Exploring 6 Boba Tea Shops In Taipei and Taoyuan!
Taiwan is the land of boba, or bubble tea. Tea shops in Taiwan are like Starbucks: there’s one at every street corner. There’s so many to choose from, it can get overwhelming. Here’s a few different bubble tea shops I’ve tried since being in Taiwan this trip that may help you choose your favorite when you visit Taiwan!
Taiwan: Home of Boba Tea
Taiwan has a climate suitable for growing and producing various types of quality tea. Of the different varieties, Dong Ding, High Mountain and White Tip Oolong, and Sun Moon Lake’s black teas particularly stand out as highly sought after teas.
Originally a way of marketing cheaper tea in a creative way, boba tea has expanded in both variety and quality in the past 10 years. Boba tea stores have found ways to differentiate themselves. Whether it’s through offering a wide range of fruit flavors, providing any customizations you desire, or providing many flavors of a specific type of quality tea, you’ll be sure to find a flavor you enjoy in Taiwan.
Boba Tea Like A Bartender – TP Tea 茶湯會
TP tea 茶湯會 is a chain that provides freshly handmade boutique tea drinks that bring out the flavors of their quality tea base. Typically, boba stores tend to set their tea recipes on the sweeter side in order to allow for adjustments. TP Tea provides tea drinks that can be drank as is, so their base sweetness is not as high.
TP Tea is an offshoot, to-go only brand of the original creator of boba tea: 春水堂, a restaurant chain serving classic Taiwanese food. So, they KNOW boba tea. They’re most famous for their Tie Guan Yin Latte (70NTD): a cup of Tie Guan Yin Black Tea topped with creamy milk foam. I ordered the Premium Jasmine Green Tea, or 特級翡翠綠 (40NTD). It’s got a fragrant floral jasmine aroma with the elegant taste of Taiwanese green tea. It’s an amazing welcome to Taiwan as my first drink!
Traditional Wintermelon Tea – 七二涼水亭
We took a stroll down DaXi Old Street 大溪老街, a historic area of Taoyuan City. We came across a cute nostalgic boba shop – 七二涼水亭 (translated to 72 cold tea stand), and we had to get was something yummy to drink.
This quaint little tea shop specializes in creative twists on traditional winter melon tea, plus some other classic tea options like fresh milk tea, yakult green tea, and more. They handmake their winter melon sugar in house, and cook all their own fruit syrups as well.
I got a delicious wintermelon green tea that was perfect for summer. It’s got the signature vanilla-like sweetness of home-cooked wintermelon sugar, mellowed out by the slight bitterness of green tea. It’s a solid 7.5/10! There’s nothing better than exploring nostalgic shops on a hot day with this refreshing drink!
Classic Bubble Tea At 50 Lan 五十嵐
50Lan (五十嵐) is one of the more classic Taiwanese boba shops. Founded in 1994, 50Lan is now an popular national chain with over 500 branches you can find everywhere in Taiwan. They don’t have a flashy signature drink, but they sure have a flashy brand. Most of their offerings are pretty classic flavors like milk tea, fruit teas, ice cream teas, and simple green teas, combined with any toppings: boba, jelly, and more.
They’re particularly well known for their consistent quality across all branches. If you find yourself in Taiwan, look for the bright yellow and blue signs on the streets – you won’t be disappointed. They tend to be on the sweeter side, so remember to adjust sweetness as you like.
Black Tea Barista – Kebuke 可不可熟成茶
Kebuke, 可不可熟成茶 treats black tea boba like a coffee shop, and specializes in pure tea or tea lattes. They use quality black tea leaves from Sun Moon Lake, offering you different varieties like how you’d choose a coffee bean origin at a fancy coffee shop.
Another thing I love about Kebuke Black Tea is their storefront. Kebuke locations always have these ornate decorations of tea cans designs and wooden shelves, plus branded descriptions of their tea leave origins. It brings you into a different environment, even if you’re just at a to-go stand on Taipei’s busy streets.
Their drinks range between 35 to 70 NTD. The menu includes a bunch of honey-sweetened tea, tea lattes, milk foam teas, and fresh fruit teas. You can add boba or agar boba to your tea as a topping. It’s honestly the widest variety of black tea flavors I’ve encountered! If you prefer black tea over green, Kebuke will be your choice!
Oolong Tea Specialist – 慢慢點 MonMonDay
Monmonday 漫漫點 is one of the newer boba tea shops in town. Their specialty is in bubble tea flavors with oolong tea as a base. Oolong is half oxidized compared to a fully oxidized black tea. They’re fruitier than black tea but still has the slight bitterness of green tea. It’s a fun tea option to explore apart from the more common black and green!
Before my Kai Dong taste test meeting, I bought tea from here for the whole team. I ordered the oolong pineapple tea, made with handmade pineapple jam (65 NTD), for myself. It’s the perfect balance of sweet, sour, and bitter. So refreshing!
Boba For Tea Connoisseurs – 吾悠茶所 Woo Yo
Woo Yo 吾悠茶所 is another newer tea shop that offers Oolong tea drinks. They use quality ingredients sourced only in Taiwan, from milk to fruit. They seep the tea right when you order your drinks, rather than premaking it, giving their tea a pure, deep tea flavor without it being bitter.
Woo Yo’s tea options range from 50NTD to 85 NTD, so it’s a bit on the higher side. However, their focus on quality means you’ll always get the best. If you’re a tea connoisseur, Woo Yo Tea is one I definitely recommend.
Craving Boba? Here’s A Couple of Yummy Drink Recipes You Can Make At Home!
