Colorado Tea Station
Where? 1700 Platte Street #130
The Original Tea Station was founded back in 1996 by Jimmy Huang in California. The business quickly became a reputable tea company that used high-quality tea leaves to brew the flavorful bases of the drinks. Colorado Tea Station continues to follow the same methodology and serves up freshly made beverages, Asian desserts, and even snacks such as spicy wontons, tea-boiled eggs, and sweet milk toast. The milk tea selection features brown sugar milk tea, taro milk, coffee milk, and even a honeydew milk drink. Customize your drink with a range of toppings, such as lychee jelly, rice balls, egg pudding, or mixed jello.
PRO Tip: For a healthier offering, Colorado Tea Station also keeps options on the menu such as peach and mango yogurt drinks, as well as honey ginseng tea and a boba longan tea.
Happy Lemon
Where? 9686 East Arapahoe Road B
Happy Lemon boasts over 2,000 locations spread across 20+ countries. The Denver locations make all drinks onsite and are dedicated to serving only the highest quality premium ingredients. The Greenwood Village location has a salted cheese series on its menu, including black tea, jasmine green tea, chocolate, and strawberry black tea all topped with the iconic salted cheese that originated at Happy Lemon in 2006. Those looking for a light, refreshing option can choose from the freshly squeezed lemon green tea or the bright mango lemonade. Keep it simple with a matcha latte or get creative with a strawberry jasmine green tea with lychee jelly.
PRO Tip: If you’re feeling a touch peckish, Happy Lemon serves up bubble waffles in flavors such as Oreo and matcha. There is also a limited-time menu, with drinks like purple taro milk tea, passionfruit mango green tea, and wintermelon lemonade that are only offered for a short time.
Tea Cloud & Poke
Where? 1690 Champa Street
On the tea menu, customers can choose from loose-leaf options such as smooth Earl Grey or a vanilla chai. Green tea aficionados will appreciate the Japanese Sencha. Boba is offered in iced, blended, and even hot varieties. The royal milk tea is about as classic as it gets and is brewed for over 24 hours to ensure a smooth and rich flavor profile. The Sunshine Paradise is Tea Cloud’s take on a fruity milk tea, with orange blossom, peach, and mango flavors. If you want to keep it basic, the single-flavor bubble tea options are extensive with familiar favorites such as taro, matcha, coconut, and even strawberry. Mix it up with a spiced chai, rose petal, or white chocolate.
PRO Tip: If you’re in need of a quick lunch or dinner, Tea Cloud & Poke is the perfect spot. Pair your boba drink with a poke bowl and you’ll be revitalized to tackle the remainder of your day.
Dingtea Denver
Where? 1699 South Colorado Boulevard East
Ding Tea has multiple Denver locations, as well as locations across the country and the world. The company continuously launches new products, inviting customers to try their ever changing menu and refined beverage options. Their flavored milk tea options include Golden Venetian, brown sugar pearl, strawberry, red grapefruit yogurt, and red bean. Customers can alter the sweetness of their drinks, which is a welcome customization for those who like less sweetness. There are a number of add-ins available to really make your drink your own. Ding Tea also serves up small bites, such as bubble waffles, bao buns, and even popcorn chicken.
PRO Tip: The shop has limited seating, so arrive earlier in the day for a spot or grab your beverage and enjoy the fresh outdoor air. Parking is easy as the shop is located in a large shopping complex with a sizable lot.
ShareTea
Where? 424 South Teller Street
Sharetea is another global brand in the boba tea industry. The company was established in the early 1990s in Taiwan and has since branched out to offer quality tea-based drinks to the masses in other countries as well. Every drink is made fresh to order. Customers with a sweet tooth may want to dive into the tiger milk boba, featuring brown sugar, fresh milk, and of course — plenty of boba! Signature drinks include the classic black tea, ginger tea, and matcha red bean blended beverages. If you want your boba to have a bit of a kick, try out ShareTea’s spicy mango series which includes the Lava Flow and the Fire Dust.
PRO Tip: Anybody who enjoys the smooth flavors of Earl Grey will enjoy ShareTea’s Earl Grey Creama and the grapefruit Earl Grey with aloe vera and crystal boba.
Spill the Tea
Where? 1040 West 104th Avenue
The teas served at Spill the Tea in Northglenn can be blended with fruits, toppings, and other creative mixes. The fresh tea can hold up against any of the shop’s available add-ins and combinations, ensuring each customer gets a delightfully robust beverage to sip on. The lavender milk tea has a unique floral component and the matcha milk tea is a consistent favorite. The menu changes seasonally, so guests will always have something new to sample. Sweetness is customizable and the volume of ice can even be altered for those who prefer extra or less. The large variety of drinks on the menu may make it difficult to choose but whatever you end up with is sure to keep you coming back for more.
PRO Tip: Spill the Tea has a large, welcoming space. There are multiple tables and places to sit and talk or even work remotely for the afternoon. The modern decor creates a relaxing atmosphere, though guests should keep in mind that a blender is usually running so there will be some ambient noise.
BeauTea Bubbles
Where? 723 Quebec Street
BeauTea Bubbles is the first self-serve boba tea spot in Denver. Guests will enjoy the unique experience of choosing their tea or smoothie base and then adding toppings like boba, jellies, and other chewy add-ins. Standard toppings also feature pandan pudding, diced mango, and red bean. Freshly brewed tea includes honey black, jasmine green, passionfruit twist, and strawberry bliss. Those who love the creaminess of milk tea will get to choose from matcha brown sugar, coconut, chai, oolong, and red dragon. The shop also has a variety of board games to enjoy while you’re waiting on your order or if you just want to rest your feet while enjoying your boba tea.
PRO Tip: If you’re not a tea lover, BeauTea Bubbles keeps coffee on the menu as well. The Viet Coffee is a traditional Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk. There is also a coffee slush option to cool you off on those warm afternoons.
Lollicup
Where? 1589 South Colorado Boulevard
The Denver location of Lollicup opened in 2003 after growing in popularity around the world. The chain has become a hot spot within the city and serves up hundreds of unique combinations with over 20 optional add-ins. The menu features milk teas such as sesame, jasmine, honeydew, cappuccino, ginger, and even barley. Iced teas come in sour plum, peppermint, green apple, lemon, and kiwi. The real fun comes with the toppings, with options ranging from tapioca boba to strawberry bursting boba and coffee jelly. Lollicup also makes puddings, such as egg nog, taro, and chocolate for a sweet flan-textured custardy bite that complements a range of beverages.
PRO Tip: If you need a snack, Lollicup also offers homemade red bean buns and veggie buns that will take the edge off your hunger. All buns are packaged, kept hot, and are ready to go, making them the perfect grab-and-go option.
Tea Street
Where? 4090 East Mississippi Avenue
Tea Street is one of Denver’s newer boba tea establishments, having opened in 2018. The brother-sister duo are Colorado natives and opened the shop to bring the flavors they grew to love during their time in Hong Kong back to their home base. The menu has classic options, as well as unique Tea Street specials such as the peaches and cream slush and the Tea Street milk tea with Ceylon black tea. The caramel milk tea features scratch-made caramel and the taro milk tea uses fresh taro. The emphasis on using high-quality, fresh ingredients is obvious once you take your first sip.
PRO Tip: If you’ve found yourself at Tea Street but you’re not a fan of tea, the shop has a variety of tea-free options such as freshly squeezed honey lemonade, Vietnamese coffee, and pineapple with boba so you can still enjoy all of the tasty toppings.
Boba Touch
Where? 3107 East Colfax Avenue
Boba Touch is a family-owned shop in Denver, featuring cozy decor and a moderate yet satisfying selection of drinks on the menu. The classics feature house milk tea, matcha milk tea, and even a banana milk tea. Specialties include tiger milk, dragon fruit matcha milk, and taro milk. Most drinks can be served either hot or iced, depending on the weather and your mood. Toppings can be mixed and matched, including cherry blossom crystal boba, cream cheese foam, and traditional boba. There are caffeine-free options available and customers can order their drinks with a specified sweetness level, ranging from 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. Ice can be ordered at default level, light, or extra.
PRO Tip: If you’re on a dairy-free diet but still want to enjoy a refreshing boba milk tea beverage, Boba Touch keeps various milk alternatives on hand such as oat milk, almond milk, soy milk, and coconut milk.
Milk Tea People
Where? 1641 Market Street Suite 133
Milk Tea People is located at Market Station and is open every day of the week with extra late hours on Fridays and Saturdays. The tea lattes include a raspberry jasmine horchata, sweetened with vanilla cane sugar and topped with a raspberry puree. The cinnamon matcha horchata is a unique combination of hand-whisked matcha and homemade horchata, resulting in an incredibly creamy texture. The ube jasmine sweet cream is a hybrid option, combining fresh taro and ube roots until they’re boiled and soft enough to be pureed into the perfect sipping drink. The shop also sells pastries like a coconut ube wafchi, which is a mix between a Belgian waffle and mochi.
PRO Tip: No visit to Milk Tea People would be complete without sampling the cheese cream. The matcha cheese cream combines sweet and salty flavors and the strawberry cheese cream combines jasmine tea and fresh fruit puree to brighten up the richness.
Daboba
Where? 1920 17th Street #100
Daboba is on a mission to bring hand-crafted tea drinks from Taiwan straight to the residents of Denver. The location sits conveniently next to Union Station. The menu features options that are gluten-free, lactose-free, dairy-free, vegan, and caffeine-free to enable everybody the opportunity to enjoy a tasty handcrafted beverage. Specialty drinks at Daboba include an Ube Homerun with brown sugar boba and a homemade salted buttercream, an Eye of the Thai-Ger that’s sweetened with condensed milk, and the Golden Dragon, which is a combination of ceremonial grade matcha and honey golden pearls.
PRO Tip: Aside from the tea-based drinks, Daboba also has an espresso menu that includes drinks such as a cortado, an americano, and a macchiato. If you want to spice things up, order the dirty chai latte which features a double shot of espresso and a traditional masala chai with an Assam black tea base.
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