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What is Kung Fu Tea?

Kung Fu Tea is a relatively unknown chain restaurant that is somehow at the same time quite popular. Founded in Queens, NY on April 30, 2010, They are America’s largest bubble tea brand with over 350+ locations across the U.S. As one of the OGs of bubble tea, they maintain uncompromisingly high standards according to their official website. In short, They sell many yummy fruit-teas and slushies as well as Boba teas.

Vegan options at Kung Fu Tea in Short

Unfortunately, they don’t have a vegan “milk” alternative that’s vegan, so we don’t have access to the full line of their drinks. But they do have quite a few vegan options, so you shouldn’t be disappointed if you visit them, as many of their vegan drinks are quite tasty.

Hopefully one day they add vegan milk/creamer to their menu so we can enjoy their milk teas sometime, but until then we’re pretty much stuck with regular teas and fruit-slush teas, but personally I think fruit-slush teas are delicious so I don’t mind all too much.

Is Boba Vegan?

First of all, what is boba? The little pearls in the tea are commonly tapioca balls, which come from the cassava root, a tuber native to South America. So then, is bubble tea vegan? Most of the time, yes. It depends on whether they put dairy into the tea or not since boba is basically vegan.

Vegan Drinks at Kung Fu Tea

Luckily, there are plenty of them.

Classic tea series

All of them are vegan-friendly, except the ones with honey.

Kung Fu Black Tea
Kung Fu Green Tea
Kung Fu Oolong Tea
Winter Melon Tea
Longan Jujube Tea
Winter Melon Green Tea

Punch tea series

Same as before, they are mostly plant-based besides the one’s wth honey.

Lychee Punch
Lychee Black Tea
Mango Green Tea
Peach Oolong Tea
Orange Green Tea
VeryBerry Green Tea
Grapefruit Green Tea
Sunshine Pineapple Tea
Passion Fruit Green Tea
Strawberry Lemonade
Strawberry Lemon Green Tea
Rosehip Lemonade

Slush tea flavors

Passion Fruit Slush
Pineapple Slush
Mango Slush
Mung Bean Slush
Red Bean Slush
Carribean Breeze (Seasonal)
Brown Sugar Ginger
Energy Drink – Blue Island Punch
White Grape Punch
White Grape Slush

Make sure to get some toppings (see below) with it, I’d highly recommend a jelly, especially the mango jelly!

Vegan Toppings at Kung Fu Tea:

Nata Jelly
Mango Jelly
Red Bean
Mung Bean
Herbal Jelly
All Popping Bubble (Boba)
Crystal Bubbles
Oolong Tea Jelly
Oreo

And with the toppings listed out, that’s all that’s vegan from Kung Fu Tea right now. The Boba’s apparently are coated in a substance that contains honey now, so if you want to be true to your vegan-ness give the Bobas a miss and Opt for that tasty Mango Jelly that I recommend big-time. It’s tastier and 100% Vegan.

But they don’t use real milk for their teas, so aren’t they vegan?

NO.

Kung Fu Tea accidentally labeled some of their Milk-teas as Vegan in the past, and it’s true that they don’t use real milk in their teas, however they use a creamer and powdered milk that both have dairy ingredients in them.

They also use a non-lactose milk, which is still real milk.

I believe they have corrected this, but don’t trust the menu if it says milk-teas are vegan. Confirm they have a vegan alternative to the creamer and milk powder they use before trusting their menus, due to the mislabeling that occurred a few years ago.

Now Kung Fu Tea has allergen menu, which helps you to find the dairy and honey free items.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does kung fu tea have vegan options?

Certainly, It does! It is easier to find those who are not vegan than the vegan ones. All of the classic and punch bubble tea (except two which include honey) are vegan. Several slush flavors do not include any animal products and you can choose from many plant-based toppings as well. Unfortunately, they do not have any alternative milk, so everything labeled as “milk” or “yogurt” is a no-go.

Is Kung Fu tea boba vegan?

Yes, It is! Both Popping Bubbles (Coffee/Grape/Mango), and Lychee Crystal Bubbles.