“Do you wanna get boba?” is a regular text I get from my friends. 

The answer is almost always yes.

And it’s more than just us that have become obsessed with the drink. In the last couple years, the popularity of the boba has skyrocketed, with boba shops popping up everywhere. 

The drink originated from Taiwan in the 1980s and has two main parts: tapioca pearls and milk tea. 

The pearls are made from tapioca starch, also known as cassava starch. They’re rolled into small spheres, boiled and simmered in a brown sugar syrup to give them a sweet taste and dark color. The milk tea is usually a black tea with milk poured over.

Both tapioca and milk tea were common in Taiwan before the ‘80s, but no one had put them together yet. While the exact details of the drink’s creation are unclear, it was an instant hit and has become a staple in the culture.

The craze then came to the United States in the ‘90s with a large immigration of Taiwanese people. The growing popularity of cafe shops, like Starbucks and Dunkin, paved the way for boba shops later on. 

There are 3,096 bubble tea shops in the U.S. as of 2022, increasing 23.4% from the previous year, with no signs of the trend slowing down.

The boba trend has been especially popular with college-aged individuals.

In the last three months, 94% of 20-29 year olds bought boba tea, a trend that was popular  even during the pandemic, according to a 2021 CLSA consumer survey.

Today, there are 5 boba shops within a 0.5 mile radius of each other in West Campus. 

But, which one is best?

I put them to the test to settle the debate once and for all.

I went to each one of them: Coco’s Cafe, Gong Cha, Möge Tee, Tapioca House and TSAōCAA. I ordered the same drink at each of them: a brown sugar milk tea with tapioca pearls, regular sweetness and regular ice. I ranked them on the ambiance of the shop, taste of the tea, boba quality and price.

5. Möge Tee (2000 Guadalupe St): Small- $5.50 / Large- $7.43

When you walk in, the place is very clean and modern with faux plants on the marble tables. There’s plenty of seating which makes it a great place to study.  

I ordered the small, which came in a cute and aesthetic teddy bear cup.

However, the boba tea wasn’t very good. The tea was watered down and had no flavor while the boba tasted burnt and bitter. I’m not sure if it was a bad batch, but it wasn’t worth the price at that quality.

Despite the clean interior and the aesthetic cups, this one ranks last based on the taste of the boba.

4. Coco’s Cafe (1910 Guadalupe St): Small- $6.95 / Large- $7.95

As the first boba shop in Austin opening in the ‘90s, Coco’s Cafe is a local chain with two locations. 

Coco’s Cafe is cozy and clean with a patio outside. They also have an extensive food menu with Taiwanese food, making it a great one-stop for lunch and a drink, which come in either a small or large size. 

The milk tea had a chocolatey flavor, which was strange but not inherently bad. The boba was cooked to the right consistency, chewy but not too soft. 

However, the price was outrageous. The small milk tea itself was $5.95 but the addition of a boba topping was $1, totaling to $6.95, almost $1.50 above all the other small sizes at the other stores.  

Despite the inviting interior and decent boba, the prices were too steep, placing it fourth on the list.

3. Tapioca House (1906 Guadalupe St): $6.17

Tapioca House is the only small business on this list and has only one location.

Tapioca House has a smaller, cozy vibe with fairy lights strung throughout the store and people studying. However, when I was there, their air conditioning was barely running, leaving the busy store a bit hot.

As for the drink, the tea was fine with a bit more of a floral flavor than the rest I tried.The boba was undercooked and hard to chew. They also only have a large size, but it’s priced as the lowest large size of all five shops.

Overall, the taste and texture of the boba wasn’t my favorite, but the cafe seems like a good environment to get some studying done. So, it falls into third place. 

2. Gong Cha (Dobie Center on 2021 Guadalupe St.): Small- $5.50 / Large- $6.25

Gong Cha is part of the Dobie food court, so it has a much more casual vibe and lots of seating. However, the lines to order often grow long because it’s the closest to campus, making it a hot spot for students. 

Gong Cha offers medium and large drinks. Although the milk tea and boba weren’t anything special, it was still the classic flavor you’d expect from a milk tea.

With a decent price and classic milk tea boba, Gong Cha ranks second best. 

1 . TSAōCAA (2222 Rio Grande St) $6.75

Sitting further into West Campus, TSAōCAA is clean and modern with white tables and a cute mural of the shop on one of the walls. They also have little claw machines, which makes it a fun place to hang out with friends.

At TSAōCAA, they only serve one size– a large– which comes in a tall, plastic cup with their cartoon logo of a man drinking boba printed on the front.

The drink itself was far better than the other shops’. The tea had a classic flavor, and was  sweet but not too sweet. The boba was a great consistency– chewy, soft and flavorful. 

With the best drink, great atmosphere and decent prices, TSAōCAA easily wins the number one spot as the best boba shop near UT.

So, the next time my friends text me to get boba, I’m taking them to TSAōCAA.