Teapresso Bar 2

I wanted to like this place, but the tropic osmanthus tea I had seemed watered down. It was really light in tea flavor and wasn’t sweet enough for me at regular sweetness. I’ve had tea made through an espresso machine before and I feel the flavor should be stronger as a result. The service here was pretty friendly though and I really liked the décor. Seems like a great place to study or relax. They also offer board games and free popcorn too which is a big plus. I’ll have to stop by again when I’m in the area for a second try.

This was our go to place for boba while visiting. They steep their teas here which gives it an aromatic and fresh taste vs the artificial flavors you get with powders. Our favorites were the teapresso and the jasmine. I also really liked how you can customize your drink to sweetness and types of milk.

This is my favorite bubble tea place! They have a rather extensive menu: customize your own drink (milk tea or fruit tea) or choose from one of their signatures. I usually customize it to my liking (with suggestions from the baristas since sometimes my choices aren’t that great). I also like how they have two sample drinks ready and it changes from time to time so you can try before you order.
The service from alllllll the baristas and the owner are great. Don’t know what to order? They can help you out! You also get complimentary popcorn and board games! The location is also convenient. While their parking lot is a bit small and not always free, Ala Moana finally opened up their new parking so it’s not that far of a walk.
If you like boba drinks or tea, you’ll definitely love Teapresso. The number of mixtures you can come up with is endless and will keep you coming back for more!

One of my other favorite boba places next to Tea Time Taiwan in Aiea. If I am in town, I would stop by if I am still craving something sweet. Came here last night with my BF and friend who was visiting the island. The place was packed with a lot of young kids. On the weekdays when I have come (in the afternoons) it is too crazy. We stood in line for maybe 10 minutes.
I got the Teapresso Milk Tea, 50% sweetened with small and large boba balls. Personally for me it was still pretty sweet so maybe next time I will get 25% sweet since I don’t like it too sweet. The boba was soft and chewy. I also like it blended so next time I will try to request it blended.
My BF ordered the Sea Salt Caramel Coffe Iced (you can also get this hot I think) with small boba and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, regular 100% sweetness. Very pretty too look at, ice cream floated to the top so he had to shake in an attempt to blend it with his drink. It was VERy sweet and tasted like a frappucino from Starbucks. He enjoyed it.
My friend customized hers. She got a Jasmine tea with almond milk with small and large boba, 50% sweetness. For hers we agreed that it should be regular 100% sweetness unless. I did like that you could taste the jasmine tea but if you want sweet then you need to have it regular. I told her she could request to make it sweeter but she preferred to just leave it.
I know there is a bunch of boba places in town. For me this is my preferred one. They have polaroid pictures up on the wall. Not sure if you can ask to take a pic or not. They also have some board games and make your own popcorn while you wait for your drink. It’s a fun spot to talk story with friends or a quick stop for dessert.

I loooove bubble tea! Can’t believe when I was little I refused to eat the boba! What was I thinking?!
After reading all the great reviews, I really wanted to like this place! It’s such a cute shop! I love all the pictures of customers, the cute picnic bench-​like seating, the free samples! Aaah!
When I went there were two sample drinks out: their Teapresso Milk Tea and their version of a Mai Tai (non-​alcoholic). I really loved both drinks but opted to get the Milk Tea.
My friend decided to make his own drink! There are up to 7 things you can add to your customized drink from the type of tea you want, the syrups, milk, toppings, the list goes on and on! This is a great option but I had nooo idea what the teas tasted like so for me, it was better to just pick a drink I was already used to.
Although I absolutely love the atmosphere, the options, and samples, the price for me is a deal breaker… my Milk Tea with boba turned out to over $ 5! Oh my gosh! Never had to pay so much for milk tea before! Also, although super great for custom drinks, each thing you add is $ 0.50-$ 0.75 more! If you don’t do your calculations, you could have one super expensive drink!
As for my Milk Tea, I asked for half the sweetness which is what I get at boba places but it was still too sweet for me. The boba was okay. It was plainer than I’m used to.
My friend really loved this customized drink and his was around the same price as mine. I guess if you wanna be adventurous and create your own drink, this place is great! I forget what he got but it was something with lavender, and Assam tea. I told him it tasted like Gau (the Chinese mochi made during Chinese New Year).
I was really stuck between giving this place a 3 or 4… but I’ll give it 3.5 so I rounded it up to 4 stars. Definitely worth checking out. Maybe I’ll try something more adventurous next time! They have tons of different fruity tea concoctions that look yummy!

So far, my little sister LOVES this place the most on her «milk tea» adventures.
This place is so TINY but a really cute spot. The location is across Ala Moana so there are tons of little teeny teens in this place. It’s like an Asian Starbucks lol. They have these cute little tables and board games and popcorn (it’s free!)
They have free parking M-​F, until 6pm. After that I think it is paid parking. (SO I like that)
Again, I’m not a big fan of milk or tea, so I mostly tried their tea with their jelly toppings. I’ve tried the watermelon green tea with aloe, which was eh. The green tea was pretty strong, and tasted bitter to me. Watermelon had a nice cooling affect. I also tried my sister’s milk teas, which tasted really decent (again not a fan). I believe she got the assam milk tea with boba’s. The bobas were a nice texture. We also tried their blue hawaiian lemonade & lava flow (yum) but both were very sweet to me.
Ooh and they have small boba sizes, I’m guessing so your kiddies won’t choke. I thought that was cute.

After I finish work, I usually want to get as far away from downtown as possible. So of course that would mean I don’t visit the original Teapresso on weekends. However, this location is right in between where I live and downtown.
Parking is free up until 6pm (behind the building). You may be lucky enough to find street parking otherwise.
I obviously can’t write the same review as the original place, but I can tell you the similarities and differences in experience!
Similarities:
They are still using the espresso-​like machines to make their tea. Unlike one of my friends (who will most likely read this review) who thought they put a shot of espresso in each milk tea (SAY WHAT? — They do NOT). Which basically means every order is freshly brewed.
Differences:
Since I’ve been sick for about the past 6 weeks, I decided to try something else. On their menu, you can find it as «strawberry taro» but because a taro smoothie was actually one of the things I drank from non other than… Gong Cha, that is what I decided to order, a taro-​only smoothie. That’s right, this was going to be a comparative drink. The drink was pretty spot on. If I were to guess, it was about a 90% match which is pretty good considering this isn’t a menu item.
Verdict? WORTH. After getting the initial suggestion to come to Teapresso from a friend, I have tried other places as well, but nothing here comes close to Teapresso.

I finally got to try Teapresso the other day when I was headed to BB&B at Ward. I caught the bus and got off at Piikoi so I could stop at this cute tea shop on my way.
It was very clean and bright and airy. I liked how open and bright it was with the white walls and wooden tables and chairs. It had a happy feel to it.
I’ve been craving a good coffee milk tea for awhile and got that with the coffee jelly. While the drink tastes really good, I was disappointed with their pricing and sizing. The iced drinks only have once size which is 24oz. That’s a lot of tea. And it was expensive. I spent close to $ 7 on my drink. They do have a loyalty card so I got two stamps on it and when you get to 10 stamps you get a free drink, but still. $ 7 for bubble tea…
It’s a cute place and I would try it again, though I might not go out of my way to get there.

Teapresso Bar 2 located on Piikoi Street right next door to Ichiriki. The establishment is within walking distance to Ala Moana Shopping Center.
Ever since visiting the first location of Teapresso in
Downtown Honolulu I have been hooked on drinking a nice cold cup of Mai Tai Iced Tea. Here at the second location I am able to enjoy my drink at the counter facing the street. All other tables are always occupied by the high school students.
The employees are always friendly and greets the customers right away. First time visitors of the shop will receive the Loyalty Stamp Card. The stamp card can be used at both Teapresso locations. I know this establishment also sells Bubbies mochi ice cream… extra yummy treats on a hot day is always awesome.
I know when I am off from work and within the Ala Moana Shopping Center I will stop by at Teapresso Bar 2 for some sweet cold iced tea. The few times I have stepped foot into the shop it has always been clean. It helps to know that Teapresso Bar 2 also passed the Department of Health inspection.
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I was so excited when I heard about this place. We have been looking for someone that made sea foam in Hawaii. So when we went the first time, they had it! Tastes different from California, but husband still approved and still orders his Sea Foam Roasted Oolong Tea.
I appreciate that they have fresh brewed tea right when you order it. They don’t use powder, but use jams for flavoring. (Like the honey dew milk tea is flavored with jam not powder) And they are organic.
We always have a good experience with regard to customer service. The employees are knowledgeable and patient. They are very friendly. And I like that if I don’t like my drink they will remake it for me. The other night we met the owner and he was very friendly and personable and even helped us get to know his menu better and gave us a sample of the lemonade drinks.
Having said all the things I love about this place, one thing they really need to work on is the consistency of the boba. Some days I get a really good boba cooked all the way through and nice and chewy. But some days it hasn’t been cooked all the way through and it’s still hard in the middle.
I’ve liked all the drinks I’ve had here whether it be chai milk tea, honeydew milk tea, rooibos hot tea with boba and more. And I will still come to visit this store when I’m craving for a good tea drink. So for having good customer service, good tea and variety they get three stars. I would give four if they were consistent with the boba.

Okay, this is very rare but when I first reviewed this place, I literally only gave this place 1 star, and now look at me, 4 stars. I’m probably, in the future, going to just give this place 5 stars.
This place has grown on me, and Teapresso Bar 2 is now my go to Boba spot (as you can tell by my check in’s).
I have pretty much tried all of their categories except the coffee related drinks. I’m not a fan of coffee, but who knows? Maybe Teapresso will be able to change that. My top favorites now are the Teapresso Milk Tea, Big Tapioca, regular sweet (with honey), the Mango Slush, Big Tapioca, and just the regular sweetness that they give it to you because from my understanding now they don’t use fructose because everything’s organic, and the Jasmine Milk Tea, Big Tapioca, half/​regular sweet (with honey). All in that order.
The Teapresso Milk Tea is so yummy, oh my goodness. I’m very picky when it comes to milk tea and this has got to be the most perfect milk tea EVER. And the little hint of honey just makes it even more perfect.
Mango Slush, it was so refreshing. They even had little bits of mango in their slush (I’m pretty sure that’s what it was). And the stand where they have all the popcorn, I found a little jar of LI HING MUI!!! WHAT EVEN!!! So of course I put a lot of that into my drink and the workers resealed my drink for me which was cool. The Mango Slush with Li Hing Mui powder is a great drink on a hot day!
You can see my review on the Jasmine Milk Tea in my last review.
And now the Boba. They finally had regular Tapioca the last few times I’ve gone, YESSSS!!! I’m a boba fanatic and let me just say that Teapresso’s boba tops ALL other boba shops (even Taste Tea’s ;))! This is the BEST boba I’ve ever had. It’s perfectly sweetened, chewy (not too soft or too hard), and the size is perfect.
The last and final reasons why I’m giving this place ONLY 4 stars is because of the customer service and the consistency of the flavor of the drinks. There’s good and there’s bad ones but those bad ones really need an attitude check and fix their tone when they’re on register. I’m not one to be fake and just let it slide when there’s bad customer service. I’m sure if the girl reads this review, she’ll know I’m talking about her. And the flavor of the drinks are never consistent, but I don’t mind too much because they WILL remake your drink or give you a full refund if you absolutely don’t like it. Sometime’s I’ll get the drinks watered down or very bitter with no sweetness at all, but when I give my drink back they always fix it, no problem.
Overall, Teapresso is going places. I’d say this is the best Boba shop on the island.

Teapresso Bar definitely deserves a try if only to discover a new boba drink that you can enjoy that isn’t available at most other locations. Like most boba drinkers, I have my standard drink order, from which I will rarely deviate simply because I know what I like, and there typically is nothing on the menu intriguing enough to entice me away from my usual. Teapresso offers some unique choices that will be sure to peak your interest — and maybe just enough to compel you to drop your usual drink for at least one visit.
For me, this drink was the POG tea. It sounded like it combined my favorite of the world of juice with the world of tea. I ordered the drink less sweet (50% sugar) without toppings. The drink was definitely refreshing and enjoyable. However, while I could distinctly taste the POG flavor and the tea flavor, the two flavors failed to mix nicely into one cohesive flavor. Rather than the two entities working together to create one enhanced flavor, they each took their turn in the spotlight. The POG flavor stood strong early on in each sip while the tea flavor lingered to announce its presence at the end. I imagine that the two flavors may have come together better if the sweetness was increased so that the POG flavor was stronger throughout the entirety of each sip. I would advise that even if you’re like me and prefer less sweet drinks, you should consider getting at least 75% sweetness for this one (maybe even 100%).
Despite this particular drink not fulfilling my hopes on this try, I would consider increasing the sweetness the next time to see if this helps. I also won’t let this stop me from trying some of their other more unique options on the menu during future visits.

I really love this place, it’s so cool! There’s a popcorn machine, board games to play, and best of all delicious bubble tea!
I always like to get my Taro Milk Tea with small boba because the boba is so moist and soft. I think the Taro is powdered, but sometimes you get small chunks of taro in it which I totally enjoy. *
*Update: They don’t use powder in the bubble teas, everything is either real fruit jams or non-​GMO, Gluten free, Vegan syrup with organic options. *
You can customize your drink’s sweetness, flavor, add ons (like Taro Jelly, small boba, large boba, and etc.), tea base, and more which makes this place very awesome. In the front, there is a board with the popular flavors, menu, and two pitchers with tea samples in for you to try. I also love whatever they put out because it tastes really good.
The customer service is awesome. You can also get mochi ice cream and ice cream here, but I think there’s a limited selection. I would truly recommend this place since it’s very close to Ala Moana, it’s actually near Ichiban and right across the street of Payless, Eggs N Things, and Nigiya Market so it’s easy to find.
Parking can be found in the rear and it’s free Monday to Fridays from 8 am– 6 pm, stall# 1 to 38. Otherwise, parking is $ 1 per hour. There’s also some neat promotions and raffle prize updates that are posted on their instagram account (@teapressobar2) that is worthwhile to check out.

Ding ding ding… I think we have a winner! After all these years of searching for a legit boba place with all the fixings… I think this is it! There’s tons of different types of drinks from milk teas to slushes, smoothies, and iced tea… And let’s not forget coffee! Their drinks are made from actual tea and not any of the powder stuff.
If you’re not a fan of tea… Then you shouldn’t order their tea drinks… The location may be tricky but no fear because there’s parking in back. However be warned… nights may be a little busy due to other restaurants and Air park in the same location.
I’ve tried their mango kumquat tea, lava flow, yo tea (Calpico), strawberry slush and Teapresso Milk tea. The only drink I didn’t care for was the strawberry slush. Their milk tea isn’t like coffee or teas because they have a strong tea flavor. Each drink that I’ve had with boba have been a treat! Their boba is always consistent being chewy and flavorful. On a cold day you can even order hot boba which is delicious as well!
Overall, I really enjoy this place. Not only their drinks are good but I really like the atmosphere full of board games and pictures. If you love boba then please do yourself a favor and check it out!

Walked over to this place after doing some Christmas shopping at the mall yesterday and was surprised at how busy it was being that it was early afternoon (around 1pm). Almost all of the tables were taken but my friend and I managed to grab the last open table. There were still seats available along the window.
Their menu is quite extensive… lots and lots to choose from. The girl working the front was very helpful in answering our questions and giving recommendations. I liked that they had a couple of samples out for customers to try. We tried the California Milk Tea and liked it a lot. Both of us ordered that at 50% sweetness with large boba– it was the perfect balance of tea, milk, and sweetness. The size of the drinks were pretty big and to me, it’s worth the price (I think it was around $ 5 each). I will definitely be back here the next time I’m craving milk tea!

I really appreciate the fact that I can taste the TEA in my drink. Tea is freshly brewed, made to order — drinks are not pre-​made nor do they come from powder packets. I dislike when I order bubble tea from other places and all I taste is «tea» laden with sugar and milk.
It took me awhile to figure out which flavor combinations I liked. You first choose your size, then tea leaves (i.e., assam, black, oolong), flavor (i.e., lavendar, honeydew, watermelon), milk (i.e., almond, soy, whole, fat free), sweetness level, and add-​ons (i.e., large or small boba, bursting boba, jelly, puddings, seeds and beans). As you can see, there are seriously so many combinations, even for the healthy or indulgent person. I’ve taken quite a liking to apple oolong tea and lavender green tea and have yet to try more flavors. They do have some samples on the side daily for those who want to try some of their own combinations. They also have chai lattes, vietnamese coffee, organic coffee, smoothies, frappes, slushes, and cakes.
Service is always great, everyone is quite friendly. I first came here on their opening night and met the owner/​manager, who was quite passionate about his business and preserving the taste of tea. That’s pretty awesome to me.

When I was living in So Cal, 85 Degrees Bakery/​Café was one of my favorite destinations, not only because of their cheap pastries and fresh bread, but also because of their signature sea salt coffee.
I’m happy to say I discovered a place on Oahu that has something similar.
When a close friend was in town visiting, she told me about Teapresso, which has two locations. She said this was the closest I’ll get to my beloved 85 Degrees, namely because they have an assortment of milk teas … including a sea salt coffee!
We went to Teapresso after a dinner run to Jimbo’s, and it’s no secret that this place is hopping with young college kids. Parking can be an issue (street parking), but we were fortunate to find one that was pretty close to the tea shop. There’s also a lot in the back (they share a space with Power Yoga and some other vendors). The restroom is located in the parking lot as well; you just need to ask them for a key to get in.
Best of all: Ask for a stamp card, and when you check in on Unilocal,you get two stamps per visit! Definitely makes it easy to fill out one of these cards.
My sea salt coffee was legit and really tasted like the ones I enjoy so much on the mainland … and it didn’t even keep me up all night. Good thing Teapresso isn’t located closer to my home; otherwise, I would totally be there every week.
Seating can be limited so this is a good spot for grab and go, but you may be fortunate and be able to score a table or seats at the counter. They primarily serve drinks at Teapresso, but there are some snacks available – cookies and Bubbie’s mochi ice cream – if you want something sweet to go along with your tea.
Here’s what we got:
«Sea Salt Caramel Iced Coffee»: I absolutely loved this sea salt coffee and I think it’s going to be my go-​to drink from here. I’m always nervous when I see a salted caramel drink of any type because in my previous experience, it’s been hit or miss. Sometimes the drink/​food is too salty and doesn’t sport a good blend of the sweet-​salty hybrid. However, I’m relieved to say this was not the case with this sea salt caramel iced coffee drink. It had the sea salt foam on top, so I just had to shake it up a bit to blend it more evenly. I could aptly taste the caramel throughout, and the drink wasn’t too cold to enjoy all at once. I just had to be sure to pace myself so I didn’t drink too quickly! Loved the creaminess and smooth, velvety texture of this drink. I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Teapresso for the first time.
«Rose Black Tea»: One of my other friends ordered this tea. The nice thing about Teapresso is, if you don’t select one of the drinks on their «House Signatures» menu, you can easily customize your own. She chose these tea leaves and got her drink less sweet (you can choose your sweetness level, as well as add ons). She wanted a hot drink instead of something cold, and said the tea was soothing and had a mild taste to it.
«Egg Pudding/​Sea Salt Foam»: I can’t remember the tea flavor that my friend who recommended this shop to me got, but I certainly remember her add-​ons. You can customize your tea and add other ingredients to it at the end, and my friend really liked the egg pudding. It had a slightly, light custardy texture to it. While I don’t like custard, I tried a little of my friend’s drink. This addition gave the drink some extra oomph; you get to chew a little bit while you sip your drink. It was interesting to try, though I wouldn’t get it for myself. But, like my friend, I would highly recommend that sea salt foam. Fortunately, my drink came with it, but it’s the perfect addition if you want to add a little saltiness to your drink.
«Mocha Latte»: If I wanted to try another coffee flavor from this place, I would get the «Mocha Latte.» I love mocha drinks because it includes chocolate with the coffee, so I would be interested to see how Teapresso’s one tastes like.
«Vietnamese Milk Iced Coffee»: I tend to like cold, blended drinks over hot coffee, so this is another drink I would like to try. I would just have to make sure to get soy milk if I opt for this drink, but it seems like a great choice.

Have become somewhat of a regular now that this tea place has moved in below my old yoga studio and across from where I work. There are quite a few tea places popping up around the neighborhood but not too many have the quality plus the ambiance and service quite like this place does.
Their drinks are very true to taste. So far I’ve had their vietnamese drip coffee which is AMAZING if you love super strong coffee with a bit of sweetness. I’ve also become a true fan of their matcha tea latte’s to give me some pep mid-​morning. The green tea taste is very prominent and a million times better than Starbucks’ green tea latte’s.
Their milk tea has a heavier tea taste to it more than most places like TasteTea. The owner takes pride in the fact that what separates his teas from the others is that all their drinks are organic and made with fresh ingredients. I heard him telling my friend that he buys the vietnamese coffee in bulk directly from Vietnam. The customer service here is really great. Very friendly ladies. My co-​worker and I stopped by before they actually opened and one of the girls recognized us and let us order coffee anyway (just coffee because the other drinks were’t prepped yet). The seating and ambiance is so much nicer and more relaxing here than the craziness over at TasteTea. Definitely prefer a more quieter, comfortable atmosphere to work or enjoy my drink. Love coming here!

This is what took over the old Kung Fu milk tea location which is below Air Park and next to Ichiriki. As I was walking here, I was wondering if another milk tea place would be able to succeed where another one did not. This is the second location for this place so its Teaspresso 2. I’ve wanted to try this place in town for awhile but never got there. Darn those lucky downtown workers. Btw no parking lot, except street parking so definitely not the easiest place to come unless you come at night or by foot.
Just like all milk tea places, it was full of teenagers and the workers were teens as well. They had books and games to play which is pretty cool. The atmosphere was good and the workers were friendly. And they have free wifi.
So what makes this place unique? They have some different toppings than the other places like basil seeds and sea salt foam! They have a mini display set up to show what the toppings are also if you’re confused or if your are a visual person like me.
Their milk tea has a heavier tea kind of taste to it more, than most places that taste more milky or powdery. You can actually customize your drink and choose the type of tea leaves you want and you can still choose sweetness which I like. Their menu was a little confusing and overwhelming at first with the steps and things to choose from, but at the bottom of the menu they had house signatures which I chose from. So much easier. I tried a ginger milk tea which was nice and not too gingery and tried some of my boyfriend’s almond milk tea which was really good. I chose basil seeds for my drink which didn’t have much taste so they were similar to chia seeds but not as puffy.
All of their tea is made fresh when you order it and they don’t use any powder in their drinks.
They also have cakes of the day on the menu. Overall, another pretty good milk tea place. And in the same mile vicinity as a bunch of others (Mr. Tea, Infinitea, Tea Boss, Taste Tea and maybe even others I haven’t been to!).
I’ll have to try their espresso next time since it’s a part of their name after all.

Teapresso is a fresh take on Taiwanese Tea. Instead of pre-​making big batches of drinks, they freshly brew your drink to order. There is a variety of loose leaf teas (Oolong, Assam, Green, etc.) to choose from. Brewing the tea fresh makes a huge difference in flavor. For the best taste, tea should be consumed within 30 minutes of being made. Flavors come from concentrated jellies or syrups (Vanilla, Passion Fruit, Pineapple, etc.) which are fresh and as pure as possible. They also have milks, sweetener and add-​ins (Boba, Bursting Boba Jellies, and Pudding) to make the perfect drink.
If you like milk tea, you need to check them out. If tea isn’t your thing, try the Sea Foam Caramel, it tastes like a salted caramel macchiato, perfect for coffee lovers.