i-Tea

My favorite is Jade tea kreama with no boba and just 25 — 50% ice, regular sugar. It tastes just right! Go for mango sago if you prefer something fruity. Matcha milk green tea is also pretty good. Space is very small, no place to sit, therefore people gather outside to wait for their drinks. Long lines sometimes go by pretty quick. I’ve actually been here and there was no line before. But waiting for your drinks can take really long, not sure how many staff is working inside to make drinks. Taking order is faster than getting your drinks. I think they should have more staff working to help speed up the process so customers can buy and go instead of waiting too long. Aside from that, some of their drinks are good and I’d recommend giving this place a try.

The wait isn’t too long. I ordered the high mountain oolong, and it was delicious! Comes with boba, but I think I’d prefer it without the boba. The boba I got then was a little too chewy. 50% sweetness is perfect!
Cash only!

The line was long but honestly worth the wait. Among all of the bubble tea shops I’ve been to throughout Sacramento (where I’m from), the Bay area, and Hong Kong, this is probably one of the higher ranking places imo.
I got the roasted oolong milk tea and sister got the jasmine milk tea. I thought that their mix was perfect because I could actually taste the tea in it, compared to several places where they are ‘milk-​heavy’.
The boba was cooked perfectly too, great texture and very ‘Dan-​Ah’.
3 stars for the long line and wait, but 5 stars for the drink quality

An authentic Taiwanese boba stand that is one of the best drink places in East Bay.
The boba is fresh, has good consistency and sweetness. Their iTea milk tea is creamy, smooth, and has nice flavor. I’ve also had the mango sago drink and it was really refreshing with real mango pieces and perfectly made sago balls. They also have other fresh fruit juice options, and lots of topping variations.
Although there is usually a wait and parking is not that convenient, I’d make a stop here if I was visiting Oakland chinatown area.

very confuse bout the high rating. asked for black tea cuz tats da strongest tea u can get. Ooh boy, it sure aint stronge! not only tat, both drinks was soooo watered down!
if you’re not much of a tea lover n prefer flavored drinks, this may b the place. as far as GOOD tea, «I-​Tea» lacks it!
Ive learn in life n believe when u cheat on those u love, u will b punish n bad karma shall come ur way, this is wat happen wen i cheat on sharetea again.

Step aside ChaTime. There’s a new and better boba place in town. When i-​Tea first opened, I wasn’t too impressed with what I got (ice milk) as it was wayyy too sweet. Given that I go home for about 3 weeks every year, I didn’t even bother with this place and stuck with my beloved ChaTime. Fast forward a year and I can say i-​Tea is the bomb. If you look at my daily check-​in for this place, you will see that I’m not lying about my love for i-​Tea.
Learning from my mistake last year, I stayed far far away from that ice milk. Instead, i’ve tried the fresh mango fruit tea, fresh strawberry fruit tea, F3 & F4 (kreamas), and mango sago. All of them were super delicious! By now, I expect most boba places to allow me to customize my sugar and ice level, so I’m glad i-​Tea allows me to do this. The drinks do take awhile to make, especially since i-​tea is always busy, even if it’s cold and raining… From waiting in line to drink in hand, I would probably say about 20 minutes each time.
The store is super tiny, so expect to wait to order your drink and wait for your drink to be made outside.
Also, CASH ONLY!

I love a place where you can choose the amount of sugar and their you can tell they use premium tea. Of course the downside to a popular place like this is you can expect a very long wait (on weekends they have those bank things out in front of their door).

OMG Drinks are so insane! I go the milk tea with dofu hua and red bean! So Asian! So Asian-​American! I love it! I got my protein and dessert all in one. Next time I’d add boba so I could have more texture. I can’t wait to get more! Too bad there’s no seating, but man, this is the spot for Asian drinks.

This is my go to boba place in Chinatown. I usually order the mango drinks (ex. mango sago, mango slush, mango crystal) since they use fresh mango. The mangoes are always sweet, I hadn’t had any that tasted sour. The drinks are great values, never watered down, and i-​tea use real fruits. Another one of my favorite drinks here is the matcha latte with red bean. Again, it’s not watered down, and you’ll definitely like this drink if you are a matcha lover. I’ve had their okinawa milk tea as well, which I thought was average. I’ll definitely choose the mango or matcha drinks over the okinawa milk tea.
The only downside of i-​tea is that the store is very small, therefore you always have to wait outside in the street for your order. During the busy hours (ex. after lunch on a weekend), the line would be very long and the drinks would take some time to make. However, their staff seems like they are working as fast as they can, so I’m okay with waiting.
Best boba place in Chinatown so far, great quality, great price!

The good:
–Flavors taste fresh! Aomori apple gt and mango slush is soooooo good! We never get 100% sweetness as 80−30% is just fine~ depending on which flavors.
–VARIETY! They have lots of different types of drinks to choose from depending on your mood, not just milk tea ya dig.
The bad:
–There aren’t always long lines here– mostly just on weekends. I understand that the place is tiny but cmon! It took over 10 min to wait for 4 parties ahead of us just to place orders! That’s because the cashier has to multitask with not only inputting orders, but also expediting drinks. What a complete waste of time! You have to wait just as long to get your drink after you order which really sucks when there is the line.
–I was also told that they only have white boba on the weekends — went on a Satuday and said they didn’t have white boba, only had agar crunchy boba??? nahhh I’ll pass~
–BOBA: not good, but not horrible. Chewy on the outside, sort of hard on the inside. Been here several times and its always the same texture. Kind of sad because I would love this place more is their boba was chewy throughout. =/​

tl;dr: Great selection of flavors. Must try the mango slush or aomori apple gt! Frustrating long lines.

You’ll see the line from a block away. Luckily for us, it was mostly just groups of people waiting for their drinks outside, since the inside space is about 4′ by 10′! We all enjoyed our drinks: milk tea with coffee jelly x2 (got 80% sweet which was still way too sweet… next time, 50%). The milk tea had a good strong tea flavor. Husband got a milk tea with egg pudding and it came in the «chubby» size. He was embarrassed about it being called «chubby» but enjoyed the drink itself. I mean, it’s a subtle hint of what you would become if you drank one of those every day. ;)
Drinks came out pretty quickly considering the line. Best option for boba in Oakland Chinatown, so I’m sure we’ll be back. Next time: 50% sweet.

This is hands down the BEST boba place in the East Bay — we got the Jasmine Milk tea with boba and pudding (use the free topping from Unilocal) — and the Panda tea– both were soooo good. You won’t want to get your boba drinks anywhere else.
Park underground in the building (cheap only $ 3 for 2 hours) and safer than the street parking.

It’s really hard to write a review for a boba place because they all, ultimately, taste the same. However, this place does stick out in certain aspects.
First, their drink is not too sweet (although, I typically order 80% sugar). Still, 80% sugar in some places is way too sweet.
Second, I love their bottom-​heavy cups. The cups are more comfortable to hold, and also look more «cool» and «hip.»
However, I am giving this place only three stars because I thought their pudding was bland. Yes, I know I’m weird — I like my boba not too sweet, but I do like my pudding sweet (or, at least, with some flavor).
Still a worthy place to check out though, especially because it’s an Oakland Chinatown staple.

I am really impressed with i-​Tea! It’s definitely on the same level as Sharetea and Sweetheart Café, which are my top two shops for boba. I ordered the passionfruit green tea (no surprises there!) with boba, which I was able to get for free having used the Unilocal check-​in offer of one free topping, and I paid $ 3.75 for a 16 oz drink. This is cheaper than the prices at Sharetea, where the same size drink is almost $ 5.
What I really enjoyed about my drink is that it had a perfect sweet and tangy blend, it was mixed really well with the green tea, the boba was perfect, AND it had actual pieces of passionfruit mixed in the drink as well! I thought the addition of the passionfruit made the drink even better than I had hoped for, and now I can’t imagine ordering a passionfruit green tea boba without pieces of passionfruit in it.
This store in particular is incredibly small (fits a max of 6 – 8 people comfortably) and it has no seating room, but the service is really quick, and the staff is friendly. Note that this store is cash only!

As someone from the San Gabriel Valley in SoCal, I’ve been spoiled by good boba tea shop options ranging from the long established (Ten Ren) to the newer wait-​in-​typically-​long-​line for a big cup (Half and Half) to single-​location but quality tea (Tenju) to juice specialties (Tastea) and more.
I was surprised that I could add i-​Tea to a list of decent, enjoyable teashops and definitely my go-​to place for boba in the downtown Oakland area, if not the greater Oakland area. These aren’t powdery, condensed teas, and you have multiple options for the amount of ice and sweetness you want, so they thankfully are not automatically too sweet. But to be safe, if you like minimal sweetness, then request less than «normal.»
I have ended up coming here after dinner or later at night. For some reason, it’s usually an unplanned stop with friends, spur of the moment. Whenever someone craves boba after a meal, this is the place to visit. There usually is a line, and it’s the only place that’s bright and lit on this street (and Chinatown over all) at night. The line moves quickly though!

I have a love hate relationship with this place. I heart boba, I heart milk tea, I heart grass jelly, and I heart pudding, but seriously, is it really worth the wait?
This mighty whole in the whole shop is a magnet for customers. They are usually lined out the door, but then again the place can probably hold 3 people in line before the line goes out the door.
This place is amazing and definitely top 3 options in Oakland’s Chinatown but some times… I’m so happy I get my order and then the happiness slowly drains as I wait… and wait… and wait… and then they finally call my number!
After that first sip though it makes it all better. So like I said, love hate relationship.

This is my FAVORITE boba spot in East Bay!
It’s not the easiest to get to (Chinatown parking, sighhh) so it isn’t my go-to…HOWEVER it is worth coming to for the huge selection of drinks. Everything I’ve tried here – fruity or milky, boba or pudding – is so good!
My favorite is the Jasmine Milk Tea with pudding at 70% sweetness & 30% ice. Every drink I’ve tried has had a prominent tea flavor and I’ve definitely gotten a drink or two with some runaway tea leaves in them… nothing like real life PROOF right?!
They lose a star from me for their hours. Understandably they close a bit earlier than your average boba shop, but closing on 8pm on a Saturday just doesn’t make sense to me. Don’t you want my money?
Cash only, start a stamp card!

LOVED i-​Tea. Definitely much better than the SF/​Berk-​famous Purple Kow.
They have milk tea specials similar to PK, but their tea is way tastier and less creamy! You don’t feel like you’re drinking creamer.
I love that checking in on Unilocal gets you a free topping in your boba. WIN! Their pearls are perfectly soft and chewy at the same time, and their tea is just right… not too watered down and not too strong. I would totally come back again. Plus, they have a stamp card as well if you end up being a regular.
They also have icy’s, fruit tea, and other boba choices. Definitely a fan of their teas, efficient and quick service (SHOUTOUT to the cashier… maybe owner?), and positive attitude. They speak great English (go Canto’s)!

This place is pretty poppin whenever I come here and always a line. I’ve only tried their mango sago which is good but I wish the drink was colder! I would compare this to the shooting star mango sago, which I like better but is a bit pricier. I would recommend trying this if you’re in the Oakland area.
Quick-​tip: Check-​in on Unilocal for 1 free topping!

i-​Tea is a great addition to the many boba shops in Oakland Chinatown. I would recommend their jasmine tea with aloe. 80% sugar is good. I try not to get milk teas as much, but I’ve tried their okinawa milk tea, and it’s delicious. Their 100% tends to be too sweet. 80% hits the spot for all the drinks.
The only gripe I have is that the lines are usually very long. I wouldn’t recommend coming here if you’re in a rush. It takes maybe 5 – 10 minutes to get in line and order. And maybe another 5 – 10 minute to get your drink. During rush hours, aka after work or weekends around lunch time, be prepared to bring a nice long novel to read.
They’re opening a location in Castro Valley soon, I hear. Can’t wait! It’s closer to where I live, and you can avoid the Oakland Chinatown parking situation.