ThirsTea Cafe

Kind, appreciative, and quick service. Great selection of drinks and add-​in options. Very tasty. I also get the black teas with boba. The boba is perfectly cooked but if it were slightly sweeter it would be the best boba and black tea combo I’ve had at one shop!

Love the Boba tea here. Only legitimate place that sells decent Boba tea in the birmingham area in my opinion. I also love the fact that they have board games that you can play while you drink your delicious drink. Plus the customer service/​cashier is always very nice. I come here at least twice a month.

Love this bubble tea shop! Everything I have had has been excellent and the staff has always been nice. They provide board games and even have little snacks to purchase. Not a lot of bubble tea places around and this is by far the best outside of maybe going to Atlanta.

I love this place, and I love that they use real fruit. I’m sad they did away with the punch cards but I wholeheartedly recommend this place.

I love this little place. The drinks are delicious and it’s a really fun environment. They have tons of board games to play while you hang out. I brought my sisters here after dinner one night and we ended up staying for a few hours because we were having such a good time. This is a great place to hang out if you aren’t into the bar scene (or are too young). It’s family friendly but without being too childish.

I always looked for a good bubble tea place in Birmingham ever since I tasted really good bubble tea in Atlanta. The Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants would also disappointment because their bubble tea doesn’t taste like bubble tea and are really 60% filled with ice. ThirsTea bubble tea is very good in my opinion but pricey. One time, I asked for no ice (which is $ 0.50) and received ice. I think it’s ridiculous to charge for no ice just because they have to add a little more of the actual drink. In Atlanta, I can get better bubble tea, two kinds of boba or jelly for free, and no ice for free. But I guess when you’re in Birmingham and are craving bubble tea, the only good place is here. I do recommend fellow bubble tea lovers to try this place. This place has bubble tea, milk tea, fruit juices, tea, and more! The average I pay per large drink is about $ 5.

I’ve tried bubble tea from every possible location in Birmingham: Saigon, Red Pearl, Mr. Chen’s
This is the best for sure. There are so many flavor options, and the boba pearls are cooked perfectly. It’s so easy to over or undercook them, but they know what they’re doing at ThirsTEA. I highly recommend. I’ve only had bubble tea from here, but if everything else is as good as the bubble tea, then you’re set!

I used to live in the Bay Area, and when I moved here to Birmingham, I really missed having boba. I’ve tried a few places here in town, and this is by far the best place in Birmingham. Granted, this would probably be a 4 star place compared to California, but really there’s no great competition in Birmingham.
I usually get the almond or taro milk tea with boba here. The pearls are cooked well with the right amount of chewiness. The tea flavoring is fairly good, just a tad too sweet for my liking but otherwise good. For some reason their processing time is a little slower than I would expect, but not a deal breaker. Overall, pretty good place to fulfill your boba needs.

This is a cool place to hang out. It’s like a new age coffee house with board games! The Vietnamese coffee is the shizz!!!

I love this place! It’s so consistent and the boba is cooked to perfection! I always get the almond bubble tea and my husband gets the coconut bubble tea.
They also have board games you can play while you’re there.

Both our teas (coconut milk tea with regular boba and mixed fruit tea with popping kiwi boba) were delicious!

Decent boba. A bit expensive but its understandable considering that its the best boba you can get in the city. The menu is pretty overwhelming, so my strategy was to just look at the pictures on the advertisement screen and go for whatever looks good.

I was so excited when I got word that a bubble tea shop was opening in Birmingham! I’ve visited Thirstea many times, and it has been consistently amazing — both the product & the customer service are top-​notch!
There is ample parking in the lot shared by the shopping center. The shop has many tables and board games for those who want to hang out and have their beverage.
The menu can be overwhelming, but every time I ask a question about it, the owner/​staff are happy to help. I usually get the rose tea with a black tea base with aloe vera sinkers. I can vouch for the freshness of the tea — once I walked in and the whole shop was steamed up with the smell and steam of brewing black tea (yum!). My friends have ordered yogurt drinks and other flavors of fruit tea — made with fresh ingredients! The tapioca pearls are also prepared to perfection!
I love Thirstea and whenever I am on 280, I cannot help but stop by for a fruit tea!

FINALLY!!! A GREAT BOBA PLACE IN ALABAMA!
Just when I thought my nightly boba outings were put to a halt after leaving California, I’m absolutely elated to find this hidden gem.
Summary:
Drinks: 5 (Extremely high quality ingredients)
Value: 4 (price per portion)
Atmosphere: 5 (clean, spacious, games to play!)
Service: 5 (Friendly and welcoming)
Recommendations: — Almond milk tea with pudding and coffee jelly, Avocado smoothie, if you are new to Boba drinks then a safe bet is always Thai Ice Tea with Boba or Milk Tea with Boba.
–Read the bottom if you are new to «boba»
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My background:
I was born in Southern California inside the mecha of asian cuisine, which includes 100s of boba/​tea establishments. When in California nightly boba outings were at least 2 – 3 times a week. This place is, hands down, one of the best boba places I have been to; at least within the top 3.
Boba background:
These drinks are actually called tea, however I call them boba. Boba are black tapioca balls that are sometimes flavored with honey, which have a chewy flavor. You can tell how good a boba place is, by the texture of their boba. Even popular places in California, can have boba that is too chewy, firm, too soft.
The flavor balance is also important: boba can ever be over flavored and taste very «artificial» or synthetic. Likewise, it can be underflavored and too plain. This place has an amazing texture for their boba! It is no surprise, that after talking to the owner, he is from California, and no more than 30 minutes away from where I used to live or where my family now resides.
Drinks: 5
— What typically comes of asian establishments, is the utilization of cheap ingredients to provide low cost products. Even at many places that are consistently packed in California this can be observed. THIS IS NOT THE CASE HERE AT THIRSTEA!!!
— You can tell when boba places use packet mixes in their drinks, as you can usually feel the texture of the artificial mixes. So far, in the drinks I have had, the drinks taste extremely fresh and legit.
— My favorite drink is the almond milk tea. Too my pleasant surprise, this drink tastes like the classic Chinese almond pudding dessert that you can buy at dim sum in a Chinese restaurant. Brings me back to childhood. Add pudding and coffee jelly (recommended by the owner).
— Avocado smoothie– My fiancé is keen on this drink. The drink here at Thirstea tastes extremely fresh and also legit, not a packet mix. She highly recommends it.
— Their taro slush is also a solid choice. While this is not my personal favorite taro drink ever, I or you will not get a better one in Alabama.
— If you are new to boba, go for the milk tea and add boba. Also, you can get Thai Iced Tea with Boba. These are probably the most common drinks purchased at any boba establishment.
Value: 4
— The price of the drinks is high for a standard boba place. Probably a dollar more than what I’m used to. That being said, I have no problem paying for it, as I do believe the quality does suit the price.
— The only problem is, since the quality is so high, I can drink one large drink and one small drink before I get full. This means I have to spend quite a bit of money to be as full as a turkey (which I’m used to). On average your looking at around 3.75−5.5 dollars for a drink depending on the type and additives. I recommend going for the large, as the price per portion increase is very well worth it: you get much more for adding a relatively small amount of money compared to the regular size.
Atmosphere: 5
–Amazing! Clean, bright, cozy, great music, and lots of board games to keep you happy.
— The only problem is this place is located out of view from the street.
Service: 5
— Dear GOD service at asian establishments can be bad. HOWEVER, THIS PLACE HAS AMAZING SERVICE! The workers speak PERFECT english, they are also patient and willing to help with your drink, or even your board game choice. Very nice people.
BEGINNER BOBA MANUAL: (If you are not familiar with this asian custom)
Boba outings are how most young asians spend their days after school and much of their weekend time with friends. Instead of going to a bar (which we still do plenty of), it is very customary to get with a group of 3 – 10 friends together and say «let’s get boba guys!» and stay at a boba place for hours. This is also commonly used as a study area. Perhaps its why asians do so well in school? I dunno.
Here is a guide to a typical boba outing:
1. Find at least a friend to go with, best if you have a total of 4 people
2. Choose your boba from the menu on the wall
2. Choose your board game from the assortment they have (my favorite is battleship, where I absolutely WRECK the fiancé)
3. Find a table
4. Play games and laugh with your friends while boba is delivered to you
5. Talk about life, sit for hours while you sip your drink, and discuss where you are going to eat food n

Bubble Tea has taken a while to get here, but finally a «tea house» has arrived in Birmingham! If you are not familiar with these tea places you need to give it a try. These unique tea shops started in Taiwan and are now all over Asia. They can be found around the US, but are primarily out West and in major cities.
ThirsTea offers a large variety of teas and formats. In addition to the traditional boba tapioca balls, they offer several different «add-​ins» like fruit jellies, and popping pearls. My wife ordered an avocado smoothie after she learned that it was made with fresh avocado. She thought it was excellent. My daughters and I had slushes (honey dew, raspberry, and watermelon). The slushes were flavorful and refreshing, and the tapioca balls were the perfect consistency.
ThirsTea is in the Inverness Plaza next to Steak-​n-​Shake. It offers excellent hours, and a nice seating area to enjoy your drinks.
Click Cool if you like Bubble Tea.