Thirst Tea

I came to this place once again because there was another discount. It’s one of the few boba places to go to near SJSU, but isn’t the place I would normally go to unless there’s some kind of event going on.
Tea:
— Good portion size
— Pearls aren’t the tastiest
— Very sweet… perhaps too sweet in some cases (mind
you I love sweet stuff)
Service:
— Workers were fast and efficient
— Clear with answering any questions
Environment:
— Spacious
— Cute decors
— A little messy and dirty

Was attractive by the cute icon of thirsty face, and their service is not bad from the sweet cashier!
However their normal milk tea with pearl (I think should be a very safe one to pick from a new store for me) but it makes me very disappointed. bThe milk tea is very watery just sweet water with a bit milk and tea taste.

Cute little place downtown with overly sweet drinks even when you ask for less sweet. The boba pearls are surprisingly pretty on point and the staff seemed extremely excited to be at work though they were. monotone /​emotionless? I have no idea how to explain it, you’d have to visit TT on your own to understand these feels.
Overall, I’d rate it an average MT place. I’d maybe swing by if I was working in the area again and wanted a milk tea. but I mean, there’s a DIY Milkshake place not too far away, so I have no idea why I’d come back here. Parking downtown is difficult as is with the exception of validated parking structures but I don’t think TT even does any validations. There was maybe 10 people waiting for their drinks, including myself & a coworker, and it took us maybe 15minutes to get our drinks. Not too bad considering it could take over a minute or so per drink. So they’re not slow, it just feels a little slow on a rainy, gloomy day in a somewhat dim establishment.
I’m really not so sure I have a reason to come back with all the MT places popping up around the bay area.

A friend went to thirstea when I was busy and he brought me something back, so I’m doing this review solely on the basis of the tea.
Food: I’ve had better. I ordered a plain milk tea with boba because I was afraid he’d mix up anything more complicated. The cup is cute but misleading. It has a boba design around the bottom and it makes it seem like there’s hella boba when the ratio is actually completely off. I saw complaints about the boba in other reviews, and didn’t have a problem with that. My issue was with the tea. I use gongcha as my standard of comparison, which might not be fair, but the tea was so mediocre. No flavor, it tastes like cheap tea.
Overall: when I went to pay my friend back, I thought he was trolling me. No way a plain milk tea with boba costs 4.50, especially when it doesn’t taste exceptional. I’m pretty disappointed. San Jose step your milk tea game up!

I’ve been here quite a few times. I’ve also been here for their grand opening. I don’t know why it had so many low ratings but this is a sure alternative if I’m not feeling Starbucks a few doors down. I absolutely love the peppermint milk tea and coffee– lovers milk tea. I usually mix my choices around. The cup is super thick and even reusable if you wash it.
I love the decorations especially the League of Legends figurines and the awkward wongfu turtle. Their bathroom is clean and there is a lot of space in the store.
I haven’t tried brick toast here but to be honest, I haven’t tried brick toast period. I assume its good but you would have to try it on your own.

The drinks here are mediocre. The sign to a good bubble tea place is the milk tea. I was not impressed. The boba here was hard and crunchy, and seemed like it was undercooked. The tea was bland and kind of flavorless. Just really underwhelming and I would not return.
I guess they could capitalize on the students from SJSU who want boba within walking distance, but in general, I would not recommend this place. Try somewhere else.

Among all the milk tea places in San Jose, this is definitely one of the cutest milk tea places I’ve been to. Located near Christmas in the Park in downtown, the store is super clean, airy, and the décor is adorable. There was a gigantic totoro, a panda, a yoda, and all sorts of stuffed animals neatly decorated ontop of large shelves around the store. There were also these square shelves artfully decorated with boxes of tea and tea pots.
There are regular teas, milk tea, iced milks, slushies, and brick toast. I got taro green milk tea ($ 4) with boba ($ 0.50). I also asked for ½ sweetness and no ice. I got my milk tea pretty quickly and I was pleasantly surprised as I shook my drink upside down, that the drink was a little warm, because it meant the boba was just freshly made. I really liked the taro green milk tea because it was more thick and frothy than taro milk teas that I have tried before. It tasted almost like actual taro was blended up. I’m not sure if that was really the case, but regardless, I really enjoyed my drink and could also taste the tea. Even though it was ½ sweet, the drink was still pretty sweet so I would recommend adjusting the sweetness level to your liking especially if adding toppings since most toppings are slightly sweet on their own already.
Something unique was that they were special toppings not always offered at all tea shops such as almond tofu, jade jelly, aloe vera, coconut jelly, etc. Those toppings are $ 0.75. Also, their plastic cups that they have are really nice. They’re not like your typical flimsy milk tea cups, but feel like actual semi-​hard plastic. I felt kinda bad just throwing it again because it was also really cute. But I’m not THAT sentimental. But If I’m in the area I would definitely come by again!

I’ve had good & okay service from Thirst Tea throughout the years. I have to give them major props for working hella during Fanime Con weekend with the super long lines!
Yesterday’s service took a while longer since they were short staffed. You know they’re running behind if the cashier asks if you can wait & then runs to the back to get more tea for the gal making the drinks. Anyhoo, only about 4 people ahead of us, but took about 15 minutes to get our drinks depite a not so crowded day. The drink itself tasted watered down yet too sweet at the same time if that makes any sense. The boba was just right, chewy & a little sweet!
I’d go back again if I am in the area. Otherwise, I wouldn’t go out of my to get my boba fix here.

I got the royal milk tea and it is really good. It has that old school milk tea taste. What really got me was there boba. It is like a mix between big boba and small boba. Kinda like medium sized boba LOL. Not really overly sweet, it has a good standard milk tea. Very cute inside and comfy. Perfect place for studying or meeting with buddies

I genuinely hate thirstea.
My friends decided to go here after attending an event closeby and I obliged, thinking I would give it another try.
I didn’t feel like drinking tea that day so I wanted to order peach milk tea instead. However, the workers told me they wouldn’t be able to make that (even though it’s just peach green tea with milk??) so I ordered royal milk tea w/​boba instead. Your basic everyday drink. I got my drink less than 5 minutes later but it tasted awful. Like that $ 1 milk tea you can get at dim sum places. Except this one costed $ 5 and wasn’t even remotely good. The drink left a weird texture on my tongue and the pearls had no flavor.
Couldn’t even finish my drink & threw it away 10 minutes later. I had a horrible stomachache that night.
Overall; expensive & gross. Don’t be drawn by their cute cups.

Everytime I come here I get excited about their cups, however, when I finish my drink I feel bad that I contributed to the landfills even more than I had to because these cups are like 3x the amount of plastic other boba places use. I’ve thought about saving them and using it at home but always end up recycling it. Anyways, on to the actual review!
This location is super convenient for sjsu students and people in downtown period. It’s really nicely decorated for Halloween (when I went) and the service was just alright. They had a lot of orders before my group went so we did wait longer than normal and the drinks did not come in order.
Bathroom was gross with no toilet paper, when I inquired for more no one was able to help me because they were all working on orders. It looked like 1 male was working in the back, 1 girl was doing basically all the drinks, and 1 girl was the cashier. Hire more people!!!
Thirst Tea is one of those places that has that one really good signature tea and everything else isn’t worth ordering in my opinion. You can tell they use real tea and not powder.

I saw the promotion on FB, so I drove to the 1^st street, but I didnt know where to park, then I go home. This was inconvenient.
Next day, I had my friend drop me off to try their drinks, but I forgot my Student ID in the car, so they didn’t offer me Bogo free :(It was fine because I just wanted to try out a new place.
Their menus are so small like typing in 12 font size, so if you are in line, you could not know what to order until your turn. At that time, people have to look the menu, think and pick their choices. It takes longer time to order.
I ordered special fruit tea with fruit bits. The drink had pretty good strong tea flavor, but they gave me big chunky fruits which could not go through the straw.

Keep in mind you’re in downtown so the prices are inflated. I love their name, haha. I got a oolong milk tea with grass jelly for about $ 5.75. The cashier looked a little puzzled and didn’t know how to answer when I had questions about the brick toast so I ended up not getting one.
The drink was okay. It had a nice strong tea flavor but it lacked the milky texture. The grass jelly wasn’t very tasty either.
Desserts are expensive too. Brick toast will cost you around or over $ 6 and the bigger ones are $ 12!
You would think the interior would be nice since its in downtown but its really dull. Its not a hangout spot or anything so just get it to go!

This is probably the most «okay» boba place I’ve been too. Can’t say it’s bad b/​c it’s not but there’s really nothing to praise about it either. I’ve already tried it 5 – 6 times over the summer and the experience was just mediocre every time.
For a boba shop, they’re definitely missing a bunch of flavors, even some common ones. I’ve tried their Jasmine, Taro, Honeydew, and Thai. Each time it’s either too sweet (at full sugar) and too bland (75% sugar). Maybe it’s just consistency problem plus bad luck on my part. There’s nothing special about the boba either. With so many other great options around the area, their only pro is that it’s right next to a gym.

My coworkers and I decided to try a new place to get some boba. The closest one to us was here! It was kind of hard to find at first using maps. But it’s sort of hidden in an alleyway. The décor is super cute. I couldn’t stop staring at all the plush dolls they had on the shelves!
I got the passionfruit green tea with no add ons. It was super sweet! I have a big sweet tooth but I think I’ll be getting it at 75% sweetness level next time if they have an option to choose sweetness levels. A huge part of the reason why I’m giving this place 4 starts was the quick service we received as well as the super cute and nice girl working at the register. She was super patient as I was looking at the menu to pick what I wanted and she also gave me her recommendations as well! I’ll definitely be coming back when I’m in the area :)

I was looking for something thirst quenching on a scorching hot afternoon & decided to stop in here for a boba drink with a friend.
I got a guava green tea & my friend got a jasmine milk tea — both with boba. I thought my drink was refreshing but was too sweet for my liking. Boba wasn’t that chewy either. My friend thought his drink was only okay as well. The cups were über cute though and definitely worth keeping. It’s now my change bank: D
Décor was very cute and I spotted some oversized awkward animals (cool!) & a feisty looking Totoro plush which made me laugh. Plenty of seating to just chill for a bit or a long while. There was a guy that had his laptop out and lots of STUFF — like he wasn’t planning leaving for HOURS lol.
Staff was friendly but you could tell they were short staffed & trying to slow down the line as there was only one person making all the drinks.
The ice machine is kind of an eyesore in my opinion — not sure why it’s not in the kitchen or behind the counter?
Hmmm so I know this spot is «boba princess» approved and I would definitely return if I was in the area. I just wouldn’t go out of my way to come here. I just feel like there are plenty of other boba spots in the East Bay that I personally have just enjoyed more. Great location for SJSU students though!
TIP: Bathroom needs an access code — ask the staff for it.

I saw Honey toast offered in the window on the way back to the hotel from the theatre, I knew I’d have to visit before I left San Jose.
On Sunday, we stopped in after lunch, I waited in a short line and finally placed my order for Strawberry Brick Toast. They offered more flavors than I’m used to, in fact I’d never seen flavours offered before. But I liked it. It was strawberry, with caramel, a large scoop of very good Vanilla ice cream. And it was AMAZING.
I wish they had a location at home.

Good and convenient for its walking distance from sjsu. FYI there is no parking so you really do have to park at sjsu and walk over here. You walk in and it’s a brightly decorated, typical Asian bubble tea house. The drinks are average, no better or no worst than a tapioca express. Tried the caramel custard iced milk slush thing and it’s really really sweet, even for my sweet tooth. I will say though that their milk tea cups are really sturdy… okay I couldn’t find a better word, but you will understand what I mean when you hold it and realize that it’s not flimsy.
The thing I think stands out is their toast! Literally these 4 stars are pretty much for my love of toast. They don’t have the outrageous toast houses, just a slice that’s the perfect size that you can actually finish eating and won’t go to waste. They also have different flavors such as matcha (my personal favorite), condensed milk, butter cream, chocolate, and blueberry are some of the flavors. The texture of the toast cannot be beat, it’s so soft and the outside is crisp perfectly and it is heaven. I want to come back to try the other flavors!

My niece is quite the boba fanatic! Her recommendations are pretty reliable. She mentioned this place to me so I decided to try it after the movies yesterday.
They have a decent menu with teas, milk teas, and slushy drinks. They have a variety of toppings to choose from as well. I had the honey green tea with half boba and half lychee. It was pretty decent, in that, it didn’t seem to be infused with a ton of syrupy sugar like I’ve had at other boba joints. It’s not my favorite, but it was good. I’d probably like to come back and try their standard, classic boba milk tea. I can usually gage from there if it’s a solid spot. My fiancé liked his taro slushy. They only offer one size, which is quite large. I wish they had a smaller size because I couldn’t finish it.
No one was really hanging out inside. The music was good! I’m not sure why no one was really kickin it or chillin with their friends?
The one thing I wish they would get rid of or hide is that gross ice machine to the right of the register. It just looks sloppy and dirty. I don’t want to see that when I’m trying to order…

Thankful this place is opened during Christmas in the Park. If I’m going to pay $ 5 for a drink it might as well be something I know.
I ordered milk tea with boba. It was a bit too sweet for my liking but you can’t argue with the portions and the boba-​to-​tea ratio. I recommend getting it less sweet if you don’t want to admit drinking diluted syrup.