Kirbie's Cravings

OO Tea

photo of the OO Tea location

OO Tea recently opened inside Ranch 99 market, serving Taiwanese tea drinks. The chain is said to originally be from Taiwan and claim to be the No. 1 milk tea store in Taiwan. With so many milk tea places in Taiwan, I have no idea if that is true, but it seems like nearly every chain that opens from Taiwan makes this claim. Sharetea makes a similar claim too.
photo of a sign saying the are #1 tea in Taiwan
Since the opening, there’s been a steady line of customers. While doing some shopping the other day, I saw a small break in the line, and decided to finally see if it was worth the long lines. They opened around the last week of December and seem to still be working out the kinks. One big issue is that they are constantly running out of boba or pearls (which is what they call their mini tapioca balls). On our visit they were out of green tea and pearls.
photo of the menu

Large Milk Tea (no ice), Large Boba Milk Tea (half sugar, no ice)
photo of a Large Milk Tea  and a Large Boba Milk Tea
Here were our drinks. I usually get the medium size, but the large was only 25 cents more, so I ended up getting a large. For all the drinks, you can choose the level of sweetness and amount of ice. This is a customization that is allowed pretty much everywhere now, but I like that they have a little chart at the register that reminds you that you can change ice and sugar levels. When we were in Taiwan last spring, Mr. K would point at the chart to communicate his drink orders.
photo of a sign explaining how to order sweetness and ice levels
I liked the level of sweetness of the milk tea. Most of the milk teas I order in the US at full sweetness are far too sweet for me. But the ones here tasted more like the level of sweetness of the drinks we get in Taiwan.

The boba, however, was extremely rubbery. I love chewy boba but it took a vigorous number of chews to even begin breaking down the tapioca balls. Next time, I might try the pearls (their mini tapioca balls), which seem to be the more popular option as they were all out when I placed my order.

Overall, I’m happy to see a Taiwanese tea shop open inside Ranch 99 as it makes it very convenient to get a drink while shopping or after shopping. I hope that they work out the kinks and are able to provide a more steady supply of ingredients soon. I don’t think their drinks are worth waiting in line for, but I’ll stop by again when they aren’t any lines.

OO Tea (inside Ranch 99)
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd #106 San Diego, CA 92111
OO Tea Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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8 comments on “OO Tea”

  1. Hi,I want to franchise OO tea. Who should I contact? I already leave message on Facebook page, but so far not hearing anything. Please let me know if you have any idea.

  2. What place do you think serves the best boba drinks in San Diego?

    • Hmm, it’s constantly changing. My current favorite is Sharetea, but with less sugar as I find the full amount too much.

  3. Ohh are you talking about Chun Shui Tang? The original original store is in Taichung (S’s hometown :P). 

  4. I think the Taiwanese chain (50?, not sure why the name changed to OO Tea when they came to US) is actually one of the original places that had pearl milk tea. They’re from Tainan, which calls the smaller boba “pearls” and the regular-sized ones “boba”, and the smaller pearls also originated from southern Taiwan. If you get a chance next time, try the milk green tea, which is my favorite 🙂 

    • I dont know why they changed names. Hmm, I don’t remember them from when I was in Taipei and was wondering if they were in other parts of Taiwan. We went to the original milk tea place in Taipei on our trip this time! I want to try the green tea but they were out! next time!