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    DIY Tea Lab - Ballard

    4.2 (60 reviews)
    Closed • 11:00 am - 8:00 pm

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    Amazing service they made my order fast Come in on the last 30 minutes and was still super nice thank you!!

    Tea DIspensers (Green Tea, Thai Tea, Black Tea)
    Albert T.

    If you're in Ballard and you want boba, DIY is pretty much the only place to get it. That's actually the reason why we stopped by here on a Saturday afternoon. We got one drink: Classic Ruby Black Milk Tea, 50% Sugar, Less Ice w/ Boba ($6.25) - Interesting preparation here - the milk tea is presweetened, prebrewed, premixed with non-dairy creamer, and placed in the tea dispensers (I wonder how often the dispensers get cleaned). For the black tea, they have one dispenser with 100% sweet and one with no sweet. If you change the sweetness level, like I did, they mix the two together appropriately to get your desired sweetness level. In terms of the drink itself, the tea taste isn't particularly fragrant, but has a good black tea taste. Not the best tea, but good for a shop that doesn't brew tea to order. 50% sweet is not too sweet in this drink (probably around 25-30% sweet vs other places), and it allows the tea taste to come through. The boba is only very slightly harder than I prefer so it has a pretty good chew. DIY Tea Lab shares the same storefront with a poke place and the employees work on both sides. The store wasn't staffed that well when we visited - only two people combined for both the poke and the boba. The boba half actually wasn't staffed at all when we came in - we had to order at the self serve kiosk, and then someone walked over from the other side to make the drink. It wasn't a problem since we visited in a less busy time, but if they don't have more people at peak hours, I could see things taking much longer. I would definitely stop by again if in the area. This location is good enough for me to want to go to their other branches around Seattle.

    Outside
    Wing I.

    I was in there for lunch from just poke and I wanted a drink unfortunately they were out of boba! I ordered ube milk tea with rainbow jelly half sweet and less ice. It was very good and surprisingly yummy! The server is very nice and explained things to me in details. The sitting area are comfortable and clean.

    Ube Salt and Brown Sugar Royal tea
    Sarah L.

    Delicious bubble tea for any occasion! I stopped by DIY Tea Lab while in the neighborhood with a few friends and had a good experience. We ordered off the touch screen at the counter, which was self explanatory. I did notice that some drinks were more customizable than others, for example "less sugar" vs "25% or 50%", but overall the usual options were present. There were a couple employees around to help and make our drinks, which came out super fast! The boba was still warm and soft in the drinks, so make sure to give it a good shake!

    Menu
    Karishma A.

    **Yelp Elite Experience** I got Thai ice tea with no sugar and no ice. This is typically something most places say no to - as their Thai ice mix is premixed with sugar. I am happy to report mine had 0 sugar!! I also really like the boba cup. The lid has plastic cover for closing the mouth making it easier to carry it to go. On the whole - definitely recommend and very excited that Ballard finally has a boba place!!!

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    3 months ago

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    5 months ago

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    10 months ago

    My go to boba spot in Ballard! I love that they have caffeine free options :) my mom loves the strawberry matcha!

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    1 year ago

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    7 months ago

    so good! customizable options and fast service, basically no line at all. Perfect amount of boba, woman behind the counter was very kind.

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    4 years ago

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    9 months ago

    many delicious options to choose from. yum yum. i come here often and will continue to

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    9 months ago

    Tea is so tea. Best boba in Ballard. Super kind and sweet service. 100000/10. Don't question yourself, get the boba!!!!

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    9 months ago

    Very scrumptious tea, superb service and kind workers. Very chill environment. Overall lovely!

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    9 months ago

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    10 months ago

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    11 months ago

    Super fast and always tasty! The kids can move through the screens to get just what they want.

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    4 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Great options and fast service, our fave local boba stop In north Seattle on weekends or weekdays

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    4 years ago

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    3 years ago

    I go here to get bubble tea before work. I always get milk tea with boba and I am always satisfied.

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    11 months ago

    my order was very quickly made and tasted very good. they got the sugar percentage right!

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - DIY Tea Lab - Ballard

    How much indoor and outdoor seatings are there, if any?

    Right now, there's a high top table/bench towards the window with 5 or so seats.

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    DIY Tea Lab - Fremont - Matcha coco with sea salt ube cream topping, matcha coco, and mango sago.

    DIY Tea Lab - Fremont

    3.9(135 reviews)
    2.2 mi•Fremont

    My family and I visited this location because of Yelp. We've only been to Fremont twice, with this…read morevisit being our second one and it was nice to stop at this establishment so that we could sample their beverages. We didn't realize that the DIY Tea Lab also shares the same space with Just Poke so that was a nice surprise, though, we didn't order any poke because we just ate lunch at a nearby pho restaurant. For the drinks, I got the Mango Sago and my husband ordered the Matcha Coco with Sea Salt Ube Cream. We were the only customers in line during our visit which was nice. Staffing is the same for both Just Poke and DIY Tea Lab but they have two separate registers. The person that helped us was busy making a poke plate for a customer upon entering but he helped us fairly quickly. I shared the mango sago with my two toddlers and they loved it! The drink had a good balance of sweetness. The pairing of the sago and chunks of mango was perfection with the drink. The matcha coco with ube cream was also delicious. The ube cream went well with the matcha. And the boba had a soft, yet chewy texture. As a side note, the employee who made our drinks realized that he forgot to put the ube cream after he sealed the drink. He made us a new drink and he let us keep the other drink which was very kind gesture. Really, I can't say anything negative about our orders and customer service. If we didn't have to drive an hour at this establishment, we would probably frequent this area more, though one downside is that parking can be hard to find. Street parking seems to be the only option. We parked two blocks away because there was no available parking nearby. We paid $7 for 4 hours although there is a an option of $5 for 2 hours. We wanted to explore the area so we paid for more hours.

    their service was quick and there was no line. I got the strawberry bubble tea with lychee per…read morestaff members recommendation. The bubble tea did not disappoint and tasted delicious!! The vibe is more pick up and go! Disclaimer: I was given this drink for free as part of Yelp Elite event.

    Photos
    DIY Tea Lab - Fremont - Black Seasame milk tea and sea salt ube coffee

    Black Seasame milk tea and sea salt ube coffee

    DIY Tea Lab - Fremont
    DIY Tea Lab - Fremont - Mango Matcha Fresh Milk

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    Mango Matcha Fresh Milk

    Young Tea - T2. Assam Black Tea

    Young Tea

    4.4(85 reviews)
    2.5 mi•Wallingford

    Came here the other day, and we were pleasantly surprised! The service was great and they were…read morepatient with us. They had a lot of tea options, so we had to make sure we're getting the right one. My gf is obsessed with milk tea, and been on the hunt for the phoenix oolong. So far this is the only place she's been able to find in Seattle that sells it. I ordered the Rock milk tea, and it had a strong tea flavor and a good dark aroma. It's exactly the way I like my milk tea! I feel this place to be authentic with their tea leaves, and they seem to be really knowledgeable about their menu. So if you're really specific with your tea flavors, or just want to try something different than your usual black or green tea, then I recommend this.

    It doesn't seem this place is adequately staffed. The only staff was working his bones off and the…read moreline kept growing! Luckily everyone was patient and can clearly see he was working hard, and he did let us know that it might take a while. He was a hard worker. The boba place is very tea forward with a variety of options. There were a handful of drinks that had an interesting name, such as, Iron Buddha, but I wish there was a description of what the drink was. I didn't want to ask too many questions given the growing line. I don't think any of the drinks included toppings, so that's an additional charge. I guess it's been a while since I had boba cause the average price was $7-8 without any toppings! The drink was great and tasted delicious, but the operation itself can be better.

    Photos
    Young Tea - M17. Hojicha Latte

    M17. Hojicha Latte

    Young Tea - M18. Genmaicha Latte with red bean

    M18. Genmaicha Latte with red bean

    Young Tea - Inside

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    Inside

    19 GOLD - Malatang Soup Dumplings Combo

    19 GOLD

    4.5(1.2k reviews)
    2.0 mi•Fremont
    •$$

    After visiting the Olympic National Park for a few days, my friend and I stopped by here for some…read moredinner prior to leaving Seattle and we were specifically looking for Taiwanese food, and we loved the food here! I ordered some of their signature dishes and some dishes I would commonly order in Taiwanese restaurants, and they were all great. Everything tasted as authentically as I could imagine, ranging from the popcorh chicken to the minced pork over rice. My friend ordered the meat lover malatang, which was like a spicy soup with lots of ingredient such as bean sprouts, quail eggs, enoki mushroom, and so on, almost resembling hot pot style. I personally didn't have any complaints in terms of flavor as everything tasted great. My only minor criticism was that for the minced pork over rice, the pork's broth was a bit watery. Highly recommend for anyone looking for Taiwanese food in the Seattle area!

    The thing that I liked the most about 19 Gold was their options. I felt like there was something…read morefor everyone, from MalaTang soup dishes, to rice dishes to some fried stuff too I got a simple dry noodle dish with pork and it was prepared well. The inside is pretty spacious, and that allowed for me and my friends to be seated immediately. We were also served pretty quickly, with our waiter being quick but not pushy. Pretty solid experience overall

    Photos
    19 GOLD - Inside

    Inside

    19 GOLD - House Special Malatang

    House Special Malatang

    19 GOLD - Brown Sugar Milk Boba

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    Brown Sugar Milk Boba

    Taste & Tell Lounge

    Taste & Tell Lounge

    4.5(13 reviews)
    1.5 mi•Phinney Ridge

    Seattle-Area Boba Shop Review #67…read more Taste & Tell Lounge is a small but welcoming cafe, serving a decent sized menu of food and tea and coffee drinks. Ordering is quick using the kiosk right in front and the staff are very friendly, getting the drinks prepared and out within a couple of minutes. Signature Milk Tea, Less Sweet, 50% Ice w/ Brown Sugar Boba ($7.25) - Interesting. This is the 2nd time in Seattle I've seen a boba shop put a piece of wax paper in between the cup and the lid, to allow the customer to shake the drink and get that satisfy pop of a boba straw piercing the top. This drink is ridiculously sweet, so cloying that my mouth puckered while sipping on it. I could not drink more than a couple of sips before having to stop. It's perhaps 200% or maybe even 300% sugar level as compared to other places. The taste is also not very pleasant to me. Not only is it extremely harsh but for some reason, there's somewhat of a stale undertone to the entire drink, kind of reminding me of the essence of cardboard mixed with an old Chinese herb shop. I believe they use real tea leaves to brew their tea, so the taste is puzzling. The ice level at half is essentially like full ice at any other establishment. When the drink is completely cooled, the ice still fills up approximately the top third of the cup. When I visited, they had just run out of the regular boba, but they still had the brown sugar boba in stock. For the same price as the regular boba? Great! And then I bit into my first one.... This is not boba. The pearls are agar based cuboids. Why call these brown sugar boba? That's false advertising in my book. Milk Tea Rating: 2/5 (and I'm being generous) Boba rating: 1/5 I feel bad giving such a low rating to this family owned establishment, but the drink I got was not up to par. Given the high ratings from other reviewers, I have to assume that I just received a poorly made drink and they're usually better. Bathrooms - One unisex room Edit: I stashed the drink in my fridge for a couple of days and after diluting it by about half with freshly brewed assam tea, it's much more palatable due to the reduction in sweetness. The harsh taste stale is still there, though, and there's still no tea flavor.

    It's the holiday season, so I took my children to Taste and Tell to enjoy some snacks and boba tea…read more They have the best boba tea in town. You should definitely try it. I was told the business hours may vary during the holiday season, however, from March through October, the hours are more consistent.

    Photos
    Taste & Tell Lounge - Interior

    Interior

    Taste & Tell Lounge - Bánh Mì, Spam Mushubi, taro boba, Jasmine milk tea with grass jelly

    Bánh Mì, Spam Mushubi, taro boba, Jasmine milk tea with grass jelly

    Taste & Tell Lounge

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    Dont Yell At Me - Interior

    Dont Yell At Me

    4.3(478 reviews)
    3.4 mi•University District
    •$$

    I'm very picky with tea because a lot of the places in Seattle overbrew/underbrew their tea! I got…read morethe jasmine tea with osthmantus jelly and was really impressed with my drink. My friend got the lychee drink and loved his. In the store, the staff were nice and there was seating, which is pretty rare.

    Had a really weird experience here…read more.. I was ordering a drink but was super thirsty and asked for some water, the person making the drinks said sure he can provide tap water but that I needed to complete my order on the iPad first and show him the receipt to prove I bought something before he'd give me tap water... Okay, thats fine and reasonable, I completed my order and showed him the receipt. My number was 67. He looks at it and says "okay I'll give you tap water when I make your drink order". I look at the number tracking what order is currently being made, it says 58.... 58?!!?! I was so thirsty and just ordered TWO drinks... You're getting plenty of business out of me why can't you just fill a small cup with tap water and hand it to me? :( Ended up waiting 42 minutes for him to finish making my drink to receive my tap water....... Tea is decently fragrant and boba is chewy but definitely not freshly made. Osmanthus tea flavor is very weak but the Ceylon tea they brew compensates. Drinks 4/5 Service 1/5

    Photos
    Dont Yell At Me - Osmanthus Jasmine Milk Tea

    Osmanthus Jasmine Milk Tea

    Dont Yell At Me - Taro Milk Tea & Winter Melon Chrysanthemum

    Taro Milk Tea & Winter Melon Chrysanthemum

    Dont Yell At Me - Winter Melon Chrysanthemum Tea

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    Winter Melon Chrysanthemum Tea

    DIY Tea Lab - Ballard - bubbletea - Updated September 2026

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