LA Boba Shops

There is endless boba in Los Angeles. I currently live in Ktown where every block seems to have a boba shop, a patbingsu shop, or both.

It’s hard to rank boba joints, because the drink customization (sugar level) and drinks on the same menu vary so much. There could be a big difference between the house specialty (let’s say rose milk tea) and the random drink (almond milk tea).

I value the quality of the ingredients (made in house with real things instead of powder), the freshness of the pearls (boba), and the flavor profile (not mind-numbingly sweet). I’ve tried many dozens of boba joints in LA, and I usually order large, 50% sugar, and less ice.

Below are places that have consistently good drinks with a sample recommended order. Not every order is your standard PMT (pearl milk tea).

Good

  • Gong Cha
    • QQ Passion Fruit Green Tea (comes with pearls & coconut jelly)
      (fruity & refreshing)
  • Sharetea
    • Taro Fresh Milk Tea with Pearls
      (real taro bits is a plus)
  • Tan-Cha
    • High Mountain Green Tea with Cheese Foam
      (as a cheese foam drink, it is heavier than a PMT)
  • Ten Ren’s Tea Time
    • Honey Milk Tea with Pearls
      (their teas are underrated)
  • Twinkle Brown Sugar (Ozero)
    • Brown Sugar Grass Jelly
      (drinks like a meal)

Decent

  • 7 Leaves Cafe
    • Sea Cream Jasmine Tea with Honey Boba
      (crema top layer)
  • 85C Bakery
    • Sea Salt Mountain Green Tea
      (has a good foam/crema top layer. their boba is bad)
  • Kung Fu Tea
    • Jelly Wow
      (not a traditional PMT, more of a meal)
  • TPumps
    • Mango Passion Peach with Boba
      (tea is very “drinkable”, not the best, but it goes down well. boba is not fresh)
  • Wushiland Boba
    • Jasmine Green Milk Tea with Pearls
      (try 1/2 regular & 1/2 small pearls)

While I don’t inherently favor chains, I’ve found that big chains from Asia are more reliable and consistent with the boba freshness. Gong Cha 9 out of 10 times will have fresh boba, whereas your average LA boba shop will probably not have fresh boba.