Best boba in new haven but that's honestly a pretty low bar. I would suggest whale tea if you want more traditional boba. The brown sugar boba drink is good but I think all of their drinks taste mostly like milk, which I strongly dislike. I wish the flavor was stronger than the taste of milk. I like this place but it's super expensive read more

This was my first time at the Whale Tea and I was pleased by the reception of the staff. They answered all our questions and helped me in selecting the Thai Milk tea (I'm pretty basic). I did ask for a medium and they rung me up for a large but it wasn't a big deal to me. It's by far one of the best tea spots in New Haven. I'm excited to try them again! read more

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Overpriced decent boba & below average service. Boba: I grabbed a brown sugar milk tea with boba. I did like how their tea still had that earthy taste, but it definitely wasn't a strong brown sugar flavor. The boba was a little hard for my preference. Environment: Lots of space and a good amount of seats. Service: Waited almost 10 minutes for 1 drink. No one else was here. Also, she stated that "100% sugar is a lot of sugar" at least twice to me with a very passive aggressive/judgemental tone. Like let me live, if I wanna gain a few extra pounds and have an unhealthy sugar rush and bounce off the walls, let me do me. read more

The Whale Tea - Brown Sugar Fresh Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

Thai iced tea with boba $5.25 medium Brown sugar tea Nice selection Yummy boba Quick service Currently you can not order inside the shop, you just wait out front & someone takes your order & payment. They wear gloves and masks Hours: closes at 8pm, check for updates read more

People need to understand the boba tea is not some monolithic sort of enterprise. There are both traditional places, and more modern ones that present interpretations of the original product. I would put The Whale Tea more on the traditional side of things despite their massive menu, and while a lot of it is quite good, I have to urge first-timers to get the Brown Sugar Milk Tea with Boba before branching out. It really is that good, and well worth making a trip here to get it. read more

tl;dr best boba in town; no powder; signature milk tea with brown sugar ftw Like every person of my heritage, I have had my fair share of the unofficial drink of our people - namely, bubble tea. And, as such, I daresay that I have developed a keen taste for quality when it comes to said drink. New Haven used to be a complete desert when it came to boba, but over the years, it has slowly gained a few outposts, but nothing really that great - you still go to said places to satisfy the deep, existential craving that sometimes manifests itself during those weak moments (for some reason it's always at night) when your guard is down. Places have come and gone, including the previous tenant of this location. I'm hopeful this time though that we'll see a real contender against Vivi's. This is a proper bubble tea shop, in that it doesn't serve powdered milk, and their tea is pretty great, the bubbles (sugarfied) are to die for. My friend commented that the cups themselves are surprisingly sturdy too. I haven't tried the rest of their menu, which is quite expansive, so I can only speak for the signature milk tea, but it's the best in town, by a long shot. This place is currently in it's soft opening, so things are still a little rough. The service is pretty slow right now, as they are very careful about the weight of the things they put into your cup, though I'm hoping it'll get better as the staff become more versed. The space is still the same one as before, which I think is rather underutilized. I feel like they should turn it into more like an asian bubble tea cafe shop. They're paying for all this real estate anyway, so why not bring in business by adding a whole bunch of tables and chairs, and turn it into a cool study spot. My only concern is that it's so close to where I work that I'm going to get unhealthy real fast. Sept 22 Update: Looks like either they listened to me, or because they too have great business acumen, the place is turning into more of an asian study spot! This bodes well. read more

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A cute boba shop. I'd say this is my favorite boba place in New Haven! The drinks are not toooo overpriced and the quality of boba is good. I ordered the blue crystal drink with boba. It was interesting because I've never had any drink like that but I really liked it. It was basically coconut milk, which I love. The boba was soft and chewy. The place was not too crowded and I got my order pretty quick. I would definitely come back here to get my boba. read more

Saddened by the closing of the previous boba place that was in The Whale Tea's place, I had to immediately try the The Whale Tea's boba as soon as I heard about it's opening. When I went it was pretty close to closing time and they'd temporarily ran out of tapioca pearls (they had more a couple minutes after I'd gotten my drink :/), so I opted to experiment with my drink of choice. Instead of getting the signature milk tea, which I'd heard very good things about, I ordered the grapefruit crystal tea. According to the kind cashier worker, who was willing to explain the difference between the grapefruit crystal tea and the grapefruit fruit tea to me, the only thing that makes the crystal tea different is the addition of tao jiao. Tao jiao is described online as peach jelly/resin, and maybe is also used as a medicinal herb? I'm not quite sure. All that I know is that the grapefruit crystal tea looked bEAUTIFUL and tasted aMAZING. I ordered the tea with 50% sugar and it was just right. I'm still not too sure about how I feel about the texture and taste of the tao jiao, but the tea was so well-made and even had grapefruit slices in it! What more could a girl ask for? I'm so excited to come back and try their other flavors, though I wish they had more actual milk tea flavors. UPDATE: i came back and tried their signature milk tea...it HITS! my new fav boba spot :) read more

The Whale Tea - Grapefruit crystal tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

I find myself returning to Whale Tea several times a week! Their brown sugar milk tea is amazing and their tapioca is made fresh in house (or so it seems!) The tapioca is always warm and soft which is what I look for. They have a wide menu and my boyfriend loves the strawberry milk bubble tea. Compared to everything else in New Haven, I think Whale Tea takes the cake! read more

TL;DR: This is the best traditional boba in the area, but like others have said, given the dearth of boba in New Haven County is this really an accomplishment? I recommend the fruit offerings. Edited for clarity: Lychee/Peach Jellies and Brown Sugar Bobas are vegan. Blue Jelly still awaiting confirmation. Therefore: The Whale Crystal drink (w/ coconut milk) is fully vegan, but the Blue Whale may not be. Getting boba and Chinese food on Christmas/school breaks has become my new favorite tradition, and I was not about to let the pandemic stop me. This place has been on my bookmarks for a minute, and I figured it's probably slow (due to school break), so I can go down there and not wait on a line. COVID Compliance: They are very safe with sneeze guards and everyone wears masks. I love the ambience here and could see myself studying here during non pandemic times. Service was extremely friendly and the person that helped me was kind as I went through my standard vegan boba shop questions. I know I sounded dumb as hell but I *really* had to make sure milk teas were prepared with milk and not powder, and that the non dairy milks are truly non-dairy (they are). I recommend using Snackpass to order for pick up as service can be slow. They have almond milk and coconut milk for the non dairy offerings, and according to the store, the boba is sweetened with brown sugar, and not honey (at least the darker oner is), but not every drink can be made non-dairy. They make very instagrammable teas, which reminds me of my favorite boba place, Labobatory. My first visit I got The Blue Whale and all the fruit teas (lmao). The Passionfruit and Lychee tea with the jellies (plain, not the milk foam ones, are made with resin and not gelatin) are delicious and feature actual fruit slices in the cup. So yummy. The Blue Whale jelly tastes like literally nothing. The coconut milk itself was fine. I *almost* thought it had some regular milk in it because it had a weird aftertaste, but it is coconut milk, my stomach can attest to this. It relatively lower in calories (they list the calories on the sticker of your beverage, very cool). It's unsweetened with no ice so if, for some reason you are counting calories, definitely get this. The jury is still out on whether or not the blue jelly is made from gelatin, I asked the worker helping me in the store and they said it wasn't but I'm not sure they understood what I was asking them. Because I am willing to put my stomach on the line for you, dear reader, I came back and ordered Brown Sugar Milk Tea with Almond Milk. It was pretty good, but nothing special, it tasted more like milk than tea, and was really sweet to me. I would get it with less sugar next time. Boba here will set you back at least $5, and actual boba is an extra 50 cents (does not come standard), but it's very good for a nice treat. read more

I love going here! Its a bit of a drive from my house but it's worth it for sure! The brown sugar drinks are amazing read more

The Whale Tea - Blue Crystal - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

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I prefer them over Loose Leaf next door, but am disappointed that they don't have grass jelly. Generally speaking, they are not as sweet as Loose Leaf, and have a larger range of flavors/specialties like the Oreo Creme Brulee I ordered. I also enjoyed their strawberry milk tea, made with real strawberries. read more

The Whale Tea - Oreo Creme Brulee - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

I have been on this new kick, I have been stopping by various bubble tea shops to try out the bubble teas, after visiting one in Brooklyn. I found a wonderful bubble tea shop in Stamford, which you can read my next review, and they introduced me to the brown sugar tea. I was very excited to see how they go about the process of making the tea, by adding ingredients, shaking it, and stirring it and then putting the plastic cup with a plastic seal. After receiving a very terrible tea earlier in New Haven, since they had so many, I went to another tea shop, I decided to try it once more, since I knew exactly what the brown sugar tea look like and taste like. I watched the artist/server take time to do the teas of three people that look like brown sugar teas. However,Started the process to create my drink, it wasn't the same and he made the wrong drink. I was puzzled, so I turned around and went back to the counter and said this doesn't look like a brown sugar tea. He stated. oh I'm sorry, I thought you ordered this. I said no, I ordered a brown sugar tea. He then goes and puts in about 3/4 cups of milk along with the ladle of tapioca balls. I was waiting but I never noticed him start anything, shake nor stir and then he gives it to me and so I'm thinking maybe I just miss the process. I tried to shake it up but it didn't have the same consistency as the one I had prior. As you can see from below, I drank it, only to find out I have a cup of milk. Completely pissed! Now, I have driven 53 miles to try my exciting new fetish, that I was starting to grow accustomed, only for someone to skip the process of really making the tea? I watched him do this process right before me with an Asian group, why was I not given the same process? Of course, every drink is not made the same but when it comes to the brown sugar tea. I have seen it done twice in two different shops and I knew that he did not do mine's correctly. Why wasn't I not given the same process? Was it because they thought I didn't know the process, the taste not the workmanship of the exciting tea company? However, I didn't see him do the same process even with the ones that were mine as the other bubble tea shops did. Very disappointed! You could see from my glass below, after I have shaken and stirred several times, only not to get the affect. I drunk my milk like a good little girl but I was totally pissed. Seven dollars for a glass of milk! Not happy!! read more

The Whale Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

A cute whale-themed boba shop with modern ordering kiosks and a cozy vibe. The drinks are a tad expensive for what you get, however. I got the medium signature milk tea with boba for a little over $6, which is more than I'm used to for that size. The drink was great, though. read more

The Whale Tea - signature milk tea with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

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Having recently moved to CT from the San Francisco Bay Area - where there were half a dozen boba places within a 5 minute drive from us - we were really missing some good tea. We'd tried a few places that didn't match up, but then, we found The Whale Tea! Their brown sugar milk tea was great. Just the right amount of sweetness and still the flavor of a strong tea. The hot pomelo lemon tea was also a great balance of sweet and tea bitterness, a nice drink on a cold day. The only bummer is that we live an hour east! But certainly, we'll always visit here when we are in New Haven. It's better than a lot of places in the Bay. read more

Mango fruit tea was super delicious and the flavor wasn't overpowering or too much like some other mango teas I have tried. Super refreshing as well. Cute store and nice staff with a great selection of drinks. read more

The Whale Tea - Mango Fruit Tea with Milk Foam and Popping Yogurt Bubbles - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

This is my favorite bubble tea spot in New Haven. For one, it has a welcoming feel and ambiance to it when walking in. Second, this bubble tea place has a high-quality selection of bubble teas for an excellent price. My favorite drink is Matcha Latte, Matcha Milk Tea, and Brown Sugar Milk Tea. I can't wait to try more drinks! read more

one of the top bubble tea spots in new haven! the bubbles are always cooked perfectly and the inside of the restaurant always clean. this was my third time in and i must say i love their iced beverages. (got their hot matcha once and it was very powdery) the fresh milk line is especially delicious! read more

The Whale Tea - Strawberry Fresh Milk and jasmine tea with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

Come here a lot and the boba and fruit teas are amazing. Service can be a bit slow but that's because it's always busy

We had no idea this place had opened down the street from us and we immediately pulled over when we noticed it. I'm usually always bugging my boyfriend to go to ViVi's downtown, so I was excited to see this new place had opened closer to us. I've been there twice so far, I love it. The only thing I'll warn about is you have to be patient because you may have to wait a bit for your order -- they're often really busy and a little backed up, but I guess that goes to show they're in demand! It's worth the wait, I promise. They may even improve the wait time too; they're new so I'm sure they're still getting in the swing of things. I don't necessarily want to compare them to ViVi, because they have different items that are unique to them. What I will say though is the staff seems friendlier, and the drinks here seem a bit more ...natural? I'm not sure how to explain it, but I feel like ViVi's drinks might be more sugary and some ingredients might be more artificial. The drinks at Whale Tea taste a bit more fresh, depending on what you order. My boyfriend noticed this immediately, as he doesn't usually order from ViVi because it's too sweet for him, but he finds the drinks here to taste a bit more fresh and natural. Anyway, here's what I got from my two visits. The first time I got their Blue Crystal drink, just because it kept showing up in all their promo photos and looked pretty. I got it with coconut milk I think, and the blue jello tastes like a mild coconut too, and I added mango popping bubbles in the bottom. Beautiful and tasty! The second time I got the watermelon fresh milk drink, with yogurt poppers in the bottom. SO GOOD, refreshing without being sugary and overly sweet. Can't wait to try the grape and cucumber versions of that drink. I've also never been to a place with yogurt popping boba before and it's definitely my new favorite topping! Sometime I suppose we'll have to order one of their mousse or soufflé dishes. I'm curious about them, whether they're really worth the price. But over all, I think they're drink menu is fantastic and I can't wait to try more of their unique concoctions! read more

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Cute store, very helpful staff, two self check out systems and a counter check out area. Wide selection, can't wait to try all of them. Staff was incredibly nice and they were open to questions regard the self check out system. Nice, family friendly atmosphere and music. Plenty of clean seating with and open floor plan. Beautiful place, great people, wonderful drinks. :) read more

The space is pretty inviting and has seats open to relax. It's nice to have another bubble tea option in New Haven. The drinks were pretty but they simply could not answer the question "What is the blue jelly made from?" They just kept repeating that the drink was made with coconut milk, which is vegetarian. It is pretty obvious that it is made with coconut milk, because it is listed on the menu. Almond milk is also available as a milk substitute. Daughter got Milk Foam Jasmine tea with boba, and said it was fine, but the tea itself was a bit weak. Husband was brave and got Blue Crystal with boba. He liked the boba, said it was nicely sweet. I got the Whale Crystal, and they added boba even though I didn't ask for it. You could taste the coconut milk and I liked the texture of the light brown crystal jelly at the bottom. We look forward to returning and trying more flavors. read more

My go-to place for boba in New Haven! Hands down better than all the other options that rely on bland tea mixes and microwaved bubbles. As someone who sets the bar high from living in California (SF and SoCal) and NYC, this thankfully hits the spot when you're craving properly made boba. They modify to your preference (even under "comments" section on Snackpass), have alternative milk options (coconut milk!), and use real fruit and freshly cold brew teas. Since their boba is already sweetened I usually order zero or thirty percent sugar with the tea. It seems that their previous issues with having too much milk/weak taste have been addressed - flavors for me have been awesome (I have a friend on a quest to try every item on their menu, I look forward to her review). Additionally, they have incredibly friendly staff who make sure to package your order with care (their paper bags are super cute). One wish is that they would offer paper/compostable straw and cup options given the amount of plastic that comes with the business. Would definitely call to order ahead/preorder on Snackpass as they can be very popular and there may be a wait as they craft each drink from scratch (including carefully placing sliced grapefruit along the walls of your cup for that picture-perfect look). Their attention to detail in making each drink is honestly why I think it's worth the price (yes, a bit more expensive than your average quick mix boba joint), and I am more than happy to tip for their excellent customer service and attention to modification requests. Suggest starting with the signature milk tea if you're wanting to gauge them on their quality of tea/boba for the first time. If you're up for a surprise - the Whale Crystal tea is lovely. read more

The Whale Tea - The Whale Crystal (double boba, coconut milk - comes with jelly) and Mango Slush (regular boba...love the ears!). - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

I love the tea here. It has a slightly different taste to it, im assuming bc the base tea they use could be different than the one im used to, or maybe the bobba is made differently, whatever it is, i love it. Another plus is the cleanliness of this place. They wear shields over their mouth to prevent spitting in your drink while prepping it too which i think is pretty neat as well. Great customer service and cute whale decors read more

The Whale Tea - Signature Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

This is the best boba place! I misunderstood her when i was ordering my drink and didn't add boba to it but i wanted it. she told me that it's okay and took my drink back to add boba and it was really good very earthy and spicy! (i got the ginger brown sugar) my partner got the crème brûlée and loved it (it was amazing). pleassseeeee come read more

Great drinks with cute interior. I had the strawberry mill tea with boba. The drink was really good and brought me back to my childhood. However, the boba was just okay. The inside is very clean and cute, making it a great hangout spot read more

Welcome to connecticut. We have very limited bubble tea options here. I am glad that I tried the whale tea recently. I love lychee fruit tea here, not too sweet, but actual flavor of lychee. Nice presentation too. Will be a regular customer. read more

The Whale Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

I loved the atmosphere and the options they had for bubble tea. Super unique and delicious. The staff are also very nice! read more

The Whale Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

If you are Chinese(like I am), you know this is the closest you can get to what you have in mainland China. The boba scene is getting really creative over there. I usually have black tea float at any boba place because it usually has minimal artificial ingredient. At whale tea, I can say that the ingredients they use are NOT ARTIFICIAL which is really important to me. There's one time I accidentally ordered no sugar in my black tea float and the tea tasted strong. I also tried brown sugar ginger milk, which had real ginger pieces at the bottom of my cup. Upon seeing other reviewers mentioned the taro milk tea I decided to give that a try as well...Holy! It IS REAL TARO. So good and comforting. Yeah and it is not overly sweet if you don't like too much added sugar. I have yet to try the fruity drinks as I usually don't get them at a boba place but if I do try them I'll update. read more

I would say this has become our Bubble Tea place of New Haven. I'm pretty familiar with this drink and it's possible to not get it right. They do a great job and a cute ambience around the store. Parking is metered but not overpriced and depending on when you go may be free. Enjoyed it and have become a repeat customer read more

Went to Whale Tea on two occasions. The first time I ordered the fruit series tea and was not a fan. It had weird fruit pulp in it and did not taste natural. The drink looked cool because they serve it on a light and it was a pretty color. I came back a second time because I was craving boba and Vivi's isn't my favorite. I ordered the brown sugar milk tea and it was good. A lot better than Vivi's and not too sweet. I like the options to customize (I made it less sweet and used almond milk instead). The drink was a bit pricey- I got a small and it was over $6.00. The small cup is really cute and has a round bottom. The boba had a nice texture and wasn't too mushy. The store itself was cute and clean. A lot of students and young people come here. I'm not sure I would come back because of the price, but it was good tea. I ordered my drink from a kiosk at the front and it gave me a $5.00 off my next purchase but it expires in 10 days. read more

I ordered several different teas yesterday and they were all make perfect and delicious. Their cost service is extraordinary and very friendly employees read more

Went back there today and they did not disappoint. I do think they're a little over priced but they have some unique options. read more

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We come here every weekend and have never been disappointed! Great flavor, fresh ingredients! I have tried the fruit teas and my favorite is the Palemo Fruit Tea with mango boba and milk foam. My sons like the milk teas with tapioca the best, especially the strawberry and Oreo crème brûlée! read more

Everyone was friendly, the store was very cute, and they were fast with the drinks I got the brown sugar fresh milk tea but opted for almond milk. The boba was delicious and I like my boba to be kinda chewy. However the drink itself just tasted like almond milk haha there was definitely not a brown sugar taste to it. I've had this drink before at a different place with almond milk and it was delicious so that's what I'm comparing it to. My friends got the taro milk tea (she said it was good, I believe they used real taro too) and a fruit tea drink with lychee jelly (it was good) I would recommend they get additional sizes for their drinks. All of the drinks have one price for one particular size (i.e. the 2 milk tea drinks came in a small cup and the fruit tea was a large cup) read more

our first time buying from whale teas they absolutely skimped on the boba. very disappointed. we had boba all over our recent trip overseas and this was by far the most expensive and the most disappointing! read more

Update: after a half dozen more visits, i have concluded their milk teas to be mostly milk. my initial enthusiasm may have been unwarranted as I decided to actually pay attention to the quality of the beverage itself. of course, it is tasty but it's more like a dessert drink instead of milk tea. at the prices they charge, you would hope for some quality brewed tea to be the star of the show but sadly, it is not. read more

Tasty! Their tea was so delicious, and surprisingly large amount despite the look of the cup. I got mango fruit tea with boba, I can't wait to try more flavors next time. read more

The tea tastes great and is not overly sweet. The decoration is also very bright and cute with whale-themed items. My only qualm with the place is that the portion sizes are much smaller than other bubble tea places I've been to. I want to try their souffle pancakes and mousse at some point! read more

The Whale Tea - Matcha Fresh Milk drink with Mango popping boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

Stopped by in New Haven and stopped by here. Very pleasingly asthetics and good drinks; not too many options though. read more

The Whale Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut