, depending on boba size.
    • Take off heat and put pot lid on. Let sit for ~30 minutes or until desired consistency.
    • Rinse off boba with water and server as is or mix with brown sugar depending on desired sugar levels
• Milk Tea -
  • 1:1 ratio of black milk tea (English breakfast or Earl Grey, or mix both!) and milk. I don't add additional sugar in the milk tea because the tapioca itself is already sweet. For sweetness reference, I get 30% sugar at most bubble tea places.
  • This may not be the best recipe for milk tea, but I honestly haven't found a better recipe for this yet (and because I'm too lazy to experiment).

Spoiler: Pictures

 

Chapter 3: Auckland, New Zealand

kek. I have so few photos of bubbletea from home.
Auckland boasts a great selection of teas though, and the variety increases every time I go back.

Store : Gongcha
Rating: 4/5
Your experience: I've had Gongcha in a lot of cities around the world but Auckland's branches are one of the most consistent - they also have new menu items on a regular basis.
Given Gongcha is so widespread across the world, some standard items I like from their menu would include their Earl Grey 3J, Mango Alisan, Mango Green Milk Tea, and QQ passionfruit. Give them a go if you're out of ideas!

Store : Momo Tea
Rating: 4/5
Your experience: This locally-owned franchise can only be found in Auckland. I'm rather fond of this place because it used to be the only bubbletea place that existed in Auckland, before the worldwide boba bandwagon started. Their nata series continues to be a solid choice amongst competitors, though I must say I go to their shop mostly to sit for hours with my friends while we play cards over tea nowadays.

Store : Wu Cha
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: Their tea is so. Fucking. Expensive. And so good. I would tend to start with more standard menu items because the exotic ones start costing $12+ NZD which is actually a complete rip-off. They use real tea and real fruit, which is always a particular bonus for me. Their seasonal cheese foam watermelon smoothie is a particular highlight!

Spoiler

Store : Da Gu Tea
Rating: 4/5
Your experience: This place deserved a particular mention because it's situated in the same shop that does Chinese vermicelli noodles and the combination is simply blissful. They do a range of items from the instagram-friendly butterfly pea based teas to the traditional brown sugar boba.

Spoiler

Store : Nobibi
Rating: 5/5
Your experience: Apparently this franchise in Auckland is owned by the same people as RoyalTea but regardless their menu is both instagram friendly but also refreshing. The shops themselves have a pleasingly ambient atmosphere and is good for relaxing. I am slightly biased towards lychee based drinks too... I'll be honest.

Spoiler

 

I am not even a fan of boba but this chain and its boba caught my heart, stomach and tongue. I love it.

Store: Tiger Sugar
Location: Malaysia
Rating (out of 5): 5
Your experience:

So I normally dislike boba because of the consistency of the pearls - they just NEVER feel right for me. They're either too chewy or too hard but my sister told me to try the boba from this chain and look what I found, MILO BOBA!!!

Any Asians here??? Anyone else super hyped about this? I know I was when I saw it and I just HAD to try it. Needless to say, I regretted nothing and I fell in love with the boba from here. I wouldn't have it from anywhere else. Tiger Sugar is love but Tiger Sugar MILO BOBA IS LIFE. I'm sorry guys, I just had to share this with such excitement because I really really really love that shit. I'm usually a milk tea with grass jelly, no sugar no ice girl but this here, THIS is worth every single gram of sugar and every single calorie in it.

Spoiler

Spoiler: BOBA BOBA BOBA

 

Chapter 4: Singapore, Singapore

I had so much juice in Singapore... didn't get the chance to have as much bubbletea there tbh. We mainly went to a lot of hawker centres where fresh juice was a lot more accessible so... ya.

That and the fact that you couldn't bring tea onto the MRT. :sad:

Store : The Alley
Rating: 5/5
Your experience: The Alley is great in Singapore!! I've already advertised this place in other cities around the world but I nevertheless I still remember the brown sugar boba I had here. The pearls are at the right consistency and the tea was at the right amount of brown sugar. Overall would recommend

Spoiler

expose you all to my bubbletea holder again hohoho

Store : Koi
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience: Singapore's climate leans itself towards the fruity refreshing teas and Koi did well in that respect. I felt like I needed more than just their standard size cup though because I'd finished it by the time I walked home :')

Spoiler

Store : Liho
Rating: 4.5/5
Your experience:
It cute cup, it nice tea, it has yuzu flavouring which is always great. That pretty much sums up Liho for me. This particular tea itself could be slightly sweeter but overall I'm happy with the choice. Would recommend.

Spoiler

Keen to hear more recs for Singapore as I haven't really had much exposure to their teas!

 

Store: Chicha San Chen
Location: Singapore (manyyyyyyyyy outlets), I think there’s one in KL, Malaysia too
Rating: 10/5
Your experience: Singapore has many bubbletea places but it’s definitely chicha for me. I always got Dong Ding Oolong with fresh milk + pearls + 50% sugar + less ice because less ice means more water (*ahem* if y’all wanna treat me @pencilroll @GoldFishh @Aeronautics). The milk taste isn’t too strong and it’s one of those rare ones where I can actually taste the tea. I can never taste the Earl Grey tea from Liho and Gongcha. I don't drink Koi either because they only have small pearls (so small eat what sia). The pearls are also chewy (vvvvv impt point for me personally) and slightly sweet on its own so 0% sugar is fine too for those who wanna act healthy. They have other drinks that I’ve heard good reviews about but sorry I boring I always get the same thing.

Spoiler: Click here to bless your eyes

 

Btw they don't rly stop you from bringing it onto the MRT. Just don't drink in front of them or openly on the train.

 

You bet CCSC's gotta be on my list somewhere!

Chapter 5: Taichung, Taiwan

Store: Chicha San Chen
Location: Taichung
Rating: 5/5
Your experience: This is the only dedicated bubbletea place I had in Taichung (dedicated because literally every store sells milk tea in Taiwan, franchise or not) and it's the only time I have ever had 吃茶三千.

Special thanks to @Doo who walked for a good 50 minutes with me and my 4 bags of souvenir pastries to find this place, tucked away in the bustling city of Taichung. The shop itself is beautifully renovated (I think it might actually be the original store? ) and their franchise promotes the art of tea with an absolute passion. The tea itself is brewed to perfection and similarly pearls are memorably tasty.

I would recommend this place to anyone, whether it's someone who wants to try bubbletea out or those who drink it a little too often. It seems that the quality is similarly good across its other branches based on reviews here and elsewhere. Can't wait for it to come to Australia because there were many menu items I wanted to indulge in!

Spoiler

Spoiler: I am a pineapple cake fiend too fyi

p.s. This begins my Taiwan series which is probably a relatively poor representation (compared to locals) of the many bubbletea places Taiwan has to offer. Take from it what you will - I'm always keen to see other recommendations as I'd hope to visit these places again.

 

Store: 7 Leaves
Location: ANYWHERE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, USA!!
Rating (out of 5): 5
Your experience: This is my milk tea staple. Nowhere else has the bold, rich assam milk tea that satisfies me! This place has definitely ruined me for good. I don't think the actual pearls are particularly special, but the consistency of all the drinks is *chefs kiss*. Apparently they have a secret menu, but I know nothing about it. oof @AdventFlash and I agree that the mung bean milk tea is a Vietnamese mom staple

Spoiler: 7 Leaves

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