Pick any girl out of a group of 10 and there’s a good chance at least 3 of them would say they love tapioca/bubble tea*. Despite having being a thing for decades, originating from Taiwan and slowly sweeping across regions, the bubble tea boom has finally reached Japan. And it has proved itself clearly, to be an essential addition to our lives. Now I’m no professional bubble tea connoisseur, but I do snort up tapioca pearls on an almost weekly basis so I’m gonna go out on a limb and say I know my bubble tea pretty well.
Below, I’ve ranked (between 0-5) these major establishments based on qualitea (haha, ha) quality of tea, and what can only be aptly described as Q-ness of pearls (that chewy-but-not-rubbery texture).
4. Tari-ya
Image from Thali-ya
Tea Quality: 0
Q-ness: 1
Mentioned only because it’s pretty much on campus and the quickest place to get your tapioca fix. Tea quality is 0 because they don’t even serve tea- tapioca pearls are served in lassi, which is totally fine if that’s your thang, no judgies. But I’m serious about bubble tea and you might be too if you’re reading this so unless you’re dying to get somewhat chewy balls in your mouth and I mean really dying, skip Tari-ya.
3. Cha-time
Image from Chatime Japan’s Twitter
Tea Quality: 2
Q-ness: 2
I’m not even exaggerating when I say Chatime was my sustenance back in my home country- it’s cheap (like 150¥ a cup cheap), it’s good, it’s got a bajillion menu items. Cha-time in Japan is unfortunately not as good compared. It’s still cheaper than say, Gong-cha, and they are more generous with their offerings of pearls per serving, but otherwise it’s as plain as can be. It’s alright, but there’s better, I’m not mad at it.
2. Chun Shui Tang
Tea Quality: 5
Q-ness: 3.5
Chun Shui Tang switches things up by putting finely crushed ice in your drink instead of normal ice cubes, which is great because your drink doesn’t get too watered down and you somewhat get the satisfaction of also having a frappuccino at the same time. They win points for having Iron Buddha Tea (TieGuanYin, or 鉄観音) which sets them apart from other establishments and is of course, incredibly good. Tapioca pearls are also a lot smaller at Chun Shui Tang, approximately the size of salmon roe, which loses a point in my book just because I tend to like my pearls generously large and chewy.
Overall, pretty dang great, get it if you see it.
1. Gong Cha
Tea Quality: 5
Q-ness: 5
There’s a reason why there’s always a queue in front of Gong Cha and it’s because it really is the best bubble tea place in Japan so far. Albeit a bit more expensive compared to the rest on the list, it’s a price worth paying if you really do love bubble tea. The menu offers a good variety of teas, with Alisan tea being a personal favourite of mine, and pearls are the perfect consistency. There’s nothing not to love about Gong Cha’s bubble teas so if you’ve been skeptical this whole time, I implore you to try it.
Happy sipping!
* No research or survey whatsoever has been conducted. Statistics entirely made up by author of this article in an attempt to be funny.