TP Tea

I've tried TP Tea previously, but at their Chinatown-International District location. I learned that I was selected via Instagram for a free matcha beverage, but at their University District site. I was able to locate street parking around the order and had the opportunity to stop in on this rainy 12/27/23.It is a pocket cafe located on 45th between University and Brooklyn, diagonal from The Neptune. This isn't designed as a sit down and hang out kind of cafe space, just brisk takeout. I was not given the opportunity to customize this matcha order or to even place an additional order. Pretty much I identified myself as one of the IG recipients by my account handle and my order was immediately prepped thereafter. I was appreciative of this freebie to sample this signature beverage. It retained decent quality even when refrigerated overnight, shaken up thoroughly, and consumed the next day. TP Tea is one of many businesses centrally located in the University District, aka boba/milk tea central, featuring quality beverages.

While I have been to the TP Tea in CID numerous times, this is my first visit to the UW location. At 7:18pm, I was soooo surprised to see it was completely empty except one customer. At the same time in the CID store would typically mean the line is out the door long! This only tells me the UW area is saturated with tea shops. TP Tea remains one of the very best there is with true Taiwanese style milk tea. I like their sweetness levels, which is much lower than typical American drinks. If you like your drinks sweet, don't come here. I ordered my typical two drinks (I take them home to finish over several days.)- Original milk tea with grass jelly (only TP Tea knows how to make it really, really smooth), 30% sugar, no ice- Tie Guan Yin Latte, 30% sugar, less ice (no ice is not an option)Both drinks are $5.75. Both are excellent!The service was swift. The ladies there were busy - prepping, serving, making drinks, taking orders. No issue with service.The place has a few low benches that are meant for waiting for the drinks, not for hanging out. They line these benches against the windows only. The deco is the same as the CID store with wood carved flowers and leaves. The place is visually clean and neat.

As someone who loves fruity drinks I loved the Solar Smoothie (mango + passion)! I know TP Tea is well known for their boba milk teas so I was a little hesitant to get a fruity drink. They did not disappoint, the solar smoothies has the perfect blend of mango and passion fruit with a hidden taste of tea. I will definitely be back again for this drink!

My boba-snob friends love TP Tea -- they say the tea itself is very good quality. The location is also very convenient -- right across the street from the U District Link Station.However, as a lactose-intolerant person, unfortunately my options are very limited. Most of their drinks do not allow for non-dairy milk substitutions. Only their "latte" drinks and fruit teas don't use dairy. So, I can't give a review on how their milk tea drinks are.Another thing to note about the location is that this isn't a "hangout" spot -- there's pretty much no seating, so you'll have to grab and go! If it's in the summer, there's usually available seating on the picnic tables on the South side of the link station. But in rainy winter, you'll probably just need to take your drink to class/home.

Tried the Taiwan 3Q with QQ noodles, boba, and grass jelly. I really like the QQ noodles, which is honestly my favorite part of TP tea's options.

Although there are many boba spots in the UW area, I always come back to TP Tea for their Taiwan Classic Milk Tea or their QQ TP Milk Tea. These drinks are made out of their TieGuanYin Black Tea base, but they also have a regular black tea base (Signature Milk Tea). The tea is really strong and not overly bitter, and I usually opt for 50% sweet. As for the Crema Green Tea, it wasn't my personal favorite and I think the green tea base at TP Tea isn't as stand out as their TieGuanYin. The boba is always cooked well and is actually a little bit smaller than most boba shops. Some of my other favorite toppings are the coffee jelly, qq noodles and the golden jelly. When it's not as cold out, I'll usually opt for the Strawberry Milk Tea which is one of my favorites too. For service, the UW location is always super friendly and they are willing to give you menu recommendations. The drinks come out relatively quick for the amount of workers they have, but sometimes it can be pretty busy, especially when it's sunny outside! The shop is pretty small compared to its Chinatown location and it is located near the Chase Bank at the corner of the ave. The outside can be pretty busy as there is a bus stop there. There are a few benches for seating and the wall has really pretty 3D flowers! :) Overall, TP Tea is my go-to spot on the ave and I would highly recommend people to try it :)

I was walking around the area and craving some tea so I stopped by here on a whim and it was great! Workers were quite nice, and my order was ready very quickly. The drink tasted great, the cheese foam tasted good and the tea was just the right sweetness for me! The store itself is quite small and doesn't really have any seating other than some nice benches so it's a great place to grab some boba to go!

One of my favorite boba places in UDistrict! My usual go-to drink here is the QQ TP Milk Tea w boba, but last time I tried the Thai Milk Tea with QQ noodles and boba and wow! Loved it!! The tea here is quite flavorful and the boba is good. One thing that stood out to me was the QQ noodles! Definitely going back simply for that. This is definitely more of a grab-and-go boba place as there's not a whole lot of seating area inside. But the vibes are still very nice. The staff is great and work very fast to get you your order! If you're in UDistrict and craving some boba definitely recommend checking them out!

The first time I came to TP, I got a Signature Milk Tea, 30% sweet, no ice. The texture was creamy and the tea flavor was very strong. It was still sweeter than I would have preferred though and so the next time I went, I ordered a Signature Milk Tea, 0% sweet, light ice, with boba (which is supposedly already pre-sweetened in brown sugar). With that said, the boba didn't really taste sweet at all and so the drink didn't have any sweetness to it and honestly wasn't that great. If you get this tea, definitely get at least 30% sweetness.The second time I came to TP, I got the Seasonal Taro Green Tea Latte (+$5.95) with boba (+ $0.50) with 0% sweetness and less ice. This was quite an expensive drink. However, the taro was already pre-sweetened (basically blended with sugar), and so the drink had just the right amount of sugar. With tax and card service charge though, this drink ended up being over $7.50 and probably one of the most expensive bobas I've ever bought on the Ave. While the fresh taro tasted good, this would only be an occasional drink for me because of its price. And it had to be occasional cause it's seasonal. At the beginning of this past summer I tried the Strawberry Milk Tea as I was craving something sweet and fruity. Because the strawberry syrup they use to make the drink is pre-sweetness, I opted for 0% sweetness and am glad I did because it was still very sweet. Note that this drink is blended and so you can't adjust ice level. While the drink looked pretty and naturally strawberry flavored, there were gummy bits of strawberry syrup that made the drink taste artificial and unpleasantly chewy. I think I would've been better off making my own strawberry smoothie. This was my least favorite TP drink.Last but not least, I tried the TP Tea Milk Tea ($5.85) with 30% sweetness, light ice, and coffee jelly (+$1). This was my FAVORITE drink by far. As mentioned in my first post, the TP Tea is an Oolong tea whereas the Signature tea is a black tea. Normally I dislike oolong (and think it tastes like dirt) but this tea was surprisingly smooth and well-balanced. The coffee jelly was also amazing and I would get it again instead of pearls. However, this tea is highly caffeinated and so be careful if you're caffeine-sensitive. Service is much quicker and there was no line or wait when I went on a weekday this past week. With that said, students are mostly still on summer break. There is no place to dine-in and so you will have to drink your boba elsewhere. The area is pretty clean overall.Overall: 4/5 for drinks, 4/5 for service

TP TEA has opened in the U District!Tried the new Strawberry Matcha Latte, and it was delicious, had a layer of strawberry jam on the bottom, and a perfectly balanced Matcha latte on top. Customize sweetness and ice level to your liking. Inside is smaller than the TP Tea in ID, with just a few benches by the walls, and no tables, so plan to take your drink to go. Staff were friendly and efficient, and there was no line. Will be back to try out more of the menu.