RareTea

I love Chicha San Chen, and this is definitely my favorite location that I've visited so far. I…read moreappreciate how the menu is somewhat small and the locations are sparse enough that they still put quality into each drink. It's much more welcoming and spacious than the New York location (and significantly cheaper). The drinks are still quite expensive, though, and are based on a topping/flavoring system. Expect to spend around $7 on a drink here, more if you want something with complexity or toppings. Some teas are worth the cost and preparation, and others aren't. The green tea is quite good, especially with a bit of honey. The standard oolong is pretty ordinary, and I wouldn't pay the premium price for it. However, the Pouchong is distinctive and delicious. The condensed milk lemon series and fresh taro are also delicious, especially for those who avoid caffeine. I would recommend coming here if you are particular about teas with unique notes or are interested in their unique preparation/toppings! small edit: I would also highly recommend ordering ahead if you have Snackpass, as this location gets very busy with students.

Expensive but good! Minus 1 star for the ridiculous wait time for drinks. Otherwise 100 stars for…read morethe great quality, carefully brewed teas and amazing flavor. After a few visits, the drink I'm hooked on is the Taro Milk tea + taro paste + taro balls. It's just so loaded with taro and it tastes like taro rather than taro "flavoring". Drink after drink, it's easy to see what this tea shop has won so many awards. Plus, their cup carrier is super cute, eco and creative! I almost wish this place wasn't so good because they're pricy and addicting!

0.1 mi•Rockridge, North Oakland

Dong Ding Oolong Tea Latte, Cassia Black Tea With Mousse

Inside area

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HH signage

Boba Guys

3.9(180 reviews)

I've been a fan of Boba Guys for many years, often seeking them out even if it's not conveniently…read morelocated to me. Before they opened in Oakland, we used to drive to San Ramon for Boba Guys and it never disappointed. Over the years, this has started to feel run down. Took a picture of the waiting bench and attached to this review. I truly hope it doesn't go out of business because I'm a fan of the company, but it's so dirty and feels bare. Perhaps management can come in and give this place a little love so it still feels like a special experience to choose Boba Guys over the many, many boba competitors.

Their tapioca boba balls are made in the states (instead of imported from overseas) and the way…read morethey prepare them are just right. Perfect amount of chew with a soft bounce that is not overcooked. Be aware that they use lactose milk so if you can't stomach that in your lattes, you'll need to pay extra to sub in a non-dairy milk. On this visit I ordered the mango matcha iced latte with boba and almond milk. It was a refreshing and quality drink on a hot and sunny day. Note that this place is only an ordering counter with 1 electronic kiosk. There's no tables inside, only bench seats along the walls to await your order. No pets allowed inside either.

Pink Cocoa Cloud (Oat Milk)

Matcha Peppermint Chip (Oat Milk)

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Tie Guan Yin Oolong Milk Tea with Boba

TP TEA

4.3(379 reviews)

Located right next to UC Berkeley. On the busier side, with a TON of online orders. They have 3…read morein-store kiosks (card/Apple Pay only) or you can order ahead on Snackpass. There's some indoor seating (5 tables). I ordered their Velvet Lychee Milk Tea w/ tea jelly ($7.50) and it was really good! I was a bit skeptical at first because I didn't know what "velvet" meant, but I liked it (more of a richer milk/flavor than regular milk tea).

Easy to order and drinks are made quickly (Even on a busy Saturday afternoon)…read more Great variety of drinks and fresh and chewy boba and they offer other great toppings as well. Not fully customizable with sugar levels and such, but they do have milk alternatives and you can make adjustments to some drinks. The velvet snow jasmine fresh milk and it was delish! Will be back.

C6. Strawberry Milk Tea Osmanthus milk tea

C4. Taiwan Classic Milk Tea C6. Strawberry Milk Tea

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Boba Milk Tea

Hui Lau Shan

4.5(400 reviews)

1.7 mi•Downtown Berkeley

Really good and fast service. Mine as shown below is ordered through fresh daily made at Weee! It…read moreis so sad that they closed sister stores in Asia such as those ones in Hong Kong. The fast food cafe like atmosphere also reminds me of happy, carefree days as a Cal student so I will keep ordering and supporting them. The best thing about Asian dessert is that the taste and sugar level is always "just right" and never too sweet!

I absolutely, truly love this place. I got their mango sago drink and mango mochi, and both were…read moresuper high-quality, they did not skimp with any of the mango pulp or mango fruit pieces in the drink and it was so absolutely delicious. It tasted super fresh and was made with care and attention. The mango mochi were soft pillowy pieces of thin crepe skin filled with cream with a little bit of mango in the center. It was barely sweet, which is the Chinese way and I absolutely love that. I think its super rare to find a quality drink shop where the drink and snacks quality are so high when it comes to mango. I think a lot of boba places in the Bay Area use still raw, unripe mango pieces and also dilute their mango drinks with tons of ice and still charge premium prices for them for little pieces of mango, but here they do not skimp on quality or quantity, while maintaining affordable prices. The quality is so high and the prices are so affordable for what they provide. So absolutely delicious, I will be back here as often as I can.

A8. Mango Sago

F3. Pomelo and Mango with Sago

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Rare Tea

3.8(583 reviews)

1.6 mi•Telegraph Ave

•$

I ordered ahead for a dragon fruit tea, less ice, 30% sweet. It was done within 5 mins. It was…read morestill quite sweet, and had an acidic sour tang. While I'm satisfied with the strength of the fruit flavor, I do wish it would've been less sweet since that is not what I would've expected for 30% sweetness. They are on the SnackPass app, so there's occasionally discounts available on there.

I tried their strawberry tea with snow cream. It was delicious! I could taste the fresh…read morestrawberries puréed in the drink. I ordered 100% sweetness and it wasn't too sweet at all. Actually would have preferred a tad bit more sweetness but nonetheless the flavor was so refreshing. The salted cream on top, which I was hesitant about, actually went well with the strawberry.

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Purple Kow

3.5(751 reviews)

Great service by the ladies that took my order and made my drinks today! Very kind and helpful…read morethank you

Very disappointed with Purple Kow after this experience…read more First of all, the opening hours are completely unclear and misleading. Yelp showed the store was already open around 11:00 AM, but when I arrived, the store didn't open until 12:00 PM. It was freezing cold, and customers were left waiting outside with no explanation. To make it worse, I had already placed a DoorDash pickup order, which showed 11:55 AM ready for pickup, yet the store was still closed. This is extremely unprofessional and a waste of customers' time. Another frustrating issue: DoorDash does not allow adding black boba. I ordered 5 drinks, and politely asked if I could purchase extra black boba separately for $5. The staff said they don't sell boba by itself -- which makes absolutely no sense. I bought multiple drinks and snacks, yet they refused to sell a basic add-on. I've been a loyal customer for many years, but this experience was unacceptable. Poor communication, poor coordination with DoorDash, and zero flexibility toward customers. This place really needs to do better.

Ice milk with TCHO chocolate pudding

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Sweet Potato fries

Plentea

3.9(233 reviews)

•$

My favorite is the mango smoothie. It's sooo refreshing and tasty…read more I always get mine in a glass jar and I just really appreciate like the quality of this place to offer that, you know?

Bad experience. We ordered for pickup, and upon arrival, we asked the employee if it was ready. She…read moretold us 10 minutes. There were no customers, we just watched her wash a ton of dishes for 10 minutes before starting on our drinks. I got the avocado smoothie, which came with a sweetness level request. 100% was recommended, so I picked that. I watched her literally just put milk, avocado, and ice into a blender. No sweetener such as condensed milk like I expected. As expected, there was absolutely no sweetness in the drink, just milky avocado slush. My husband got a house milk tea with boba, and it was extremely flavorless. Tasted really sweet, but you couldn't really taste the tea at all. Honey boba wasn't bad, not the worst we've tried. Overall, considering there are tons of other boba shops in Berkeley, we definitely will not be back.

Takoyaki and Plentea boba

Fresh taro with egg pudding, lactose-free milk, less ice

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Inside

Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea

4.0(448 reviews)

1.6 mi•Telegraph Ave

We found this spot by accident because we were looking for a store nearby. I LOVED IT! Cutest place…read morewith the nicest employees. I had a lot of questions and they sweetly answered them before I did my order. You order online or on the screens in the store. Pretty self explanatory and easy. There are just a few places to sit inside, so probably want to get it to go. I ordered this heavenly mango/grapefruit concoction with pearls. 15/10. It was so hard to choose what to order because everything looked so delicious and refreshing. My drink was ready in less than 10 minutes. I definitely want to come back and try some different drinks!

Tried a few more drinks at Yi Fang:…read more Multi-floral honey mountain tea, 50 sweet no ice, large: The drink was done in about half the time that was estimated (Snackpass estimated 15 minutes, but it was done in 7). It was barely sweet, 50% is the lowest sweetness you can set for this drink. I was disappointed by this one as I felt the tea and floral flavors could've been stronger, it really just tasted of honey. Large chocoberry bliss, warm, 50 sweet (which was the recommended sweetness): It's a non caffeinated drink and can only be hot or warm. It tastes of dark chocolate with strawberry. It reminded me of hot chocolate but with a strawberry milk flavor, I liked it and would recommend trying it when it's in season if you enjoy sweets and chocolate in particular. Cheese creamer black tea, no ice, 0% sweetness, large cold: The tea is truly bitter when at 0% sweetness, which is what I intended. A generous thick amount of creamer on top. It doesn't mix easily with the tea. Note that on Snackpass, they add another $0.25 onto the price of your drink for "city cup fee" - referring to City of Berkeley's fee charged for plastic drink cups. I have found they're usually pretty fast at making the drinks and they may be done earlier than what Snackpass estimates. Sometimes you may need to get the attention of one of the workers as they can be occupied working and aren't always at the counter looking at you.

Cantaloupe Green Tea @whaevaeats

Mango Pomelo Sago

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Sharetea

3.6(68 reviews)

Pro: fast, convenient, and opens really late. Perfect for after club meeting or late campus…read moreactivities. Taste is pretty good but nothing special. I recommend less ice and no sugar since the ingredients and topping are sweet already. Been there 20+ times in my Berkeley student era. Con: honestly kinda mid and pricy for what it is. Nothing is made fresh here and all from canned/powder ingredients. I wish they can lower the price or have some other perks. Ex bathroom, board game, etc.

I have been to a fair amount of Shareteas and I have to say this location is the weakest out of the…read morebunch. Boba was overcooked in all 3 of the drinks I ordered. The classic milk tea tasted like straight up milk with a whisper of tea. And don't get me started on the nonexistent parking.

0.2 mi•Rockridge, North Oakland

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Mango & Passion Fruit Tea (@joeynht)

Pressed Juicery

3.5(65 reviews)

I like to come here for my green juices and recently stopped by and also decided to try their acai…read morebowl. I got the original one, I believe they have 3-4 acai bowl options total. It was really good, the fruit was fresh and overall I believe a good value for the price. The workers here are always friendly and you can also preorder on the app for pickup.

I really enjoy this place! The hours are great, staff are friendly and selection is awesome!…read morePressed offers quality products at a very reasonable price. Definitely become a VIP- great benefits. If you are looking to juice and/or do a fast this a great starting place. They offer juices, cleanses, wellness shots, smoothies that are bottled, acai freezes/bowls. The store is clean, well lit and they have a few counter seats. Parking is available on the street and behind Safeway. Yes to Pressed!