Bubble Tea has been growing in immense popularity with its various interesting options and intriguing toppings. New York City is home to a variety of different foods, so it’s no surprise then that there are so many bubble tea places in NYC to choose from.
With all the different options of flavors and various toppings, it can be difficult trying to find the right bubble tea drink for you. Fortunately, you can use this list of ranking some bubble tea places — based on taste, options, price, and bang for your buck — as a reference or just as an awesome bubble tea bucket list.
12. Chatime
Chatime is a mixed bag when it comes to bubble tea. There is an insane amount of options for types of drinks — mousse, smoothies, FizzTea, Oriental Pop Tea — and toppings such as: pearls, grass jelly, pudding, red bean, coconut jelly, aloe vera, mango stars, strawberry hearts, passion fruit boba, mango boba, rainbow jelly, and coffee jelly. I don’t think I have ever visited another bubble tea place with that many choices. However, even though there are so many options, the taste is just average. There’s nothing special or spectacular.
11. Jupioca
Jupioca, in my opinion, had better tasting bubble tea — at a decent price — than Chatime. I was pleasantly surprised when I ordered my drink with the popping boba that burst into my mouth as I never had them before. However, Jupioca seems more of a juicery that serves bubble tea rather than a bubble tea shop.
10. Coco Fresh Tea & Juice
If you want a cheap and quickly-made bubble tea drink, Coco has your back with a good number of options. However, I think that the prices beat the flavors tremendously. I’ll pass on this one.
9. Ten Ren Tea
Ten Ren is the place to visit if you want authentic milk tea. The regular milk bubble tea tasted like HK milk tea and the menu has interesting options such as Milk Icees. There are also some good deals here; for example, the Cha Combo offers one drink and one snack at a good price. On the other hand though, I didn’t really enjoy the bubbles, as they were soft and almost mushy. I would rather stop here for the food.
8. Bubbly Tea
Bubbly is the ultimate bubble tea place for good deals on refreshing drinks on a hot summer day. This is THE bubble tea place to get bubble tea cheap. I personally was not fond of the quality and flavors of the tea. But, you can get regular bubble tea for a dollar on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and who could refuse one-dollar bubble tea?
7. Boba Guys
Boba Guys was okay. Just okay. The prices were more on the expensive side, but this place is successful for bringing Asian flavors to the American market. And besides having some Instagram-worthy flavored teas, Boba Guys offers different kinds of milk substitutes for your overpriced boba drinks.
6. Yaya Tea Garden
Yaya offers a great place to sit and have a meal. This small but fascinating little shop sells rice balls, snacks, noodles, and cute stuff to buy, while also offering drinks with cool names such as “Boyfriend”, “First love”, and “The Hulk”. The bubble tea is priced at decent prices and the drinks also come with little sayings on the bottom. The flavors aren’t bad, but the bubble teas are definitely worth the price when you are offered so much more than just drinks.
5. Gong Cha
Gong Cha is also another place that offers more authentic-tasting tea. The drinks are also on the cheaper side and has actual tea flavor — not syrupy flavor. I have no complaints and I have nothing to say more.
4. Teado Tea Shop
I really liked the tea here at Teado Tea Shop. Unlike the other bubble tea places where you choose the ice and sugar level, you can also choose your tea level here. Teado has authentic bubble tea, interesting and special fruit juices, and uses Lactaid — fresh whole milk. Prices are also on the lower level.
3. ViVi Bubble Tea
I feel that Vivi is the most overhyped when it comes to bubble tea, but it somewhat lives up to the hype. Vivi offers some good flavors and a lot of options. The bubbles are firm and chewy and sweet. You can never go wrong with a bubble tea drink from Vivi.
2. PaTea
I really enjoy PaTea; they offer a great deal here — first toppings are FREE. And if you want something else that will blow your mind, the sizes offered are small, medium, and STUBBY. Yes, the largest drink is wide and short, and you easily share your bubble tea with a significant other or two of your friends. Besides the price and cup size, the flavors are tasty and the mini-bubbles are absolutely delightful.
1. Kung Fu Tea
And the best bubble tea place is. . . Kung Fu Tea! There aren’t as many “crazy” or “interesting” teas, but the taste is the best flavor in my opinion, and it’s authentic. Kung Fu Tea even states on its menu that their “tea is brewed every 3 hours using our signature 7-step method from hand-selected tea leaves in peak state”. I believe that Kung Fu Tea absolutely practices what they preach.
Even though I might have missed a couple of bubble tea places in New York, and this ranking is subjective, anyone can use this as a reference to find the perfect boba drink. Now get out there and buy yourself a bubble tea.