Photo Courtesy to The MoCo Show

World-famous boba shop, Tiger Sugar, newly opened last year at Federal Plaza. This is their signature drink, Brown Sugar Boba Milk with Pearl and Cream Mousse. It is a must-try drink that will change your boba experience! “I like boba and I think Tiger Sugar has the best ones,” sophomore Carol Li said.

Boba, boba and boba frenzy! Boba has been one of the hottest drinks to chill with while hanging out with friends. Here is the ultimate guide to boba shops near the WJ area.

Gong Cha
Boba Quality:★★★★☆
Price: About six to eight dollars
Locations: G-Square, Pike and Rose, Next to the Safeway on Rockville Pike and Rockville Town Square
Gong Cha has many locations around WJ, the closest one being in G-Square. Out of all the boba shops that are reviewed in this article, Gong Cha had the widest variety of drinks to choose from. The top ten ranking on their menu helped me choose what to drink. I drank the pearl milk tea and the boba had the perfect chewiness, but it was a bit bland in taste. I think Gongcha has the best tea though. Some locations, like the Rockville one, even have egg waffles!

Kung Fu Tea
Boba Quality:★★★★★
Price: About three to six dollars
Locations: Montgomery Mall, Pike and Rose and Rockville Town Square
Kung Fu Tea is a good rival for Gong Cha because they also have many drinks to choose from. But, Kung Fu Tea had the perfect chewiness and flavorful boba! I drank the Kung Fu Milk Tea, the boba was warm and freshly cooked. But the tea was bland, and the taste of milk overpowered the tea. The boba made up for the tea, but other drinks, like their mango slush, are really good.

Tiger Sugar
Boba Quality: ★★★★★
Price: About six to eight dollars
Location: Federal Plaza (next to Trader Joe’s)
Tiger Sugar is a new boba shop that opened last year. It is a famous boba store worldwide and is said to be the boba shop that started the photogenic brown sugar boba drink trend on Instagram. Their store name is Tiger Sugar because the brown sugar streaks on the inside of the cup look like stripes of a tiger. Their boba was exceptional! Perfect flavor, perfect chewiness, perfect color and perfect warmness. Meiji Milk, a Japanese milk brand, is used for most of their drinks and the natural creaminess helps blend the cream mousse, brown sugar streaks and boba blend together.

Bubble Tea Cafe
Boba Quality: ★★★☆☆
Price: About four to seven dollars
Location: Rollins Ridge Apartments very close to Trader Joe’s
Bubble Tea Cafe is located under Rollins Ridge Apartments which is close to Trader Joe’s. They offer the same price for smoothies, milkshakes, milk tea and juice tea so I think that is different from other boba shops. But their boba had a really weird texture and tasted old. The core of each boba was not cooked yet and the outer shell of it was really soft in a weird way. Their tea also tasted like they mixed powder and water to make it. But it was nice that you could choose small, medium or large sizes when other boba shops usually only have a medium or large. They also have mochi ice cream!