Where do you go for great bubble tea in Greenville, SC? Our writer Kristina went on a mission to find the best bubble/boba tea in Greenville. Here’s what she found!

I was on a media trip with my kids, writing about another city and things to do there, and kept passing bubble tea shops. I was intrigued. What was this concoction? So I decided to try it out, asking the employees what it was and which one to order. I ended up with a Taro tea and popping strawberry bubbles.

Oh my gosh. This thing called bubble tea was amazing. I was hooked. So when I got back to Greenville, I was determined to find the best bubble tea. Greenville has to have some pretty good bubble tea, right? I searched so I could experience it whenever I wanted right at home. So that’s what I did. And, now you can enjoy amazing bubble tea, too!

What is Bubble Tea AKA Boba Tea?

Bubble tea, sometimes called boba tea, is tea mixed with milk or sometimes fruit and topped with tapioca pearls. These are usually chewy or filled with a fruit juice concoction so they pop when you eat them. The drink is of Taiwanese origin and was invented in the 1980s in Taichung.

Bubble tea isn’t the same everywhere, and if you go to any bubble tea shop, there is a massive number of combinations you can choose. That’s why I must give credit to every place I tried because they were all so nice and patient. All the employees helped me to choose the best bubble tea for myself and my tastes.

Bubble Tea Tour in Greenville, SC

I went to Kung Fu Tea, Dumont Creamery, Feng Cha, Asia Pacific, O-CHA Tea Bar, and Ding Tea, all in Greenville. I also tried out the make-your-own bubble tea packets from Trader Joe’s. Here are my reviews of each one.

Dumont Creamery

This is the latest addition to this list since I first started and it’s the best. They have an incredible selection of ice cream and coffee but also the very best bubble tea I’ve ever had. The texture, the taste, and the overall flavors are just so good. Taro is my favorite but they also have Thai tea you can get, which has been fermented for about 16 hours. Just go get it.

My rating: 5/5

1757 Woodruff Road, Suite B, Greenville
Dumont Creamery

Kung Fu Tea

Kung Fu Tea has an extensive menu with both caffeinated and decaf teas, milk teas, slushies, milk caps, milk strikes, and seasonal specials. It’s overwhelming, but the staff can help you out. I got a taro milk tea with strawberry bubbles and a low level of sugar. I really appreciated that you could choose the sugar level because I prefer to eat my calories and not drink them.

This tea was awesome. It was so flavorful, and I had to stop myself from drinking it all within a few minutes. I loved the texture of the bubbles (it’s a thing I like about bubble tea in general).

My rating: 5/5

581 Haywood Road, Greenville
233 N. Main Street, Suite 11, Greenville
Kung Fu Tea

 

Ding Tea

Ding Tea has an enormous menu, offering everything from milk tea to fruit juice to yogurt to coffee. Again, pretty overwhelming for a new bubble tea drinker like myself, but the staff was so patient and helpful. I told them what I like, and they pointed me in the right direction.

I got a taro boba green milk tea, and it was delicious. This was another place where you could pick your sugar level, which I appreciated.

My rating: 5/5

30 Orchard Park Drive, #20, Greenville
Ding Tea

O-CHA Tea Bar

O-CHA Tea Bar is right along the Reedy River, an ideal location for picking up a bubble tea and walking in Falls Park, which is exactly what my daughter and I did after visiting here. My daughter got a strawberry milk tea and I got the taro tea (you can tell by now this is my favorite tea).

Both were really good, but very sweet. O-CHA Tea bar has told us that you can choose the sweetness level.

My rating: 3.5/5

300 River Street, Suite 122, Greenville
O-CHA Tea Bar

Asia Pacific Supermarket

Asia Pacific is a huge Asian supermarket that I love shopping at, but they also have a restaurant in the back with authentic Chinese cuisine. I have a list of things I want to order here but haven’t got to yet. I did try the bubble tea, and it was awesome.

They have several different kinds of tea here and what I liked most was that they gave you a sample before you bought anything. Of course, I went with the taro because by now, I knew this was my favorite. I can’t remember the other kind of tea I sampled, but the taro won out. I want to try their lavender milk tea next time. There’s no option to adjust the sweetness level here.

My rating: 4/5

420 N Pleasantburg Drive, Greenville
Asia Pacific Supermarket

Feng Cha

Feng Cha is a bubble tea shop, but they also have desserts. I had a taro milk tea, and my daughter had a Strawberry Breeze with an amazing strawberry foam on top. It was so good! Mine was amazing as well. I love that you can choose the sweetness level since I don’t like my drinks very sweet.

They have a huge menu, and the employees here were all super helpful. I had a lot of questions, and they helped me figure out what to order. We saw another lady who came in after me and she had never been, and I overheard them helping her based on what she liked. I always appreciate that kind of service!

My rating: 5/5

12 North Spring Street, Greenville
Feng Cha Greenville

Trader Joe’s

I wasn’t sure if I needed to include this, but here we are. I had heard about the boba tea kit on an online forum, so I figured I would test it out. I found it easily at the Trader Joe’s in Greenville. It’s $5.49 for the Instant Boba Kit, which is about what one glass of bubble tea costs anywhere else. It includes four packets of brown sugar tapioca balls and four straws. You just heat up the packets for a few seconds in the microwave and pour them into a glass of cold milk or tea or other beverage of your choice. I was pleasantly surprised by how good these were and how easy they were to make! I’d get them again.

My rating: 3/5

59 Woodruff Industrial Lane, Greenville
Trader Joe’s Greenville

Additional Places to Try Boba Tea in Greenville, SC

We haven’t checked out these boba tea cafes just yet, but they are highly rated based on Google reviews. Let us know if you have tried any these places so we can give them too!

• R&B Tea in Easley, SC
• Chef 21 Tea Republic in Downtown Greenville, SC
• Mochibees Donut Cafe on Woodruff Road in Greenville, SC
• Beard Papa’s on Woodruff Road in Greenville, SC

Where is your favorite place to get bubble tea in Greenville?