Purple Sweet Potato Fluffy Matcha * Tea Maru You can get 15% off if you check in on Yelp! she was still $6 tho but nothing compared to boston's $9 anyways i got sweet potato fluffy matcha which is basically just a matcha dalgona latte with purple sweet potato on the bottom, and mixed boba, which comes with STRAWBERRY MANGO AND SWEET POTATO boba! i could taste the mango boba only, strawberry probably overpowered by the rest of the drink, and the sweet potato ones were undercooked and doughy ‍ def not bad boba tho, u can lie to urself that it's healthier than normal tapioca pearls! a ha ha and the matcha dalgona was tashty. i tried to make matcha whipped cream at home while i was craving and it was definitely NOT the same so it was worth trying!! sweet potato good, not too sandy, but could have done with a little bit more, was gone after a few sips.will return to see if the boba is cooked next time xD 7.5/10 read more

Tea Maru - Purple sweet potato fluffy matcha - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

Ordered a uji matcha latte with sweet potato boba and after 20 min of waiting I finally got my uji matcha latte without boba, I told them they didn't put any boba in my drink and just gave me brown sugar boba in a cup for me to pour it in myself. As a side note, the amount of boba that we received was very little. read more

Tea Maru - Amount of boba that we received to our in ourselves. - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

Location / Nestled in a plaza with plenty of parking. The inside is kinda small and mainly provides outdoor seating. You have the option to order from the cashier or order from the kiosk. Drinks / They hand make their boba so boba is really fresh here! I got their Okinawa milk tea with boba and it was so good! Boba was soft and chewy just how I like my boba. Service / Boba came really quick! Workers know what they're doing and serve you within minutes. I'll come here again for boba if I'm in the area :) read more

I really don't understand how Tea Maru has an average of a 4 star review. The pearls are average at best regardless if it's handmade and the tea is pretty low quality. The drinks are way too overpriced for how mediocre it is. If you're in Irvine there are always better places to get boba. read more

My daughter and I popped in on a Saturday. Easy parking. The gentleman behind the counter was super nice and answered our questions. Service was quick. I went with the signature maru milk and she got the strawberry blast. While both drinks were good they were very light on boba compared to other places we have been. Also my tea was sort of leaky and ended up making a mess. Very tasty but too many boba free sips. Finally, there is a restroom in the store but it's marked with a sign that says it's for employees only. There is no seating inside and very limited outside. We wanted to sit down and enjoy our tea but were forced to hop in the car and leave. I also wish there was a menu that had more explanation of the drinks. I took a picture of the only part of the menu that has this (on the screen) but it's on a slide show loop and only flashes for 1 second. The only way to actually read it is to take a picture. It's a fine place to stop if convenient but I would not go out of the way and not if you want to linger. read more

Tea Maru - Maru milk and strawberry blast - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

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Don't live in the area, but I'll come back for this tea! Clean, quick service and easy self-checkout. I recommend the kiwi!

This place finally opened and I was happy to grab a boba from this place after lunch. I got the maru milk and it was delicious. It could be a bit sweet for some people but you can always ask for less sugar. I would come by for my boba needs in the future!!! I will try other menus next time :) read more

Tea Maru - Soft opening menu! - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

First time trying and the boba and tea/milks are on point! Great to have a boba place that makes their own boba, not too sweet, and have milk substitutes without changing the quality. Great staff, very clean. We ordered: -Maru milk w/mango boba and oatmilk sub, 75% sugar -Four season milk tea w/sweet potato boba, 25% sweet -Honey latte with brown sugar boba, oatmilk sub read more

Tea Maru - Four season milk tea w/sweet potato boba, 25% sweet - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

I've been to Tea Maru a few times now and I like their Strawberry Fluffy Matcha (a little on the sweeter side) and their Taro Storm (ice blended real taro not too sweet). I've been waiting on writing my review because the service is pretty mixed. I've went into the store to directly order from the counter twice, ordered delivery twice and ordered online for pickup once. The two times I went into the store and ordered directly, both times there was only 1 crew member inside making drinks. There was no line but I'm unsure of their online orders. But the crew member kept taking orders both online and other people coming into the store and I ended up waiting over half an hour for my drink. Last week I decided to order online for pickup and I arrived 10 minutes after the pickup time and the one crew member was just starting to make my drink. The two times I ordered delivery they did however, arrive at the promised time. Although I love their drinks, I can't find myself to give them 5 stars. Hopefully their service will improve in the future to where I can update my review for them. read more

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UN-SANITARY business practices especially in Covid times. Please train your employees on proper food handling as well as customer service. I came in tonight to try this place for the first time. I asked the young male employee what kind of milk tea they had on the menu since the menu doesn't clearly state milk tea options. He couldn't even tell me and we were both looking at the menu confused...definitely need to train the employees to know the menu. As I was ordering, the customer before me came in and said his drink wasn't sweet enough and asked them to make it sweeter. He proceeded to take his straw that he used to drink from and hand over his cup to be remade. The female employee opened the seal on the top of the cup, poured some of tea that the customer drank from into a shaker, added sweeter, stirred it with the spoon they use to make all the drinks, and poured it back into the customers cup and resealed it to give it back to the customer. The spoon that was used was put back into the holder cup and the shaker was rinsed quickly with water. The employee then proceeded to make my drink with the same shaker and spoon. I politely asked for my drink to be re-made in a clean container and explained that they just poured a used drink into the shaker from the previous customer and didn't wash it l, so I wanted my drink to be made in a clean non-contaminated manner. As I was explaining this, the male employee completely walked away as I was mid sentence. He just walked away and went into the back. That was quite possibly the rudest interaction I have had with a food service employee. The female employee proceeded to make my drink in a new shaker but used the same spoon to stir my drink. I threw my drink away right as I walked out the door because I do not want a stranger's mouth germs in my drink especially during Covid times. I understand that this place is new and opened recently but the owner/managers need to train their employees better. They need to know the menu, the need to know proper food safety/handling practices, and they need better customer service. I will not be coming back. There are so many tea places in Irvine that follow basic food handling requirements. I have myself been to tea places that will just completely make you a new drink if you aren't satisfied with the drink you got, not take your drink back, contaminate all of the equipment, just to make it sweeter. Make a new drink, that is how it is supposed to be done. Even at Starbucks, if you aren't satisfied they tell you to keep the drink and they will make a brand new one. 0/10 do not recommend. Go elsewhere. read more

It was my first time here. I ordered the tea Mary latte with minimal sweetness and brown sugar boba. It was okay and the service was fine. The cashier was somewhat helpful but not overly so. At $6 for this drink, it wasn't memorable or worth the 20 minute drive. There are plenty of closer boba places to my house for the same or less price. I still can't get used to the price of these drinks but I don't blame these shop owners as much as inflation. The shop itself was clean. No indoor seating but there is outdoor seating right outside. read more

We went again with a nice complementary gift card! The boba was the best I've had! Drink are still not among the best in the area but they're also not bad by any means read more

Husband drove us to Starbucks for a quick stop on a long drive, am I'm the one who scored the best drink!. We parked in front of Tea Maru so I popped in for a drink. What an incredible surprise to get a delicious iced tea boba. On the recommendation of the lovely girl behind the counter, did 1/2 sweetness and oat milk. Heavenly. So good. Only wished I lived closer. Would 1000% be a regular. read more

Came to Tea Maru in person. I got a strawberry slush with strawberry and mango boba. I have never seen flavored boba before except for popping boba so that was a first time for me. The mango boba was very distinct with the strawberry drink flavor, however, the strawberry boba was less noticeable since it was a strawberry flavored drink. I was also expecting the boba to be a little more juicy or squishy? They were a bit hard. I don't know why that was but aside from that I really enjoyed my beverage. It was cold outside but I still wanted this icy cold drink! The strawberry slush wasn't too sugary even though I did get 100% sugar hahaha. It was just right! I also wish they had regular standard boba as an option to put in my beverage, as that would have probably been my first choice, but it was nice to try something new! (: read more

This place is one of the closer boba cafes near my house and I come here a lot because of it. Although they don't have as many options as their competitors, they produce more consistent drinks. My go-to here is the Maru Milk with added black tea and brown sugar boba. They make their own handcrafted boba included some cool flavors like strawberry and mango. Still, they don't soak them in syrup like most places do and sometimes they taste a little bland and starchy because of it. Yet, overall I do like this place- mainly because of the convenient location. read more

This place is located in Quail Hill. I came here because they had a check in offer but the fine print said it expired sometime in March. While that would have been nice I felt it only to be an incentive to try out the place, I would have come here a minimum of one time even with no offers. It was really late in the day so I ordered something without caffeine which was indicated by icons next to the item names. I asked for low sugar and it made the drink taste very bland, though the inherent sweetness of the boba (I believe it was included in the price) offset that. They spelled my name wrong on the receipt but since I was the only person in line at the time it did not matter. They had a human cashier on duty at the time so I was able to pay with cash. The prices did not include sales tax and the transaction was taxable. Online ordering was available as well so I might consider that next time. The plaza has 2 Pokemon GO gyms in this part of the plaza. They are reachable from some parts of the parking lot. It's better to park next to Cox if one wants to reach both at the same time. read more

Boba was very good. Texture and consistency was chefs kiss but the Thai Tea was gritty and unfortunately powder-based. Ugh. I asked specifically if the tea was fresh or powdered but adding Thai powder to black tea does not make it freshly brewed Thai tea. The powder settles and leaves a gritty and faux Thai taste. Probably won't return. read more

One of my favorite boba places! I love the mango fluffy matcha! It's a perfect combination of the sweet mango purée and the rich matcha taste. They have a wide selection of boba flavors but I usually just go with the original one which matches pretty well with the drink. It could get a bit pricy but I think it's definitely worth the money and I keep coming back! read more

So tasty, and very helpful staff. They were playing cute music while I waited for my drink. The drink and boba was so good. Drink was made very quickly read more

I almost don't want to write this post because I'm afraid the next time I go, the line will be an hour long out the door. Despite my selfish desire to keep this secret all to myself, the world needs to know about Tea Maru! I'd venture to say this might be the best boba place in Orange County. Their boba is homemade and it shows. The little morsels are perfectly chewy, soft, and flavorful. If you are going for your first visit, do not miss their Maru Milk. This non-caffeinated drink has an almost buttery taste in all the good ways. If you want caffeine, then you can pick from 4 tea options to have a tasty twist on their signature drink. They have so many other awesome options that I'll surely be back time and time again to try them all! My only critique is that they don't have a bathroom but you can always sneak next door to Starbucks. ;) read more

Delicious! Every drink i tried was amazing will be returning! Staff was nice every time I was there! I do wish they had more options without caffeine though. read more

I came here multiple times already and absolutely love their sweet potato boba balls. I always get the uji matcha latte and get low sugar levels. The drink itself is pretty regular compared to other boba places. But I do like their unique flavored boba balls. Their boba balls are a little bit bigger in size and they are super chewy. I would come back but probably not too often because it's a bit pricey for boba. read more

I was excited that another boba place opened near me, however, my experience here was just okay. Firstly, the service wasn't very friendly. The girl behind the counter seemed borderline annoyed. We ordered two drinks, Tea Maru Latte and Uji Matcha, both with their house brown sugar boba. Both drinks had minimal tea taste, they felt like just water and milk. The boba also didn't taste brown sugary, and texture was a bit mushy and soft. Price point is a bit high for what you get, imo. I will stick with my regular boba places for now. read more

I got the dalgona strawberry matcha and the flavor was very good. The service was fast and I only waited 3 minutes for my drink. Overall recommend if in the area. read more

This place is located in a plaza with plenty of parking. Might be hard to find parking directly in front of it but there other spot closer to the market. Service was amazing and sweet. Gave great recommendations and advice on drinks since it was my first time there. I got their owakina milk tea! I really like it and it tasted amazing. It wasn't overly sweet and had a nice toffee flavor. I really enjoy their boba. It was nice and chewy with the perfect consistency. Overall, i would definitely recommend trying this place. Their milk tea was spot on and I'll definitely be back! read more

Best boba I've ever found. Now all other places taste average at best. The Dalgona series, grapefruit, Maru, lemon drop... everything awesome. Love the Aloe and Lychee toppings. read more

Tea Maru - Mango Dalgona - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

stole 3 dollars from me and took like 30 minutes to drink the drink tasted really bad

Cute little shop in the Quail Hill area with great drinks! I got a Mango Jasmine 0% sweet and my gf got a Grapefruit Fantasy that came with sweet potato boba. Most boba shops' mango tea drinks are still really sweet even with 0% sweetness due to the mango syrup they use. So I was pleasantly surprised when Tea Maru's mango jasmine was actually not too sweet for my taste, and had a strong jasmine flavor which I liked. I also tried the grapefruit fantasy and while it was too sweet for me, the homemade sweet potato boba was perfectly firm yet chewy and fun to eat. I'll definitely come back and try some different homemade boba and some other less sweet drinks in the future! read more

I live across the street and have probably spent hundreds of dollars here. Boba quality is decent and their location is definitely convenient for me, but they have some serious customer service problems and logistics issues. There have been multiple occasions where I'm met with snarky attitudes while ordering the drinks. They're not helpful nor friendly. Poor customer service. Like they just want you to order the drink and get out of there. They need some serious training. Secondly, I usually order multiple drinks at once. 50% OF THE TIME THEY'RE NOT LABELED. And if they are labeled, it's with a sharpy and handwritten. All the other drinks they will just state, "It's obvious which drink is which, we don't need to label it." Seriously? INVEST IN A PRINTER. All the other boba shops have them. Not every customer will know all the drinks like the back of their hand. We don't work here. It's not "obvious" to us. Customer service goes a long way. And it's not hard. Get it together guys. read more

So happy to see Tea Maru open up in this complex. Irvine is already pretty populate with boba places, but there's always room for more, especially if they are quality. I was especially enticed because they make their boba in house and was excited to try that. I ordered the Okinawa milk latte 75% sweetness, less ice. 75 % sweet is the lowest the Okinawa goes and it was perfectly sweet. I like my drinks with a stronger tea flavor rather than more milky and this one definitely met my expectations. The tea seemed very high quality so if you also like this, it is perfect for you. It came with boba and I opted for the brown sugar boba, although I saw they had many other unique options like strawberry and mango boba. The brown sugar boba had a perfect sweetness that maintained throughout the time I was drinking it and didn't get too hard with the ice. It was also perfectly soft and chewy. The sweetness was not only coating the boba, but it was also added into the flour that made the boba and this adds a delish sweetness. Tea Maru would defined be 5/5 if not for the prices. Although great drinks, I can't justify spending nearly $6 on a drink. There are many competing places in the area with comparable drinks, so I would probably save my money most of the time and maybe visit on occasion. Definitely worth a try though read more

Tea Maru - Okinawa Milk Latte with brown sugar boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

For the price of the fluffy series, I figured adding some boba would be included. I've tried some of their other drinks, they are just ok. With all the competition in Irvine, I simply just don't think the value is justified and is a bit overpriced. read more

We were super excited that Tea Maru opened in Irvine. Drinks here are decent but service is not up to par. We ordered twice through Postmates and BOTH times they got our order wrong. The first time we let it go because it was a minor error- they forgot to add boba to our drink. However, the second time we ordered they got our drink completely wrong. We ordered the Wintermelon fruit tea with aiyu jelly and got a Wintermelon latte. Since this was the second time they got our order wrong we decided to call in and let them know about the situation and our frustration. The response we received was unexpected. The associate was unapologetic and told us that the order was already picked up....We told her yes it was picked up and that the order was not made right and she was silent. We then told her that this was the second time our order was wrong and she replied she didn't know who made our drinks the first time so there is nothing she can do about it. I was very frustrated at this point I left the house and brought the drink back and asked them to fix it. It was quite frustrating as the only reason we ordered through Postmates was because we did not have the time to leave the house. Other than service drinks and boba are not bad. We've had the Uji Matcha Latte, Wintermelon Fruit tea, and Tea Maru Latte. I would say the Wintermelon Fruit tea is the most unique out of the options we tried. It reminds me of home in Taiwan. I do recommend giving TeaMaru a try but maybe order in person if possible so that if mistakes are made it can be adjusted on the spot. I hope TeaMaru can provide better training and service in the future! read more

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I am SO glad Tea Maru is finally in Irvine. Tea maru has been my go-to spot in the 626 for the longest time and it's amazing that I no longer have to make the drive to pick up their boba. It's located right next to Starbucks in the Quail Hill Shopping Center. Currently they have a limited menu as it is soft opening only but have gone here twice since they opened a week ago and it's the same great flavor as their San Gabriel store! Definitely check our Tea Maru if you're in the area and craving boba. Their boba is always fresh and the teas are strong and flavorful. read more

Tea Maru - taro on left and grapefruit fantasy on right - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

Yet again Tea Maru messes up my order. Every time I ask for no ice cream in my drink I end up with lord and behold, ice cream in my drink. Not only that, but the ice cream takes up a third of the drink, which I paid 6$ for. read more

Tea Maru - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

I start every "meh" review this way but I always feel bad... I wanted to like this place! And would maybe give it another shot, because it wasn't bad. However, it's definitely on the pricy side (even for Irvine), so it's hard for me to give second chances when there are so many places in the area that I already love. The menu isn't super extensive, although they do have some unique boba options! I went with a lightly sweetened wintermelon latte. The sweetness level was on point, but the wintermelon flavor was just so faint that I wouldn't have known what it was if I hadn't ordered it. So again, not bad at all, but not somewhere I'd go out of my way to order at. read more

Yummy!!! First time trying this place and I ordered two drinks because I couldn't decide on just one. I got the Maru milk and the oolong tea latte, both were very delicious. I really enjoyed the maru milk read more

I ordered the Uji Matcha Latte with brown sugar boba and I was very disappointed. The tea itself was very watery and the boba had a hard consistency. The tea tasted chalky and I wouldn't go back anytime soon. I had high expectations because I heard the original locations of Tea Maru were really good, but I was not satisfied with the drink and it was around $6. I felt like the workers didn't know the right proportions for the drinks, but this was their soft opening so hopefully it gets better in the future! read more

Tea Maru - Uji Matcha Latte with Boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

To be honest, I don't think They know how to make drinks, i ordered tea Maru latte and fruit tea, trust me , I throw them right away after one sip. read more

Tea Maru - Going to throw it - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

I wanted to check this place out since I've already gone to the majority of other boba shops in the area. They offer all the basics and has a key selling point of making their boba "in-house". I ordered the fluffy Strawberry Matcha and it was overpowered by the milk and strawberry. read more

Tea Maru - outside - Bubble Tea Near Me - Irvine, California

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Yum! Tried the oreo and mango slushies. Both were delish!!! A little too much ice in the mango but really good!!!