Bubble tea. We all love it, the Taiwanese drink with chewy tapioca balls and fragrant milk tea in a variety of flavors. As delicious as it is, up until a few years ago it was incredibly difficult to find in the Metro-Detroit area. Now, we have a multitude of options! That said, here are some detailed reviews of what I believe are the 3 best bubble-tea locations in our area!
The Premium Bubble Tea: Kuma Boba
Location: 3594 15 Mile Rd, Sterling Heights, MI 48310
My order: Taro Coconut Milk with Boba
Price: $$$
With their trendy reusable glass jars and all-natural philosophy, Kuma is truly the premium bubble tea in our area. If you go to Kuma, your drink will probably be just sweet enough without making you feel like you need to go eat a salad afterwards. Their boba is perfectly chewy, giving enough resistance to feel like boba but not too much that your jaw will get a workout. Kuma also has plenty of more creative drinks, like the butterfly pea lemonade, that use all sorts of naturally derived ingredients to give a more interesting look. However, Kuma carries a hefty price tag, even by boba standards. An original bubble milk tea will run you about $6.50 and their more premium drinks are even more (although you do get a 10% discount if you bring your Kuma jar back!). This all leads to me often calling it the “Starbucks” of bubble tea.
The Most Average: Kung Fu Tea
Locations:
1256 Walton Blvd, Rochester Hills, MI 48307
2105 15 Mile Rd, Sterling Heights, MI 48310
44325 W 12 Mile Rd Suite H172, Novi, MI 48377
My order: Sesame Matcha with Red Bean
Price: $$
Kung Fu Tea is truly your most middle-of-the-road bubble tea in the Metro-Detroit Area. It really isn’t anything to rave about but its availability makes it a great option. Often times I’ve taken friends Kung Fu Tea when introducing them to bubble tea because it’s such a standard. Kung Fu Tea has a pretty large selection on their menu, but I’ve found that a lot of them are too sweet. Also, their boba is generally too solid and annoying to chew. A regular-sized original with boba will run you around $5 or $6, so it’s not any more expensive than your normal Starbucks order.
Your Daily Boba: Quickly Boba Cafe
Locations:
3668 Rochester Rd, Troy, MI 48083
3395 Auburn Rd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326
My order: Taro with Boba or Black Tea with Mango Jelly
Price: $
If you’re the type of boba addict who wants bubble tea multiple times a week without breaking the bank, Quickly Boba Cafe is the best option for you. Quickly prides itself on offering far more for the price than its competitors and their “Large” size is practically a bucket (if you just finished a meal I strongly recommend AGAINST ordering a large, it’s almost impossible to finish, I say this from experience). Quickly is definitely the sweetest out of all three of these options since they do not allow you to adjust the sugar level (they use powder mixes that already have sugar included). Unlike the other shops, Quickly offers a wide variety of other food items that are just as delicious! I highly recommend their popcorn chicken, which is more of an asian-style fry and their boba soft serve! An original bubble tea is about $4 and offers more than a regular size at Kung Fu Tea.
