It's no secret that I love bubble tea! Here are my top 12 favorite boba spots in Seattle.
It’s no secret that 
! Seattle has several excellent tea establishments, and each one is special. In this post, I list my top twelve favorite bubble tea shops that I enjoy whenever I visit. This is my personal list of favorites in no particular order – it’s not a comprehensive ranking because, quite frankly, there are so many tea shops I haven’t yet tried!
#1. Xing Fu Tang
Xing Fu Tang is one of the best boba brands to come out of Taiwan. They pride themselves on their handmade brown sugar boba. At their locations in Taiwan, you can actually see them knead the tapioca dough and feed it through the machine to separate it into the pearl! At their Westlake Center location on 4th and Steward, they don’t have that machine on display, but you can see them cook all the boba in a big copper wok.
Pandy’s recommendation: Get the classic brown sugar boba with milk or milk tea – it’s the drink that made them famous!
#2. Rabbit Rabbit Tea Seattle
Rabbit Rabbit Tea Seattle is another bubble tea brand from Taiwan. They set themselves apart with their selection of premium teas: two black (Assam and Earl Grey), two green (Jade Green and Mountain), two oolong (Golden Jinxuan and Iron Buddha, and two kinds of Japanese buckwheat tea. They also give you little rabbit face wrappers for your straws!
Pandy’s recommendation: Get the Japanese buckwheat tea with less sugar and honey boba. I’ve never seen another boba shop sell buckwheat tea, and it’s so good!
#3. Tiger Sugar
Tiger Sugar is another famous bubble tea chain with many locations throughout the United States. Their Seattle location is at 2nd and Pike, a stone’s throw from Pike Place Market. Although this spot is little more than a pickup counter, its location makes it a convenient stop when passing through downtown. Tiger Sugar is known for bold flavors, both in sweetness and in the tea.
Pandy’s recommendation: If you want something sweet, order a drink from the Black Sugar Milk series. If you want something refreshing, order any of the teas with the mousse on top. As always, add boba!
#4. Tea King
Tea King is low-key one of my favorite boba shops ever. While well-known tea franchises are great, there’s something special about independent tea shops making their own drinks their own way. Tea King nails it. Their drinks are consistently the most excellent bubble teas I’ve tasted anywhere. Their teas are premium. Their selection is wide: milk, fruit, slush, and dessert. Their branding is on point – I put their sticker on my laptop! Their location is squeezed between Queen Anne and and Lake Union, but the trek is worth it.
Pandy’s recommendation: The TK Milk Tea with boba is an excellent rendition of the classic bubble tea. The Hojicha Latte and the Taro Coco Sago are delightful specialties you won’t readily find elsewhere.
#5. Yifang Taiwan Fruit Tea
Yifang Taiwan Fruit Tea is probably my favorite bubble tea brand. I first discovered them in San Francisco, and every time I go to a city that has a location, I try to stop by. As the name suggests, Yifang is known for their fruit teas. In fact, I didn’t really care much for fruit teas until I tried Yifang’s pineapple green tea! They also make delicious little bubble tea shaped pancakes with boba inside. Try to visit the locations in the University District or in Bellevue.
Pandy’s recommendation: Try the pineapple fruit tea with half (or less) sugar and sago. Bonus points for the Yakult version.
#6. TP Tea
TP Tea is my favorite tea shop in the International District. As yet another Taiwanese brand, they focus on classic milk teas with high-quality ingredients. Their location in the ID is always popular, and I dig the interior design. I’ve never been disappointed by their drinks, either. Look for the drinks with multiple toppings, like boba plus QQ noodles.
Pandy’s recommendation: Get the Taiwan Classic Milk Tea or the 3Q TP Milk Tea – they have multiple toppings with a variety of textures.
#7. OH! Bear Cafe & TeaHouse
OH! Bear Cafe & TeaHouse is a cute little dessert cafe in the University District. It’s an excellent place to come for a date with your significant other – and to get diabetes from all the sugar! They have pastries, ice cream, taiyaki, coffee, and bubble tea. Their most notable drink is their White Rabbit Milk Tea, which uses flavoring from China’s famous White Rabbit candy.
Pandy’s recommendation: Try the White Rabbit Milk Tea along with any of their desserts.
#8. Mochinut
Mochinut is located in South Lake Union amongst all the Google and Amazon buildings. While Mochinut is known primarily for their mochi donuts, they also serve bubble tea in distinctive clear plastic cans. All their drinks are very sweet, so be prepared. You can also order Korean-style corndogs!
Pandy’s recommendation: Come here for the mochi donuts and get a drink to pair.
#9. Happy Lemon
Happy Lemon is another well-known brand with a location in South Lake Union. Their drinks have striking presentation, and most of them are very sweet. Happy Lemon also sells bubble waffles at this location. It’s a nice stop if you’re in the neighborhood and want a sweet treat.
Pandy’s recommendation: Come here if you want something sweet.
#10. ChiCha San Chen
ChiCha San Chen is one of the most excellent tea establishments I’ve ever visited. Although their location is in Bellevue, it is so highly regarded that folks from all over the Seattle greater area go to visit. Although ChiCha San Chen did not earn any Michelin stars as widely rumored, they did earn the highest award from ITQI in 2017, which is just as good. When you walk into their shop, you smell the tea, not the sugar. They use a special “teapresso” machine named LION for brewing their tea. They offer free samples. When they serve the drinks, they put them in carriers with twine handles. My wife and I have visited only once, but we are looking forward to going back!
Pandy’s recommendation: Get anything with the green tea. I also want to try the Ding Dong Oolong Tea because I heard that it is very good.
#11. Milkvue + DIY Tea Lab
Milkvue + DIY Tea Lab is a new place that just opened next to the Space Needle. They serve coffee, boba, mochi donuts, and ice cream. The owners are super friendly, too. The bubble tea is a collab with DIY Tea Lab, which also has locations in Fremont and Ballard. Their drink sizes are all large and visually appealing. You can also order boba here before lunchtime! Don’t sleep on their ice cream, either – they have flavors like Ube + Oreo and White Rabbit!
Pandy’s recommendation: My wife and I enjoyed the Sea Salt Ube Milk Tea with a matcha mochinut. We also took a pint of the White Rabbit ice cream home!
#12. Nana’s Green Tea
Nana’s Green Tea is essentially a matcha cafe. They serve standard Japanese lunch fair like curry plates, rice bowls, and tonkatsu, but the star of the menu is the matcha. You can order matcha in pretty much any form you can imagine: lattes, frappes, ice cream, parfaits, floats, sodas, pastries, and just straight tea. They also have lattes for hojicha and red bean. It’s awesome. It’s decadent. And even though they don’t serve boba, the little mochi toppings are close enough, right?
Pandy’s recommendation: Come here for the matcha. I like the lattes and the frappes with mochi on top.
Bonus: Miro Tea
Miro Tea is the ultimate tea house. This is not a place for boba but rather for high-quality loose leaf teas from around the world. It’s like a high-end coffee shop with expert baristas, but for tea instead of coffee. You can order tea by the pot and even as a Gongfu tea ceremony. They have plenty of seating for you to work, read, or simply space out while enjoying your tea. I enjoy hopping over to Ballard just to enjoy their fine selection.
Pandy’s recommendation: Try the samples they have to decide what kind of tea you want. Plan to spend at least an hour there instead of taking your tea away in a cup.
