Bubble tea started in Taiwan in the 1980s, and a few decades later Portland is full of bubble tea options. Bubble tea is made using a tea base, mixing it with milk or fruit and topped off with tapioca balls (also known as boba) or fruit jelly. Flavors include everything from pineapple to red bean, original to avocado.
Bubble tea crawl
Bubble tea started in Taiwan in the 1980s, and a few decades later Portland is full of bubble tea options. Bubble tea is made using a tea base, mixing it with milk or fruit and topped off with tapioca balls (also known as boba) or fruit jelly. Flavors include everything from pineapple to red bean, original to avocado.
Nearly every neighborhood in Portland has its own bubble tea establishment—here are some of your options.
Chit-Chat Café
Tea
Chit-Chat offers your standard milk tea. It’s smooth and creamy, and it definitely leans more toward the sweet side of the spectrum. Stick with taro or original if sweet isn’t your thing.
Ambiance
This local spot can be a nice place to duck into and get out of the rain. Classical music often plays softly in the background and they have a nice selection of papers to read. The staff varies from friendly to uninterested depending on the day and time you go, but judging on the amount of regulars, they must be doing something right.
1907 SW Sixth Avenue
503-224-3730
4 out of 5 stars
Townshend’s Alberta Street Teahouse
Tea
The tea offered here is pretty different from most bubble tea. You can choose one out of four base teas, including rooibos and maté. Along with your tea flavor, you then get to choose a flavor as well. Their vanilla maté bubble tea is a great combination of the earthy flavors of yerba maté with just a hint of sweet. You can choose from small or large, which is typically not an option at most bubble tea establishments. Their brewing does take an extremely long time, but the product is definitely worth the wait.
Ambiance
Townshend’s takes tea seriously, and their extensive tea menu proves it. The “teatenders” (as their Web site playfully names them) are always extremely helpful and offer a quiet friendliness that matches the peaceful interior of the teahouse. One nice touch is that when your bubble tea is brought out to you (even if it’s to go), the teatender brings over a container of straws so you can pick which color you’d like.
2223 NE Alberta St.
503-445-6699
5 out of 5 stars
Blue Sky Cafe
Tea
Blue Sky offers diverse variations of consistencies for your tea: snow (with ice cream), smoothie (with milk) and slushy (without milk). Their taro milk tea has a hint of chocolate flavor, and their fruit smoothie bubble teas taste like real fruit as opposed to chemical sugar.
Ambiance
Located next to X-otic Tan For Men which may or may not be a massage parlor judging from their scandalous sign. Inside, there is a pool table and several lottery machines. Their staff is neither friendly nor rude—they are just sort of ambivalent. But honestly, the bubble tea is so good the ambiance doesn’t matter in the slightest. Just take your expertly crafted tea and go.
8200 NE Siskiyou St.
503-517-8946
5 out of 5 stars
