Are you visiting Vancouver, BC for the first time and have heard about how GOOD the bubble tea and boba is in this city? Or do you live in Vancouver and want to try some new bubble tea spots? Don’t worry, I got you!
In this blog post, I will be highlighting some of my FAVORITE bubble tea and boba shops in the city!
While Vancouver is home to SO many amazing bubble tea chains, I wanted to try and feature more small business owners. A lot of these chains come straight from Asia, and I love getting bubble tea from these spots because there’s plenty of locations and it’s super convenient. Some of my favorites include YiFang, Wushiland, and The Alley. However, I really wanted to highlight some more family owned businesses!
There is one exception to this on the list, but I’ll explain why down below. Also worth noting that this list is NOT in any particular order!
These shops have some of the BEST bubble tea in Vancouver!
MINUS CAKE BOUTIQUE
First up, Minus Cake Boutique! Technically, this is a cake shop and it’s actually how I discovered them. I ordered custom cakes from them a few times for birthdays and special occasions and when I came to pick up my orders, I realized that they also had specialty bubble teas!
What makes their bubble teas and drinks so special is they are topped with a Minus Cup, which is a mini cake inside a cup!
It’s super aesthetically pleasing and IG worthy, and the cake inside is actually delicious.
We had the Strawberry Shortcake with Fresh Strawberry Honeycomb Milk and the Japanese Matcha Yuzu Cake with Matcha Latte.
The honeycomb milk was SO good, not overly sweet and had real fresh strawberries to complement it. The matcha yuzu cake was delicious and the perfect blend between matcha and yuzu flavors. While the Minus Cup may look small at first glance, it’s actually the perfect amount of cake.
This is not your traditional bubble tea but is definitely worth a try! It’s on the more expensive side but it’s fair because it comes with a cake on top.
For 50 cents you can add pearls (boba) or coconut jelly. You can add it if you order the Matcha Latte but I wouldn’t add any to the Strawberry Honeycomb Milk as it already comes with pieces of fresh strawberries inside.
It’s also worth noting that the Strawberry Honeycomb Milk is caffeine free! So if you’re like me and caffeine makes you jittery, this drink is perfect for you.
Their cakes are so beautifully made and absolutely delicious.
What sets them apart from other cake boutiques is that oftentimes when high end custom cakes are made to look that pretty, they can be full of fondant and not as tasty.
This isn’t the case for Minus Cake Boutique, as not only are their bubble tea drinks yummy, their cakes are absolutely amazing! You can tell that they use really high quality ingredients. And the best part of the Minus Cup drinks is that you get the best of both worlds.
This is one of my personal favorite establishments because it’s a female owned small business. The owner/pastry chef has been in esteemed places, such as West, Thierry’s, as well as Coast by the Glowbal Group.
When I first started coming here, the owner would always invite me to the back to see their kitchen setup and show me how their cakes are made. I love the transparency and this tells me that they are confident in their product!
This unique shop is truly one of a kind and it definitely belongs on my list of the BEST Bubble Tea in Vancouver.
BUBBLE QUEEN
Next we have an OG shop in Richmond, Bubble Queen.
Bubble Queen is famous for their deluxe and extravagant drinks, not so much for their milk tea with pearls.
Whether it be the Mango Cube Slush – a creamy delicious mango slush topped off with freshly diced mangos, or the Ferrero Rocher Slush – a chocolate hazelnut slush blended with Ferrero Rocher chocolate topped with a whole Ferrero Rocher chocolate, there’s something fancy for everyone’s tastes.
It’s been a while since I’ve been here and they’ve renovated their store, but they used to have boxes and boxes of chocolate candy bars lining their shelves used to make their signature drinks. All of that is gone now, but they have their fresh mangos out for display and it’s definitely a more comfortable seating environment for customers.
Their drinks are so decadent and yummy, my favorite is definitely the Mango Cube Slush – their mangoes are so fresh and there are so many mango cubes topping the drink!
The Ferrero Rocher Slush is very rich and tastes just like the hazelnut chocolate in a drink form.
However, I’d give their pearls a 7/10 as they weren’t round or chewy enough that day. My sister who used to work at a bubble tea shop says it may have been overcooked, though this may not always be the case. Usually they are really good when I come but it was worth noting!
I also love their bubble waffles with soft serve ice cream, it makes for a great dessert. I believe this is seasonal so make sure to check before you come!
MILK & SUGAR CAFE
Milk & Sugar has been my favorite bubble tea and boba shop in Vancouver since I was in high school. It’s located in the heart of Collingwood and is a female owned small business that has been in the community for decades.
They source fresh, local ingredients and everything is so yummy!
There are so many good options – from tea, fresh fruit juices, ice cream drinks and slushes, along with tons of different flavors and kinds of pearls, coconut jelly, sago and rainbow jelly.
They also allow you to mix and craft your own drinks. Everything can be customized perfectly to your tastes!
Milk & Sugar also offers unique weekly specials that aren’t on their traditional menu, and every time I’ve tried something it’s always SUPER good. Their staff are super friendly and always suggesting fun new items for you to try.
They are known for their ice cream drinks. You can’t go wrong with anything from their Fresh Fruit + Ice Cream drinks menu!
Dom and I are always ordering delivery from Milk & Sugar even though there are plenty of other bubble tea shops closer to us because we just love it so much. That’s why it’s one of the BEST bubble tea in Vancouver!
THE BBT SHOP
The BBT Shop is home to some very Instagram worthy drinks and treats.
It’s located in the underground parkade under the Superstore in Richmond. This is also the plaza where HK BBQ Master is located (review coming soon in another blog post!) so I usually come here after having some delicious Chinese BBQ. There is also another location in Vancouver.
Some of their most popular drinks are the Supreme Mango, Supreme Matcha and Ferrero Rocher.
They also feature their signature Light Bulb cups, which actually light up and are reusable. These are super popular and you’ve probably seen them on IG!
As well, The BBT Shop is known for their delicious bubble waffles.
My favorite feature at this shop is that they offer duo cups for their bubble teas.
This genius design means that you’re able to have two separate flavors. So if you are like me and have a hard time deciding what they want because there are always SO MANY options at bubble tea shops, this is really great!
While their Supreme Mango and Ferrero Rocher drinks are the most popular here, I still prefer the similar options at Bubble Queen. That’s why I always get the duo cup!
I ordered a duo cup with their Grapefruit Green Tea with Aloe Vera on one side, and the Original Milk Tea with Pearls on the other.
I also ordered their Strawberry Bubble Waffle Parfait – which is unreal! The ice cream is SO yummy. I definitely recommend sharing this dessert as it’s quite a large portion.
This shop would be a good date spot because of how easy it is to share everything and how IG worthy their drinks and desserts are. It is also a very cool shop with lots of cute knick-knacks on display that you can actually buy.
The best part is that Kuo Hua Trading Co. is in the plaza right beside, so I always go to pick up some Taiwanese snacks and food from there afterwards!
BARONESS
While this may technically be a chain first founded in Nanjing, Taiwan in 2017, there is only one location in Vancouver. I wanted to feature this shop because they really serve high quality drinks.
All of their ingredients are high quality and handcrafted, their teas are brewed fresh (no powders!), and their pearls (boba) are some of the best in Vancouver in my opinion.
For my dairy-free friends, they offer oat milk as an alternative and it tastes amazing! We ordered their signature Brown Sugar Pearl + Oat Milk Tea. Because the brown sugar pearls are already really sweet, we opted for 30% sweetness. Many people also go with 0% sweetness.
We also got the Thai Style Tea + Organic Milk (50% sweet), as well as the Taro (non-purple, 30% sweet) with taro balls. The Taro drink was recommended by their staff and was so yummy! Not too sweet and reminds me of authentic taro drinks you get in Taiwan. It’s a great option if you want to try something different or if you are a fan of taro!
I highly recommend making sure you go less sweet with most of their drinks because they are known for their sweetness. especially if you order anything with brown sugar pearls.
The staff were so friendly and you could tell they are really passionate about what they do. They explained their entire process to us and every drink is handcrafted with love.
The interior of the store is beautiful and has a very IG worthy backdrop for you to take pictures of your drinks.
Honorable mention: DRAGON TEA BUBBLE HOUSE
I wanted to feature Dragon Ball Tea House on this list but when I showed up, they were closed! It looks like they will be closed for the summer. They are another OG store that is a local small business and has been around for a long time.
They serve authentic bubble tea that tastes like it’s from Taiwan!
This shop is known for the Supreme Milk Tea with Pearls, but there are plenty of other yummy options here.
Dragon Ball Tea House has consistently had some of the best bubble tea in Vancouver for many years. I highly recommend coming to check it out once they’re open again in September 2022!
And there you have it, this was my list of the BEST Bubble Tea in Vancouver!
Which shop is your favorite? Did I miss any stores you think should be on this list? Let me know in the comments below.
Craving some bubble tea at home? Check out my Brown Sugar Boba (3 Ingredients Only!) recipe here:
Until next time!
Love,
Tiffy
Appreciate the thought put into these reviews. The fact that you value quality and authenticity makes me feel like I can totally trust your recommendations. Thanks, Tiffy!
I would have maybe liked to know if there are any BBT places that serve high quality TEA with pearls as opposed to places where the BBTs resemble desserts.
Hi, thanks for reading and thank you for the kind words! Hope you try some of these places and let me know how you like them 🙂