Does Starbucks Have Boba Tea? (2023 Answer)
Are you craving boba tea, but there’s only a Starbucks nearby? The thought of trying to order a boba tea from Starbucks may have crossed your mind.
Starbucks already serves customizable drinks and different teas through their Teavana line. So, does Starbucks have boba tea?
Currently, Starbucks doesn’t service boba tea on its menu. Starbucks did a test run by offering coffee pearls with drinks at two shops in California. Since then, they haven’t expanded their menu to include boba tea. If you’re up for an experiment, you can create a custom order and add tapioca pearls to create your version of Starbucks boba tea.
Let’s explore why Starbucks doesn’t have boba tea and what you can order instead if you’re still craving it. We’ll review how to order a variation of Starbucks boba tea to satisfy your craving and where to get tapioca pearls.
What is Boba Tea?
Boba tea, or bubble tea, is a famous Taiwanese beverage from the 1980s. It mixes tea, milk, fruit, and sweeteners with chewy tapioca balls. These tapioca balls give the drink its unique taste and texture.
Other topping options, such as grass jelly, pudding, fruit jelly, and popping boba, can complement boba tea. Boba tea is typically served cold over ice and is often enjoyed with a thick straw, allowing you to sip the drink and the boba pearls together. Boba tea is popular worldwide and is enjoyed by many.
Does Starbucks Have Boba Tea?
If you’re a fan of bubble tea, then you might ponder if Starbucks boba tea exists. Specifically, do they have boba tea on their menu?
Currently, Starbucks boba tea is not available on the menu. However, they had a limited test run of their rendition of boba tea in the form of boba iced coffee drinks in 2021. This run was only in two stores in California, with two new glasses that featured coffee-popping pearls.
Despite not having boba tea, Starbucks does offer various customized tea and coffee infusion drinks like their classic shaken iced tea lemonades or matcha lattes. In the US, Starbucks matcha is sweetened, so it would be an ideal base for boba tea.
Why Doesn’t Starbucks Bave Boba Tea?
When you think of Starbucks, coffee is typically the first thing that comes to mind. Starbucks is a coffee shop first, so the chain doesn’t serve boba tea.
Starbucks is known for crafting premium coffee-based beverages using experienced baristas. Their menu has expanded to include cold drinks, frappuccinos, matcha, and tea through their Teavana line.
Starbucks boba tea isn’t available because it’s a business decision. Making boba tapioca pearls is the most challenging part, which requires boiling. Plus, adequately made boba is fresh, warm, and has the right level of chewiness. That’s why only boba shops sell it.
Special equipment and ingredients are required to make boba tea, which Starbucks may not be willing to provide. New equipment, components, and training will cost a lot to maintain.
Additionally, the manual preparation of boba tea may lead to varying tastes from one barista to another. Starbucks has a reputation for trying to maintain quality and consistency.
Even if Starbucks boba tea doesn’t exist, you can still find various delicious boba teas at other cafes and tea shops. Try branching out to smaller chains or local tea shops to discover new and unique flavors.
If you’re a die-hard bubble tea fan and want to stick with Starbucks, try customizing their drinks by adding tapioca pearls, jelly, aloe vera, or other flavored syrups. This can create a similar texture and taste experience as boba tea.
At the very least, you’ll still get the Starbucks taste along with the chewy tapioca pearls.
How To Order Boba Tea at Starbucks
Although Starbucks boba tea isn’t available on the menu, there are some unique twists you can take. Their menu still has various customizable drinks, including matcha, coffee, fruit, and other mixtures that work well with boba.
Remember that Starbucks doesn’t have typical boba tea ingredients such as tapioca pearls, condensed milk, milk powder, and popular flavorings such as taro milk tea.
Despite this, we can get creative and find some workarounds. It’s best to order your custom Starbucks order through the mobile app to save time. Plus, your barista may not understand your order or get confused if you order in person.
Here’s how to order boba tea by following these steps:
- Look at the menu and pick a flavor that matches your favorite boba tea, like Peach Green Tea Lemonade or Mango Dragonfruit Refresher.
- If you like the taste of regular milk tea, order half-and-half iced black tea.
- Decide what kind of milk – almond or coconut – and how sweet it should be.
- Add a sweetener flavor of your choice.
Traditionally boba tea has caffeine because it uses a concentrated tea base. But if you’d like to reduce your intake, you can always order a decaf version from Starbucks.
In the meantime, boil and prepare tapioca pearls at home. Once you’ve received your Starbucks drink, top it with tapioca pearls.
If you love boba tea and want an easy option, try experimenting at Starbucks. There you have it, an easy way to enjoy Starbucks boba tea, even if it’s a customized method.
Does Starbucks Have Boba Tea Iced Coffee?
Boba tea iced coffee is an interesting mix of iced coffee topped with tapioca pearls. Starbucks does sell iced coffee, but they don’t sell tapioca pearls.
If you’re interested in a Starbucks boba tea iced coffee, you can order a customized iced coffee at Starbucks and add your own tapioca pearls at home.
Different Starbucks Boba Tea Alternatives
There are several alternatives for Starbucks boba tea. If you want something similar to boba, here are a few options:
1. Matcha Green Tea Latte with Tapioca Pearls. Order a matcha latte and ask for tapioca pearls. Starbucks matcha will taste sweet and it’ll give the same texture and feel.
2. Iced Vanilla Latte with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam. This creamy drink is topped with a velvety foam, giving the same mouthfeel.
3. Iced Golden Ginger Drink. A blend of ginger, pineapple, and turmeric flavors with coconut milk. Has a similar tropical taste.
To get a boba-like experience, ask for your preferred flavors and textures to be added to your favorite drinks.
Where Can I Get Tapioca Pearls?
Tapioca pearls can be easily found in your local Asian grocery store or online. You can also find them in select Walmarts or Target.
Tapioca pearls are made of tapioca starch that comes from cassava root. When purchased, they are uncooked, firm, and light brown. You can’t eat raw tapioca pearls because it requires boiling them in water to cook them.
You can easily order them online through Amazon or other websites. Here’s the WuFuyuan brand, 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not all McDonald’s sell boba tea (bubble tea) on their menu. McDonald’s offers unique menu items that vary by country to adapt to the local taste. Hong Kong offers three boba tea flavors for summertime drinks: iced Ovaltine, iced Uji matcha, and iced Okinawa brown sugar. McDonald’s may introduce boba tea to various locations worldwide if there’s growing demand. But for now, it can only be found in Hong Kong.
Costco doesn’t sell ready-to-drink boba tea in their stores. But, depending on the location and time, they sell boba tea kits or ingredients like tapioca pearls and tea. These are the perfect way to quickly make your bubble without the hassle of finding all components separately.
Currently, Starbucks doesn’t make boba coffee on its menu. However, you can make an alternative by combining Starbucks coffee and tapioca pearls—order half-and-half iced coffee from Starbucks with your favorite flavor shot. Then, boil your tapioca pearls. Once you have your Starbucks coffee drink, top it with tapioca pearls to create boba coffee.
Yes, Dunkin Donuts sells its boba tea variations across different restaurants. They offer Popping Bubbles, strawberry-flavored bubbles that pop in your mouth when you bite down. They can be added to any Dunkin’ iced or frozen beverage for an additional charge.
As of 2023, Starbucks doesn’t offer boba tea because they’re mainly known for their specialty coffee beverages. They’ve previously done a trial run of tea-based drinks with popping pearls, but that was just a limited run.
Final Thoughts
Starbucks is famous for its coffee-inspired drinks, such as lattes, cappuccinos, and espresso. If you’ve ever considered ordering boba tea from Starbucks, you should know it’s not entirely impossible. Although Starbucks doesn’t sell boba tea, they sell customizable drinks that can be used as a base.
For example, iced black tea, matcha latte, or peach green tea lemonade can be combined with homemade tapioca pearls to create your boba tea. Use your inspiration to make your version of boba tea to your liking.
