Wait, what?! You don’t know what bubble tea is? Well, ‘comrade’, let me enlighten you on the wonderful world of bubble tea. Also commonly known as Milk Tea – it is basically what it sounds like: milk and tea. Now some drinks aren’t necessarily comprised of those two components and can even come in the form of a shake, slushy, juice, or iced tea. As a bonus, you can even customize your drink by adding toppings like mango pudding, jelly, and the classic ‘pearls’ otherwise known as tapioca balls. Now it might sound kind of gross in retrospect, but imagine it as sort of like flavoured milk, but a considerably much better version plus with a wider range of flavours besides the generic strawberry or chocolate!

For those of you who have already learnt and tasted the beautiful creation that is bubble tea, then I’m sure you’re wondering exactly where to get your bubble tea fix in Auckland. Either you’re not too sure whereabouts they’re located, or you don’t know which place is even worth going to. Where do you begin before ultimately overdosing on sugar?

Listed below are just a few places that you have possibly already seen or that may even surprise you:

HuluCat

Based in Dominion Road, this joint can get particularly busy especially during the night, so don’t be surprised by the long lines! They have generous portions for their drinks which come to about NZD$6-7. Relatively affordable and quite filling especially after eating at any one of the restaurants along Dominion Road.

• Recommended drinks: Rockmelon Milk Tea with Green Apple Jelly, Peach Slushy

Where else to find them:

• Albany – Rosedale Road
• Auckland CBD – Wellesley Street West, and Queen Street
• East Tamaki – Bishop Lenihan Place

Momo Tea

This place would be classified as more of your classic dine-in, where pop songs play in the background or on an overhead smart TV. A wonderful place to bring very small to larger groups due its chilled, casual environment. The great thing about them is they are open late every night and on public holidays too (with a surcharge though!).

• Recommended drinks: Taro Milkshake with Pearls, Mango Frappe with Nata

Where to find them:

• Albany – Albany Highway
• Henderson – Lincoln Road
• Howick – Whitford Road
• Newmarket – Short Street

GoGo Music Cafe

Also simply shortened to “GoGo’s”, widely known for its scrumptious skewered barbecued meat, noodles, and dumplings. Another open-till-late dine-in place which is great for large groups, so definitely go with a bunch of friends and family.

• Recommended drinks: Caramel Milk Tea, Taro Milk Cream

Where to find them:

• Wairau Valley – Link Drive
• Burswood – Burswood Drive
• Mount Eden – Dominion Road

Meet Fresh

This is more of an overall dessert place specialising in sweet delicacies such as waffles, shaved ice, tofu pudding and the like, but they’ve also got a great range of drinks to choose from too!

• Recommended drinks: Winter Melon Fresh Milk Tea, Brown Sugar Milk Tea

Where to find them:

• Albany – Rosedale Road
• Auckland CBD – Lorne Street
• Mount Eden – Dominion Road
• Somerville – Meadowland Drive

Gong Cha

Being touted as one of the fastest growing tea brands in Australasia – they have over 600 stores across Asia, USA, Australia and now, New Zealand! They pride themselves on using high quality tea leaves and ensuring freshness and flavour in every cup.

• Recommended drinks: Earl Grey Milk Tea with 3J, Signature Wintermelon Milk Tea

Where to find them:

• Auckland CBD – Lorne Street, and Queen Street
• Mount Wellington – Sylvia Park Mall
• Newmarket – Broadway
• Takapuna – Hurstmere Road

There will also be one opening in St Lukes, late September 2018.

Chatime

One of the most well-known bubble tea places globally and dubbed the largest “teahouse” in the world, you cannot go wrong. The awesome thing about them is that they have a very straightforward drink menu – so although a wide range of choices can be great, other times you may just want a short list you can easily pick from.

• Recommended drinks: Taiwan Mango QQ, Pearl Milk Tea

Where to find them:

• Auckland CBD – Queen Street

And there you have it! Please leave us a comment below, sharing what your favourite bubble tea drinks are or if you have other places you frequent to get your fix, we’d love to add to our list.