National Bubble Tea Day is coming up April 30. Whether you prefer refreshing fruit teas or creamy milk teas, grab those boba straws and get ready to celebrate. Check out some of these fun tea spots:
Hana Tea
Locally owned Hana Tea (various locations) started right in the heart of Kalihi and is known for starting the brown sugar milk tea trend in Hawaii. The shop is famous for its brown sugar milk tea, creamy cake and brûlée cheese foam. While brown sugar milk tea is still its bestseller, honey Genmai milk tea (Japanese green tea with roasted brown rice kernel), black sesame fresh milk and strawberry fresh milk have also become customer favorites.
Fun fact: The owners of Hana Tea wanted everyone who visits their shop to experience the aloha spirit with every beverage. That’s how the name “Hana” was born — “happiness along with nothing but aloha.”
Visit hanatea808.com.
It’s Tea
It’s Tea (various locations) is known for its high-quality teas sourced from Taiwan, and every drink is shaken to order. The business offers high-quality jellies and tapioca pearls; toppings are made in-house.
It’s Tea’s menu features five classic teas — oolong, golden buckwheat (no caffeine), tie guan yin, Ceylon black and Jasmine green tea.
Signature drinks include any beverage from the Okinawan black sugar series, such as Okinawan black sugar fresh milk with tapioca and Okinawan black sugar taro milk and tapioca.
Customers can also choose from flavored options like mango lychee iced tea, lilikoi green tea, winter melon oolong tea and more.
The biz just opened its second location in Downtown Honolulu. The walk-up window on Union and Hotel streets brings a new menu that will eventually be available at It’s Tea’s Kakaako location.
Follow the biz on Instagram (@itsteahawaii).
Sharetea
Established in 1992 in Taiwan, Sharetea (various locations) is a global brand that offers high-quality drinks with fresh ingredients. With more than 30 years of experience in the bubble tea industry, the biz now has locations across Canada, Australia, Asia and the United States.
Sharetea’s beverages are made with ingredients shipped directly from Taiwan. Customers can choose from more than 50 toppings and flavors like strawberry ice blended tea with lychee jelly to classic honey milk tea.
Visit 1992sharetea.com.
The Alley
The Alley (1450 Ala Moana Blvd.) prides itself on crafting eye-catching beverages that stand out from the crowd. This boba chain was founded in Taiwan in 2013 and has since expanded rapidly across the world with branches in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Par-is, London, Australia, the United States and more.
The Alley is known for its Deerioca drink series; the Brown Sugar Deerioca Creme Brûlée is the most popular drink on the shop’s menu. It features the shop’s warm brown sugar boba, fresh whole milk, a couple scoops of creme brûlée pudding and a sea salt cream. Another customer favorite is the Ube Brown Sugar Deerioca series, which has a distinctive purple ube layer.
Fun fact: The Alley’s name and logo pays homage to the Harry Potter universe. “The Alley” refers to Diagon Alley and the logo references Harry’s Patronus. The “da” you see on The Alley’s branding actually stands for “Diagon Alley.”
Visit the-alley.us.
Rabbit Rabbit Tea
Rabbit Rabbit Tea Hawaii (various locations) was first established in Taiwan in 2009 and has since expanded all over Southeast Asia and North America. The Hawaii franchise, with locations in Aiea and Moiliili, has a wide tea selection and is well known for its cloud smoothies, classic milk, fresh fruit iced teas and Alice in Wonderland mojitos.
“While Rabbit Rabbit Tea isn’t the only boba shop on the island, we pride ourselves on our expert tea brewing techniques,” says owner Alice Chan. “We use top-tier tea brewing and boba ma chines to prepare all of our drinks and boba, ensuring that every batch has the same consistency and texture. We run all the water that we use to make the teas and boba through eight steps of purification — including UV light — along with a reverse osmosis system for the ice maker to ensure our drinks are of the freshest and cleanest quality.”
The most popular drinks at Rabbit Rabbit Tea Hawaii are brown sugar boba with fresh milk, Queen of Hearts mojito and Kyoto matcha latte.
Visit rabbitrabbitteahi.com.
Tiger Sugar
Ultra-rich brown sugar boba tea is all the rage in Taiwan, and the trend was partially popular thanks to Tiger Sugar (various locations). The milk-heavy boba beverage gets its signature look from swirls of sweet brown sugar syrup.
These “tiger stripes” are infused into all of the business’s drinks with unique, hand-poured syrups, according to Calvin Sun, CEO of Tiger Sugar USA.
“We use a proprietary eight-hour method for cooking the syrups and tapioca pearls,” he explains. “This results in the perfect marriage of tea, milk and syrup in every sip. Brown sugar translated into Taiwanese is ‘tiger sugar.’”
Founded by Simon Yang in Taichung, Taiwan, Tiger Sugar is now a global phenomenon, with 150-plus stores across the world in locations like Hong Kong, Taipei and the United States (there are also more than 15 stores in 11 states).
“During the eight-hour method (for making boba), most of the time is spent cooking the boba and producing the proprietary brown sugar,” Sun explains. “We also provide a mini version of boba, which is called pearl. The rich taste that both boba and pearl present in our signature drink — Brown Sugar Boba Milk + Pearl and Cream Mousse — is one of the reasons why fans are deeply fascinated with our brand.”
Visit tigersugar.co.
