Your guide to bubble tea in Hong Kong
Pop pearls with one of these creative boba drinksBubble tea is a drink that has become loved all around the world. Originating from Taiwan, the classic is a mixture of milk tea with boiled tapioca pearls. As the craze developed, so did the flavours and combinations. We’ve rounded up the best bubble tea shops in Hong Kong and the signature drinks you have to try.
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Tiger Sugar
Having started out as a dessert brand from Taiwan, this store specialises in brown sugar tea, a popular favourite. Other flavours include taro milk, soya milk tofu and tea lattes. For those who can’t get enough, you can get brown sugar flavoured popcorn, too.
Tiger Sugar, multiple locations across Hong Kong
HEYTEA
HEYTEA is a must-try as one of the pioneers behind Hong Kong’s beloved cheese teas. Importing its cheese from New Zealand, the creamy fusion drink has become a local favourite. Popular cheezo (cheese tea) orders include grape with green tea, grapefruit with jasmine tea and oolong. The seasonal menu makes use of the sweetest fruits of each season to create the most refreshing beverage possible.
HEYTEA, Shop B216, B2, Times Square, Causeway Bay, 1 Matheson Square, 3106 2996
Comebuy Tea
Part of the experience of popping over to Comebuy Tea for a cup is watching the baristas create your order. Flavoured teas are dispensed from tall brass cylinders, making a show of the process. Popular for a wide range of refreshing fruit beverages, cool down with a grapefruit oolong with aloe vera or passion fruit green tea with konjac jelly.
Comebuy Tea, multiple locations across Hong Kong
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The Alley
True Hongkongers will easily recognise The Alley’s iconic deer logo. Having renamed the popular bubbles into deerioca in its special series, The Alley prepares tapioca balls daily in a homemade, rich sugar syrup. Try the recommended deerioca crème brûlée, white peach oolong tea or crunchy tiramisu milk for an innovative and creative treat that’s sure to delight.
The Alley, Shop F, G/F, Alpha House, 27 to 33 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon and Shop 3, G/F, Sun Kong House, Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mong Kok
Cha Long
Cha Long, meaning “tea wolf”, specialises in artisanal tea blends and fresh fruit teas. Among its creative drinks, popular choices include fresh blueberry and strawberry jasmine tea, fresh fruit four seasons tea and a black sugar roasted oolong. With new, season-inspired flavours springing up often, you’ll want to keep an eye out for their latest creations.
Cha Long, multiple locations across Hong Kong
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Xing Fu Tang
This tea shop started out selling bubble milk tea made with brown sugar and tapioca pearls. Unlike some other companies, it stir-fries the sugar instead of using a syrup to create a more pure flavour. Apart from its signature brown sugar bubble tea, try one of its creative jelly drinks. Strawberry boba is paired with milk, blue soda with handmade jelly or red bean with taro milk.
Xing Fu Tang, 43H Dundas Street, Mong Kok and 51 Bute Street, Prince Edward
KiKi Tea
Founded in Taipei in 2018, KiKi tea has developed its contemporary menu and brought it to Hong Kong. Using hand-picked tea from Taiwan, it has over 20 signature teas and bubbles. Special ingredients include brown sugar pearls, wild berries cream mousse and Taiwanese mini taro balls.
KiKi Tea, multiple locations across Hong Kong
Ten Ren’s Tea
With over 50 years of history, Ten Ren’s Tea is one of the largest tea manufacturers in the world. Specialising in ginseng, pair your bubble tea with one of its boxes of tea to take home. Try the green tea latte with pearls, black tea latte with grass jelly or the original black tea latte with pearls.
Ten Ren’s Tea, multiple locations across Hong Kong
Gong Cha
Gong Cha takes first place for staple bubble tea and drinks in Hong Kong. Its most popular bubble teas include the original tapioca pearl, a milk tea with herbal jelly and a taro milk tea. Other creative signatures range from a milk foam black tea, earl grey with coffee jelly and pineapple green tea with konjac jelly.
Gong Cha, multiple locations across Hong Kong
TP Tea
TP Tea has perfected its tea expertise over its 30 years of brewing. The local favourite is a signature black tea paired with pearls and red bean. Other bestsellers include its Tie Guan Yin tea with pearls and a passion fruit jasmine green tea with aloe vera. If you want to experiment even more, try its lava boba toastie that comes filled with tapioca pearls.
TP Tea, multiple locations across Hong Kong
NUTTEA
Catering to dietary requirements, or those who just love nuts, NUTTEA has created a range of nut mylks from five different nuts. The nut mylks are made daily by slow roasting nuts before cold-pressing them with its refined extraction method. Its teas include a brown sugar jelly nut mylk tea, ruby black tea with nut cream and mango tea with nut cream.
NUTTEA, multiple locations across Hong Kong