Bubble tea shops or boba milk tea shops as they have become widely known, first began in the 1980s in Taiwan. Since that time they’ve swept the globe with this ice-shaken tea usually containing large tapioca balls. Known as boba or pearls, these tapioca balls are added to the frothy milky tea to add a distinct element to the beverage.
News media Al Jazeera even reported the fact that this refreshing drink has now become synonymous with Taiwan with and global sales are expected to reach around $4.3 billion over the next seven years.
In the last 30 years, these shops have popped up from Taipei to New York and Singapore to San Antonio. The popular drink has been seen in political circles too with the Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu sharing one with the Japanese representative to Taiwan.
Whether you call it Boba Tea, Milk Tea, Bubble tea, or any of a dozen other regional name variations, this martini of milk, tea, and tapioca has become is a growing opportunity in the U.S as well. So if you’re in need of a new name ideas business then look no further than our list of suggestions organized by category below.
Chinese Tea Shop Name Ideas
Boba Pearl Milk tea in a Glass.
Technically, bubble tea originated in Taiwan. However, Taiwanese are still of Chinese origin, speak Chinese, and the country is disputed to be part of the the Republic of China. Which means that using a Chinese name or even Chinese characters for your tea shop name can be an effective way to describe the business.
There’s also a bubble tea craze and “National Bubble Tea Day” in China that celebrates this drink with a variety of styles, types, and flavors, and colors. Here are some of the best Chinese-themed names we can come up with in a late-night brainstorm session.
- Chibi’s Boba Tea
- Baihao Yinzhen Milk Tea
- Biluochun Boba Tea
- Black Phoenix Pearls
- Boba Da Hong Pao
- Boba Huangshan Maofeng
- Boba Pan Da Tea
- Bubble Dragon
- Cha Gong
- Chai Time
- Ching’s Taste
- Gong Fu Cha Boba Tea
- Happy Teahouse
- Huey-Yuhe
- Jasmine Pearl Milk Tea
- Junshan Yinzhen Milk Tea
- Keemun Bubble Tea
- Liu’an Boba Seed Tea
- Long Jing Bubble Tea
- Master Mountain Bubble Tea
- Oolong Milk Tea Shop
- Panda Bubble Tea
- Pu-erh Tea
- Red Dragon Boba
- Red Rose Tea
- Serenity Garden Tea House
- Tan Cha
- Tea-Cha Boba Tea
- Teajito
- Tea-Pei Boba Tea
- Ten Ren’s Tea
- The Tao of Tea
- Tieguanyin Bubble Tea
- White Monkey Tea Shop
Funny Boba Tea Shop Names
Frothy Boba Pearl Milk Tea.
One of the most common things you will find with bubble tea shops is the funny or pun-based business names. Globally, you can find thousands of boba tea brands with unusual names, often a pun on tea, tapioca, or the name “boba” or “bubble”.
This is an approach to get your brand recognized and remembered too. Consider pairing these names with a logo that describes what you sell too. So let’s take a look at our best suggestions in this category.
- Boba Time
- Boba Almigh-tea
- Boba Republik
- Boba Tealicious
- Bobatically Tea
- Brim Full of Boba
- Bubblicious
- Cah-rismatic
- ChaBoba
- Double Bubble
- Fat Straws Bubble Tea
- Hubba Boba
- Hubble Bubble Tea
- I (Heart) Boba
- Just Boba
- Leafology Tea Lounge
- Matcha Sippin’
- PracticaliTea
- Purple Kow Boba tea
- So ThirsTea
- Tea or Me
- Tea Two
- Tea-Wan Boba Shop
- Terrifically Tea
- The Boba Spot
- The Bubble-T Ranch
- The Dream Tea
- Twen-Tea
Clever Boba Tea Shop Names
Time For Tea.
Being clever in the name of the tea shop is another favorite way to make these popular brands more easily recognizable. Brands like Sharetea and Teapioca Lounge fit into this category and have both found ways to become synonymous with milk tea. So think of the play on words you can use, the strange spellings, and just go with it.
- Leap of Taste
- Boba Island
- BoBa Tea Station
- Boba-T Haus
- Bounce Boba Loft
- Bubble Bleands Tea
- Bubble Cafe & Tea Lounge
- Bubble Tea Room
- Bubbleology
- DrinkabiliTea
- DrinkabiliTea
- Dulce Tapioca
- Eden Organic Bubble Tea
- EqualiTea
- Floating Leaves
- Half & Half Tea House
- Heavenly Bubble Tea
- iBubble Tea House
- Infini-Tea
- Infuzion Bubble Tea Bar
- Love4Boba
- Pearl’s Milk Tea
- Purple Tea Rooms
- Qualitea
- Rituali-Tea
- SaTeasfaction GuaranTea’d
- Sereni-Tea
- Speciali-Teas
- Taiwan Gold Boba Tea
- Taiwan Ice Boba Lounge
- Tealicious
- Teaspoon of Boba
- TempTeaTion
- The Blue Pearl
- The Boba Truck
- The Tapioca Lounge
- The Tea Tree
- Veri-Tea
- Yoga Tea Station
Industry Overview
Taiwanese Bubble Tea is still popular on the streets of Taipei.
Once you’ve determined a winning brand name you, it’s time to conduct a serious analysis of the pros and cons of this industry. Taking a close evaluation of any market you plan to enter is not only prudent, it’s essential if you’re investing your hard earned savings into starting a retail store. Here’s our viewpoint on the good and bad of this industry so you know what to expect.
Future Challenges:
One of the challenge of starting a bubble tea shop in the U.S. market is there’s still not broad consumption of the beverage like you see with coffee. Depending on what part of the country you live in there may not be enough demand to support your product.
Although national interest in people searching for these shops is steadily growing according to the restaurant and small business review website Yelp. It’s not likely you’ll be able to start a successful shop in most parts of North Dakota as an example. I wouldn’t do it!
Bubble Tea Interest Over time according to Yelp.
Another fear is if bubble tea becomes too popular in the United States big players in the coffee industry may decide to enter the market. Currently, Starbucks and other major coffee chains like Dunkin’ Donuts do not offer bubble tea on the menu.
One theory is the current menu of American coffee chains doesn’t make it easy to serve the drink. Starbucks, for example, would need to source tapioca from a vendor if they want to serve the product. This is certainly something the company could accomplish if the market opportunity is deemed big enough.
If enough consumers want the beverage, you can bet more American coffee chains test serving the drink. This would ultimately make it more difficult for ma-and-pa shops to remain profitable due to increased competition.
Boba shops opening across America per Yelp.
Recipe Development:
As a startup shop, one area you’ll need to focus is on unique recipe development. Of course you need to offer some of the time tested flavors like black milk tea or mango milk tea, but testing new styles, flavors, and staying on top of emerging consumer taste preferences will be a requirement for longevity.
After determining a menu, get clarity on the exact drink recipe costs and where you’ll source the product. You can get an accurate estimate of drink costs with our recipe cost template. There’s no cost to download and use this tool in your shop.
Store efficiency and design:
Before opening a store or selecting a location, be sure that it checks off all the boxes for everything you need to maximize profit and streamline operations.
One option to add revenue is providing a drive-thru window option. If you don’t have a service window at your store, establish a process to provide contactless service. One option is allowing customers to remain in their car while an employee hand delivers drinks.
Related Reading: How to Start a Coffee Shop on Your Own Terms
An opportunity to streamline efficiency from the start is to work closely with an architect or consultant with experience at working with coffee shops. These individuals can ensure your kitchen is set up in a way that allows for employees to produce the most teas in the shortest time frame. Boba shops are typically busiest in the afternoon so making sure you can serve customers fast during a window of opportunity will be important. You can learn more identifying a quality boba shop location and size here.
Availability is the key when choosing a name for a boba tea brand. There are so many possibilities, but also thousands of shops already open globally so make sure the name you select is unique.
Google can help in your preliminary work to ensure you aren’t encroaching on someone else’s brand. This will help sort out the wheat from the chaff, or in this case, the milk from the tapioca. Having a unique name is a major bonus and benefit when marketing your brand, and makes it easier for people to remember you.
Where are you planning to open your future bubble shop? We’d love to hear about your plans in the comments area below. If you’d like to get free training from other beverage founders, sign up for our food business kit for free.
