QQ Tea House

Awesome deal going on now. Buy one, get the second one for 99 cents. I got the peach green tea. Really quenched my thirst. My husband got the wintermelon tea and claimed it was a little too sweet for him. When we went home, he diluted it a little and loved it. Definitely will be back for more!

Of all the boba places here in Hawaii, this place is definitely one of my favorites! I get the original milk tea and boba when ever I first try out new places, and I was not disappointed. It was so good! You can tell the boba was made very well (I also got a peak of the woman carefully cooking the boba in the back). The tea itself was just as good, not to sweet or bitter and a good balance between the tea and milk. I came with a friend the day I went and they were having a great bogo 99 cents deal which was another plus about this place. They also had a selection of drinks on the menu that looked like favors a haven’t seen before at other boba places and I’m pretty excited to try them all.
The only downside to this place is that they are definitely a bit under-​staffed. If there are any UH Manoa students looking for a job, this place looks like a cool place to work and it’s just a minute away.

Great place to be at and there having a special buy one get one for 99 cents! My 5^th time here and has not disappointed! Also great customer service!

So happy that these folks re-​opened! I’m bummed that they no longer offer almond milk tea, but their regular milk tea is still winners. I’m not sure why but whenever I order the milk tea with honey boba, the drink is on the warm side. Wish they could address this somehow.
If milk tea is not your thing, their fruit teas are guaranteed to quench your thirst, and they have fewer calories and fat than milk tea.
This is a one size only joint and drinks come out to about $ 5, give or take.
They aren’t a well-​oiled machine like Taste Tea, so if you’re pressed for time, call in your order ahead of time.
Don’t forget to ask for a stamp card!

I’ve been gone for half a year for a study abroad experience and have been hearing about this place during my abroad trip. I recently tried this place out because there were signs posted in the University of Hawaii at Manoa, stating about their buy one, get one for $ 0.99. My friends and I were craving for some boba at the time we saw it and decided to give it a try.
The store is located across of Puck’s Alley and FedEX. You will definitely see it if you continue down University Avenue and look on your left right after the traffic light. There is parking around the store but some are reserved… I think…
Because this is my first time, I decided to play it safe and get their QQ Special Milk Tea with honey boba for $ 4.71 (it was relatively pricey, but that’s okay). One of my friends also got one QQ Special Milk tea with honey boba and the other got their Honey Boba & Pudding. It actually took them some time to make our drinks because they were behind 4 or 5 people even though there was 4 workers. One of the workers seemed to be a new hire, so they other 3 workers had to teach him while making the drinks.
When I got my drink and took the first sip, I loved it. There was definitely a tea taste rather than a powdered taste. It wasn’t too sweet either. The boba was also very chewy and tasty. The drink was good. I can’t deny that. I took a sip of my friend’s Honey Boba & Pudding drink and thought it was too sweet for my taste. It was good but a bit too sweet.
The next time I come by, I may or may not be adventurous to try out their other products because I already fell in love with their milk tea. But to take advantage of the buy one, get one $ 0.99, I will definitely come back whether it be a new flavor or not.

QQ Tea House is back open.
I remember going there when it was first opened and was excited to have a new tea place in town. However, they suddenly closed for renovations. When driving in the neighborhood one day I noticed that they reopened. YAY!
I had the green tea milk tea with azuki beans and it was yummy. The tea flavor comes through when drinking the milk tea which can sometimes be overpowered by the milk and sweetness. I can’t wait to try their other menu options (milk tea, juices and smoothies).

I’m so happy they’re open again! They became one of my favorite milk tea places when they first opened up a few months ago but I was sad when they closed for renovations. QQ Tea House is located across FedEx Kinko’s on S. King Street and University Ave. They’re on the ground floor of the L&L corporate offices building.
I like their jasmine milk green tea because the tea is strong and not watered down. The sweetness level and milk are a perfect balance with the fragrant tea. They have a lot of drinks on their menu, which is on the left side of the bright orange wall. If you’re a first timer, you’ll probably stare at the menu for a while before choosing something. Their drinks only come in one size (large) and they had a buy one drink get the 2^nd drink for $.99 special when I went on a weekday. So I basically got 2 milk teas for around $ 5, which is really cheap.
During the renovations, they added more equipment into their kitchen so now they also sell sandwiches and pastries. Before, they only had cheesecake slices and macarons. They have tables and chair inside for you the sit and enjoy your food/​drinks but it can get really loud. On one of the walls, there’s a cute illustration of 2 boba’s hanging out behind Diamond Head. It’s photo worthy if you’re into that cute stuff.

This new milk tea place is super cute! (I actually learned about it from my mom)
After a few minutes of looking over their menu I got the shave ice with strawberry, mango, condensed milk and chocolate pudding topping. It was soooo good and for $ 5 it’s such a good deal! I can’t wait to come back and try more!

There’s another boba tea place that opened up on University across from FedEx. This place is pretty good. They’re also running a great promo at the moment. You buy one drink at the regular price and get the second drink for $ 0.99.
The store is clean, bright, and cute. The workers are really nice and courteous. The thing that I liked most is that they have a huge selection of drinks. I always get milk tea with boba at the tea places. I saw that they offered fresh papaya milk at this place. I had to get that. We ended up ordering two papaya milks, avocado milk, and a milk tea with boba.
Everything that we tried was good without being overly sweet. I ordered my papaya milk with boba. They must have just made the boba because it was warm in my blended papaya milk. I could taste it right of the bat. Other than that, everything was great. Both the papaya and avocado milks had a nice consistency to them. It was made with real fruit and not powder. I tasted a little of the pulp on the bottom of my drink which I didn’t mind.
I sampled their plum, pineapple, and litchi smoothies. Their smoothies are not smoothies. It’s more of a slushy. There’s nothing dairy in it whatsoever. However, I liked their slushies. It’s basically ice blended with fruit. Their plum slush contains li-​hing. We all agreed that that was awesome. The pineapple and litchi were also winners.

Very yummy drinks and you buy one you can get the second one for 99cents (pick from their daily specials that is) very nice staff and not crowded. Lychee smoothie and calpico smoothie is very yummy. I can’t wait till the reopen.

Good fresh lemon with black tea and big boba pearls.
The taro flavor is another excellent choice which costs 99 cents when ordering a regular boba tea

Is it just me, or have there been a gazillion milk tea places popping up all over the place??? There’s been a buncha them, riiight?
So on Monday, after 8pm, my friend and I were walking doggies and happened to see this place. We decided to try it out. They are having a deal where if you buy select drinks, you get a second drink for $ 0.99! That’s a great bargain, so I couldn’t help myself. The boy worker who helped me make the purchase and fulfill the drink order had a really great attitude. The interior of the store is well lit and nicely decorated.
The toppings at this place ($ 0.75) are a bit pricier than the normal milk tea place ($ 0.50). I got the mango calpico drink with the least amount of added sugar and light ice. The sweetness of my drink came out auright. My friend got the milk tea with 50% sweetness and light ice. She said her drink was wayyy too sweet, really watered down and with not much tea flavor. The boba/​pearls/​tapioca balls were really bad :/​They were soaked in something super sweet and for a looong time. The outside was super soft and breaking apart while the inside was kinda not cooked thoroughly :/​There was not one boba that was chewy. I can’t see spending $ 0.75 on the bobas because of the lack in quality.
Maybe we just came here on a day when the bobas were having a «bad hair day» or the place is still perfecting the craft in making beverages? I’m willing to buy from them again, sometime later, but not just right now.

I wanted to like this place more than I did. The atmosphere was really cute, and it briefly made me miss Taiwan. The menu had a wide variety of options, and upon entering, my friend and I were given a sample of the black milk tea and the lychee smoothie. The black milk tea at full sweetness was way too sweet for my taste, and the lychee smoothie was a little too icy but not bad. I ended up ordering the black milk tea with pudding at half sweetness. The tea was just average, and the pudding had a strange fake buttered popcorn jelly bean flavor to it which I didn’t care for. They had Costco/Sam’s Club muffins for resale at the counter which was kind of funny. I’m willing to try this place again and order something else, but probably not for a while.

Amazing! Service was awesome and I love the authentic feeling it gives off. The tapioca bubbles were bouncy and perfect and the tea was oooohhhmmmmaaagggeeerrrd! Plum ice was perfect for the heat. They have a special going on. Buy one normal price and get a selected other for a dollar!

Oh dear, another milk tea place. I’m always amazed how tea places survive, there are so many competitors. It’s located right across the street from the bus stop in front of Fedex. QQ tea house is such a cute name with adorable little logos.
The first week of soft opening they have the buy one get the second one for 99 cents. I think it’s still going on. When we walked in the workers greeted us. I felt a welcoming atmosphere. We looked at the menu and there were a lot of variety of tea, smoothies, pastries and desserts. I went up to the cashier and asked if they have the lihing mui smoothie also known as the plum smoothie. She gave us a sample of it along with the strawberry and lychee smoothie flavor. Their smoothie is more like shaved ice rather than a blended drink. Which made me a little disappointed. The taste was good, but why didn’t they call it shaved ice instead? My bf liked it so he got the lihing smoothie while I got the second drink off the 99 cents menu: honey jasmine green tea. The tea was a little bit too sweet, but they offered to remake it. I thought it was a hassle so I just left it as it is. It wasn’t anything special in the drink.
I noticed they didn’t have any blenders. They’ve been using the shave ice maker for the smoothie drinks. It doesn’t seem fresh either cuz they just grab it from the freezer? Flavoring isn’t natural or anything, fruit juices are used for the flavoring.
They give out cute stamp cards. The people there are really friendly and nice. If you can speak mandarin you can strike a conversation with them. It seemed like a family owned restaurant because they greeted each other like family/​relative. Great smiles! This is a milk tea place with the most happiest and friendly workers!

Another milk tea place for me to obsess over! QQ Tea House is adorable and colorful and the workers are really friendly! They gave us tons of free samples to try! (Because of the grand opening, they’re doing a buy one get one 99¢ deal!)
They have a lot of options you don’t find at other tea places! Lots of different milk tea flavors, ice teas, smoothies, and juices. I didn’t try any, but I also spotted a bunch of baked goods, coffee jelly, and fruits for sale too.
I compare tea places by the quality of their regular black milk tea and standard boba. QQ was very good! The tea is not overly sweet, just how I like it. The regular boba was a lot smaller in size than most other places (which I personally don’t like), but tasted okay.
Will definitely come again!

These people are soooo nice and friendly. Beautiful interior but no wifi :(When we walked in, the buy one get one from the selected menu for 99 cent specials were explained. All the employees were enthusiastic.
We ordered Lychee Jasmine Green Tea and a passion fruit smoothie. The boba was perfect. I was less impressed with the lychee tea. The green tea was overpowering and not cold enough. They did offer to sweeten it but I declined. I’m used to other places where the lychee is sweeter by default. I’ll need to try this again sweeten to be fair. The smoothie was icy and more like a slushie.
We ordered a few more drinks for our family to go and we were comped a blueberry muffin. The muffin was your average white cake super sweet pretend to be a muffin muffin. The rest of the baked goods cause with the cheese cakes has me curious.
In all fairness, I need to try more of their menu so this review might be a little premature.
Shaka Shaka up the road is a better drink but more pricey. If I need free parking, I’m back at QQ. If I’m walking in the neighborhood, I’m going to pay more and go to Shaka Shaka.

They have plenty of variety that many other milk tea places and even smoothie places don’t have. I got their milk tea with grass jelly to see how it compares to when lived in Singapore, and it was definitely legitimate. They graciously gave us lots of samples, including passion fruit smoothie and avocado milk, all of which were delicious and fresh – no powders here.
Prices are very, very competitive: currently they have a buy one get one for 99¢. The staff is very friendly and eager to serve, and the décor is fun yet relaxing. This is will be my new default tea and smoothie spot.

One more to add to my favorite bubble tea places on the island! QQ Tea House just opened this weekend in University Plaza (across from Kinkos). If you know where Hungry Ear Records, Golden Dynasty, or the Jiu Jitsu place is, it’s on the opposite side of the building facing University St. Look for the orange sign.
DRINKS: Did I walk into Coffee or Tea? Because this tastes remarkably similar. Possibly better since there’s no terrible service to bring down my experience. Their milk tea is Taiwanese style and not super sweet, just the way I like it. They let us sample it beforehand to make sure it wasn’t too sweet or bland. I also tried my friends watermelon milk tea (sounds gross I know) but it was very good as well! Creamy yet refreshing. We also had samples of the lychee and plum smoothie. Very icy and refreshing, perfect for this yucky weather.
SERVICE: A++. The ladies were SOOO friendly. Samples of the drinks right when we walked in, friendly smiles, using two hands to take and give something back to the customers with a little head bow (if you understand this, you’re Asian enough lol), more samples while we were sitting inside… Awesome! I hope this wonderful service continues long after they get more popular.
They have rotating weekly specials where you can get a selected drink for 99cents if you buy another one for regular price. I’m not sure how long this grand opening special is gonna last so stop on in! Bring a friend!
Don’t like drinks? They also have some desserts in their display case. From what I saw there was a variety of cakes, cookies, and macarons.
Coffee or Tea, you’ve met your match. HA.
Other info:
There’s a 15 minute grace period in the parking lot. You’ll have to pay thereafter.
About 6 small round tables inside with bar stools if you’re looking to sit and sip
They have a stamp card! Buy 8 get 1 free!

Another bubble tea joint?! Yes, on University Avenue-​the perfect location for UH Manoa students! I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was actually my first time at the University Plaza, getting measured for a dress at Toy’s Creations. After my measurements were taken, I noticed the big orange QQ Tea House sign and walked in. They greeted me warmly and said they were open and serving drinks but their grand opening is actually tomorrow (now today, August 14).
Their shop is cute-​bright walls with a large mural on the left wall. They have a few black cocktail round-​type tables with high bar stools. Big beautiful bamboo plants decorated each table. They have a large menu on the wall behind their counter as well as nicely laminated paper menus near the register. The floating shelves behind the counter had really nice displays of their ingredients (powder, jelly, etc.) in clear canisters. There were individually wrapped cookies on the counter and their pastry shelves in the glass display contained muffins on the bottom shelf. The top two shelves were empty but the labels named different flavored cheesecakes.
The employees were really friendly and gave me a rundown of their operating hours, and specials while I waited for my drink. One of the girls mentioned that they would have a weekly house drink that would sell for a discounted price. I decided on coconut milk tea with tapioca. They asked me if I like custard/​pudding and offered a free sample in my drink. I gladly accepted the offer because I love the stuff. I also ordered a chocolate-​vanilla muffin and they were so sweet to give me a small sample of their strawberry smoothie. So how did everything taste? Well the strawberry smoothie was nice and refreshing and had a really icy consistency like really, really fine shave ice (they have shave ice on the menu by the way). The strawberry flavor was artificial but still good. The muffin I had was really moist and had the perfect blend of the two flavors. It was basically a vanilla cupcake with chunks of melted chocolate in the muffin and a nice chocolate drizzle on the top. Now the drink… well it was good but I can’t say I was impressed. I don’t know if it was just that certain flavor that wasn’t that great (I love coconut) or maybe because the bar for milk tea has been set really high with so many other tea joints on the island.
Overall, I think QQ Tea House makes a great addition to the businesses in the University Avenue area and another bubble tea spot couldn’t hurt with thousands of students attending UH Manoa right up the road. Like I mentioned, the drink I had was good but with so many other shops like this in the market, QQ Tea House hasn’t really done anything (yet) to separate itself from the competition. They mentioned that they don’t make their muffins but hopefully their cheesecake isn’t store-​bought and is original enough to blow everything else out of the water. However, their customer service was totally on point which I know everyone can appreciate and their prices are very reasonable. I will stop back in when I’m in the area!