Taiwan, also fondly known as the land of bubble tea, naturally is brimming with tons of bubble tea shops. Let us help you sieve out top favourites that suit your personal taste, asap!
For the best pearls in the world: Chen San Ding Bubble Tea / 陳三薡黑糖粉圓專賣店
The queue gets extremely long at 陳三薡, so it’d be wise to come with friends, take turns queuing, and order in “bulk” (you know, typical Singaporean kiasu style). Now, you may be unimpressed by the tea itself, but man!
Those pearls will change your perspective of bubble tea, especially if you’re always ordering yours with 100% sugar. 陳三薡 has pearls that are not just soft and chewy (hey, we expect nothing less in Taiwan) but also has a lovely burnt caramel flavour. Stupendous!
Like a great pairing of food and drinks, the sweet pearls and mild tea go so well together, the queue’s all worthwhile.
Located at the Gong Guang MRT stop, Exit 4. Alley 8, Lane 316, Section 3, Roosevelt Road, Taipei
For the most natural tea flavour in each cup: Tian Xia Bu Wu / 天下佈武
天下佈武 is more of a local favourite and that’s a huge tip-off that bubble tea lovers shouldn’t miss. If you’ve already earned your title as a bubble tea connoisseur, you’ll be able to catch and enjoy the subtle taste of tea flavour.
天下佈武 creates their drink with tea grown specially in Taiwan, namely the 日月潭紅茶 (Sun Moon Lake Black Tea) and 阿里山綠茶 (Alisan Green Tea). The first sip can taste rather mild, but slowly savour it (let’s stop gulping for once) and you’ll surprise yourself being able to detect the delicate, pure notes of tea leaves.
Located at 106, Taiwan, Taipei City, Da’an District, 師大路50號1樓
For the pioneer and inventor of the bubble tea culture: Chun Shui Tang 春水堂
春水堂 was founded in 1983 in Tai Chung by Liu Han-Jie, who was inspired by the cold coffee drinking culture in Japan. We enjoyed their bubble tea for its balanced flavours, well-moderated sweetness, perfect pearls. It’s almost this is the role model for all bubble tea around the world, though few have accomplished likewise.
46 outlets as of today have sprouted all over Taiwan. There are 13 in Taipei itself. We recommend visiting their website here to check out location close to you.
