Most orderedBrown sugar milk tea
Fresh milk, black tea and pearls cooked in brown sugar
$6.20
Pearls cooked through the day, sugar set by you
Pearl Drop shakes milk teas and fruit teas to order, with tapioca cooked in small pots every two hours. Pick your sugar level, see exactly what it means in grams, and order for delivery or for a group to collect.
5 levelsof sugar, shown in grams
2 hoursthe longest pearls wait
10 or moredrinks for group collection
Drinks to order now
Prices are for a regular 500 ml cup with the topping named. Choose your sugar level before adding a drink to the bag; the grams for each level are listed further down.
Most ordered
Classic black milk tea
Assam black tea, milk and tapioca pearls
$5.40
Taro milk tea
Taro root, milk and a soft cream top, with pearls
$5.90
Jasmine green milk tea
Jasmine green tea, milk and grass jelly
$5.40
Passion fruit green tea
Fresh passion fruit, green tea and popping pearls
$5.60
Party carrier
Ten to fifty drinks, mixed as you like, packed in carriers for collection
Price on enquiry
EnquireA large 700 ml cup adds $1. Delivery runs within a short ride of the shop, with the fee added at checkout, and every cup is sealed before it leaves.
Build your own at the counter
Four choices, in this order. The menu board above the bar shows every base and topping.
Pick a base
Black, jasmine green or oolong tea, with fresh milk, oat milk or soy milk, or a fruit tea with no milk at all.
Set the sugar
Standard, 75%, 50%, 25% or no added syrup. The table below says what each level means in grams.
Choose the ice
Regular, light or none. Less ice means more drink, so the cup is filled higher.
Add a topping
Tapioca pearls, popping pearls, jellies, red bean, pudding or cheese foam, from $0.70 each.
What each sugar level means
Bubble tea can be very sweet, so here are the numbers. Each figure is the syrup we add to a regular 500 ml cup, measured with the same pump every time.
| Level | Added sugar, about | What else brings sugar |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 36 g | Pearls cooked in brown sugar add about 10 g more |
| 75% | 27 g | Taro and fruit purées carry their own sugars |
| 50% | 18 g | The level most regulars choose after a few visits |
| 25% | 9 g | Milk adds its own natural sugar too |
| No added syrup | 0 g | Toppings and fruit still contain sugar |
These figures come from our own recipes and are estimates, not lab results. Brown sugar milk tea is sweetened in the pearls themselves, so its lowest level is 25% and it has no unsweetened version.
Toppings
Add one or two to any drink. Tapioca pearls are made from cassava starch and cooked in the shop through the day.
| Topping | Price | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Tapioca pearls | $0.80 | Chewy and large; a choking risk for young children |
| Popping pearls | $0.80 | Burst in the mouth; a choking risk for young children |
| Coconut jelly | $0.70 | Contains coconut |
| Grass jelly | $0.70 | Herbal jelly with a slightly bitter taste |
| Red bean | $0.70 | Sweetened adzuki beans |
| Egg pudding | $0.90 | Contains milk and egg |
| Cheese foam | $1.00 | Contains milk |
Tea brewed every morning, pearls every two hours
Black, green and oolong teas are brewed from loose leaf each morning and again at four, then chilled in steel urns. A milk tea is shaken with ice when you order it, so it arrives cold all the way through.
Tapioca pearls harden as they cool, so ours are cooked in small pots and thrown away after two hours. It costs us more pearls, and it is the difference between a soft chew and a hard one.
- Loose leaf tea brewed twice a day
- Pearls cooked in small batches
- Fresh milk, with oat and soy milk at the same price
Allergens, caffeine and little ones
Everything below is handled behind our bar. Ask the person making your drink if you are unsure about any of it.
- Milk
- Soy, in soy milk
- Gluten, in oat milk
- Egg, in the pudding
- Coconut, in the jelly
- No nuts in any drink
- Caffeine in every tea base
- Fruit teas without milk
Every drink is made with the same shakers and jugs, so traces of milk, soy and egg can reach any cup. Labelling law on allergens is not the same in every country, so say what you are allergic to before we start your drink.
Pearls, popping pearls and jellies shoot up a wide straw fast, which makes them a choking hazard for toddlers and young children. Order those drinks without toppings and we leave them out gladly. All our tea bases contain caffeine, so younger drinkers may prefer a fruit tea made with water and fruit only.
Behind the bar
The pearl pot, the topping jars, the sealing press and the window seats after lectures.
Sipped and rated (example reviews)
The pearls are soft every time, even late on a Friday. Seeing the grams for each sugar level made it easy to settle on 50%.
Ordered twenty four drinks for a society meeting and collected them at the agreed time, each cup labelled with the name and sugar level.
Asked for a drink for a four year old and the staff suggested a fruit tea without pearls before being asked. Thoughtful.
Asked at the bar
Why are the pearls only kept for two hours?
Cooked tapioca hardens as it cools. Throwing out pearls after two hours keeps every cup soft and chewy, rather than chalky by the evening.
Can drinks be made without milk?
Yes. Any milk tea can be made with oat milk or soy milk at the same price, and every fruit tea is made with no milk at all.
Is there a drink without caffeine?
Fruit teas can be made on water instead of green tea, which leaves them without caffeine. Ask for it when you order.
Are pearls safe for children?
Pearls and jellies pose a choking hazard to young children, so we suggest drinks without them for little ones. Older children should sip slowly rather than pull hard on the straw.
How do group collections work?
Send the form with the drinks, the sugar levels and a collection time at least a day ahead. Each cup is labelled with a name and handed over in carriers.
Can the sugar be lowered below 25%?
Every drink except brown sugar milk tea can be made with no added syrup. Fruit, taro, milk and toppings still bring some sugar of their own.
Order drinks for a group to collect
For ten drinks or more, list what everyone wants and when you will collect. We confirm the total and the time by email, usually within a few hours while the shop is open.
- Every cup labelled with a name and sugar level
- Carriers for up to eight cups each
- Pay when you collect, at the counter
Find the shop
Beside the university bus stop, across from the library steps. The bar is open late on Fridays and Saturdays for anyone heading home from the evening lectures.
Phone and email
Beside the university bus stop, across from the library steps
Bar hours
| Monday to Thursday | 11:00 to 21:00 |
| Friday and Saturday | 11:00 to 22:30 |
| Sunday | 12:00 to 20:00 |
Quiet times
Weekday mornings before noon and Sunday afternoons are the calm hours, when there is time to talk through toppings at the counter.