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I got B1. Purple kow milk tea, which was decent. It seemed a bit watered down, but the flavor was okay. I thought the half sweetness level was perfect. The regular size (what I got) is really big, and there's even a large size, which is absolutely massive. It did take kind of long for my drink to be made, even though there weren't a lot of people.
My fav boba place in berk! I've been coming here even before they moved to this location and it's still been consistently a go to place for me. I always get their toffee QQ milk tea, 25% sweet, less ice. The balance of texture with the boba and brown sugar jelly / crystal boba goes so well together, along with the milk tea not being too sweet. Their drinks tend to run on the sweeter side for me so keep that in mind when adjusting your sweetness level. My friends who prefer sweeter drinks usually get 75%. Their regular milk tea and passion fruit green tea is also good. Their grass jelly also has great flavor. ALSO you can choose oat milk over organic milk for no extra charge, which is a plus. Their snacks? Also top tier. Their garlic fries, sweet potato fries, and fried zucchini are my favs. They always come out hot and crispy, with the perfect texture. There's limited seating and some outlets around the tables. You can also order ahead on Snackpass.
I love purple kow. I've been going to the university location for years but they closed and opened a location in Channing. The drinks are consistently good. You can't go wrong with their milk teas, fruit teas, specialty milk drinks. I will say I miss their stamp card system. They had the best reward. Nonetheless, my fave boba. They are very generous with the amount of boba they include in a drink.
I'm so glad that Purple Kow is still around! The last time I came was about 7 years ago and when I came this time around, it looked completely different! I asked the cashier if they had changed locations and she confirmed my suspicions, they moved from Shattuck to this new location about a year ago! The location is very bright and there were a couple tables and chairs to hang out and chill with friends. Boba wise, I ordered D4, the iced milk drink with boba and grass jelly. It tasted as delicious as I remembered it! I asked for 0 sugar and it's still sweet. I wonder what kind of milk they use! The grass jelly is perfect and the boba is soft. The cup size is still pretty funny. If only parking was easier, I would come more often. But the boba is absolutely delicious!
Purple Kow is one of my go to places when the other boba spots close at 9pm or when I'm craving their specific drinks. You get a HUGE cup with boba for way cheaper than a lot of places around. Last night I stopped in for my favorites- their V-DAY STRAWBERRY MILK and TOBANGO WINGS W/ FRIES COMBO!!!! So good every time. The staff who work here are so sweet. I love hopping around all the boba spots in berkeley because they each have good things about them. Purple Kow is for sure in my rotation.
I realized my review is 5 years old! I still love Purple Kow so much, and I'll always go out of my way to go there, if I can. I think they moved since my last review and are a bit harder to find - there isn't a great sign out front - it is also hard to park on the street, so best to order and pick it up. Even with all this it is still completely worth it! Same great quality tea, and they're always nice - They even called us once when we ordered online to make sure we had the right location. The new location is more fancy than the old but I haven't spent much time in the store/seating. Recommend more than every boba place, ever - however you have to keep in mind I only ever get the one pineapple green tea drink --
If you haven't been to this location before, be warned that there isn't a ton of street parking directly next to the store, but there is a parking garage within walking distance that has 1 hour free parking! The interior isn't huge, but you can definitely go in to sit down with a couple of friends! We only came for the drinks (D3 & B2). The service was quick as well. I generally try to go by the rule that if you've never had a drink before at a new place, you should always get 100% to try the drink how it was intended to be made. That being said, we got the B2 with green milk tea & 80% sweetness but didn't really feel like the flavor was super strong... I definitely feel like I should have gotten a 100%! There was A TON of boba in there, which was half appreciated but also it was so difficult to try the drink on its own! We also got the D3 with 100%( Milk with Caramel, Boba + Pudding). The caramel definitely makes this feel like it's 200% sweetness, so you could totally tone down the sweetness for this drink. Other than that, the boba was nice and chewy, a little smaller than usual though!
Off Channing street, New location to me as only make a trip to berkley once in a blue moon. Today daughter was craving purple kow, we Used to frequent SF & SJ when we in town. The signature drinks are the D series & the pudding was really tasty in the milk teas. Pop corn chicken is always a hit as they are really chunky chicken pieces. Say that 5x. Parked in a parking lot $4 an hour with first hour free otherwise limited street parking.
Salt and Pepper Chicken: 5 stars for this because the chicken nuggets are big and juicy and you get a lot of them. Definitely enough to share with friends as a snack. They should be called Spicy nuggets though as they definitely taste more like they have Spivey flavoring vs "salt and pepper." I would get the chicken again, it was tasty and a good value. My roasted oolong milk tea with aloe was alright... I'll probably try something else next time as I think it just wasn't my preference. My friend's drink was really good. Don't remember what it was. The cup is annoying to hold. Service: The person working told us there was no WiFi but we saw there was a WiFi and were able to sign on no problem... Ambiance: loud as heck!! Spend a little over an hour doing some computer work in here and it sounded like a college cafeteria with the kids constantly coming in and out and talking loudly. Definitely a place to hangout and not necessarily to work but there is WiFi and one bathroom decently clean.
This Purple Kow location is closer to where most of the other boba spots are in Berkeley and in the area where most of the students hang out in. Parking is a bit hit or miss here, as everyone is always doubled parked, but they are located on a quieter street, so there is usually some parking right in the front of the shop. Not much service - I ordered ahead on the app and sat inside waiting for my drink and even though they finished making it, the time for the drink being done was not updated and my drink was just sitting on the back counter. I ordered the Purple Kow Green Milk Tea with boba and grass jelly. The milk tea tasted a bit off like the milk tasted a bit funny like it did not go well with the drink and it also tasted a bit lukewarm, even though I ordered it cold (there was no % option for ice, only either cold or hot). I feel like I only go here because I like how big the cups are, but the milk tea is just eh.
I was surprised to hear Purple Kow had moved to Telegraph! It's one of my favorite boba places to go to in Berkeley because their drink size is huge compared to other shops so you get more bang for your buck. We had the peach green tea and mango green tea, both were yummy and full of flavor. This location is a lot smaller than their old one understandably, so keep in mind there's only around six tables inside. The only thing was service was very slow, we waited around 15-20 minutes for our drink to be finished on a Saturday afternoon. Otherwise, I recommend Purple Kow if you're looking to get boba in Berkeley (which seems to be everywhere).
Purple Kow is one of my favorite boba shops in Berkeley. Their milk tea is consistent and are served in large cups! Some may say this is inconvenient to hold, but I personally don't mind it. My go-to order is their Twins QQ Jelly Drink, which has milk tea, grass jelly, and pudding. I usually like to taste the flavor of the tea, so 50% sweetness always works for me. Overall, solid spot for boba. They recently changed their location to be closer to Telegraph, which makes it more convenient for UC Berkeley students to stop by. The new location is very spacious and is definitely an upgrade from their old location. The service is quick as usual!
7 years ago
7 years ago
GET THE ICED MILK DRINK WITH BOBA. My favorite is the one with grass jelly as well, 0% sugar. 0% might come as a shock to you but it's still sweet enough for a boba. For the longest time, I got 0% sugar and it still tasted like 100% so I didn't come here too often because I felt like I was getting diabetes instantly lol. But I think they finally learned how to adjust sugar levels!! The boba here is on the firm side, but still very chewy. The milk is incredibly creamy (I'm guessing whole milk) and takes on a delightfully caramel-y flavor. I usually hate the taste of milk, but the ratios are measured out so well that the milk tastes amazing!! Unfortunately the price has gone up to $5.79 a chubby cup which is egregiously expensive for boba (but most places in Berkeley charge that much anyway, which is ridiculous but blah blah supply and demand). I used Snackpass to order and got a 40 cent discount which ain't much but after tax it made my total come out to a flat $6. Because of the high price, I'd like to give this 4.5 stars if I could, but the D4 is so good that I'll be back! read more
8 years ago
-Strawberry amber jelly is amazing -Matcha IQ is good -D10 with pistachio & matcha pudding & golden boba is my favorite but for me I don't like golden boba -Coconut Shrimp very best -Sweetpotato fries is awesome read more
4 years ago
8 years ago
My favorite ; Matcha with redbean or puding. I like the option of how many sugar and ice we can put in. Many choice of toppings. In case you like their drinks and plan to come back, ask for their stamp card. Every 1 drink you get 1 stamps. After 10 stamps you get 1 free any drink. read more
5 years ago
Honestly can't complain. My drink was good. Nothing really exceptional, but the serving size is massive so it was pretty worth it in my opinion. read more
9 years ago
When in Berkeley you have to stop by Purple Cow!! Parking is a pain and the place is super small but they do offer a few seat and table. #D3 (iced milk with caramel, egg pudding and boba) is a local favorite. I went with the traditional oolong milk tea with jelly. It's perfectly sweeten and quite refreshing on a hot day. So if you are in the area stop by and grab a drink or two. read more
8 years ago
9 years ago
Berkeley is blessed with the greatest selection of boba/drink places!! Whether you fancy something super sweet, or quality tea, or somewhere that has agar boba, or salted cheese foam, there's sure to be something for you in this city. Got dat A1 game and premium selection HOLY KOW this is literally diabetes in a cup. I mean...all other boba places basically are too, but this...I got the iced milk drink (D1) with boba and 0% sugar, and it was still probably the sweetest drink I've ever had a boba shop??????? It was so sickeningly sweet that I could only finish half of it (P.S. I believe the iced milk drink is what PurpleKow is known for) I've also had the passion fruit green iced tea (C7), which is usually my go-to anywhere. It was also really sweet but not as overpowering as the milk drink. It had that nice passion fruit flavor without tasting artificial, but it wasn't the best I've ever had. They brew their tea using real leaves They have a variety of toppings in addition to the boba, like grass jelly, pudding, and lychee jelly to name a few. There's a limited snack menu as well, with things like fries and chicken It's located Downtown, right across the street from campus, and it's near multiple bus stops and the BART station. Parking may be a little difficult, as it is Downtown Berkeley. There's seating inside, so you can grab your drink and relax, or you could always get it to go and take a nice stroll through Downtown Berkeley or through campus!! There's so much Bezerkeley culture to see Bottom line: I don't like things that are super sweet, and I'm more in it for the tea (and I kinda recently fell in love with agar boba, which in this city, you can so far only find at U-Cha and Happy Lemon btw!!), so this probably wouldn't exactly be my drink place of choice...nonetheless, worth trying at least once. And the chubby cups are a bonus!! read more
7 years ago
Purple kow. Every time I go to Berkeley area I always stop by at this purple kow shop. Been here so many times now and pretty much tried most of their flavors. And yes every time I go here it's always have a lot of customers in line..I do like their snacks selection also they're all good..thank you purple kow. read more
7 years ago
13 years ago
I am huge fan of anything Milk Tea. I came here today with a few of my friends who happed to also be huge fans of milk tea. I think this place opened up just a few days ago. I came today and found parking right in front. The line only had about 10 people and we even got to sit at a table when we were getting our drinks. The drinks came out in batches. I love how open and airy the place feels with high ceilings. The light wood floors and bright colored chairs and art work. A nice added touch was the upstairs seating. It was a very clean shop. I had the fresh milk tea with caramel, pudding, and boba. It was so tasty, sweet, smooth, and cold all at the same time. It is almost like a melted milkshake but, less sweet and more milk. The pudding was wonderful and the boba was not too soft just the right amount of chewiness. They do have a stamp card but, today they did not have it. Instead they stamped the back of my receipt and told me to bring it back the next time so, they could stamp my card. When I did leave the line was out the door and around the corner. read more
7 years ago
Purple Kow is OPEN and they do accept card! I don't even know how long I've been waiting for this. After hearing that it was now open, I went to Purple Kow the next day at around 11:40am. The sign said it would be open 11am, but for some reason, it wasn't open until 11:45am. (Probably because the staff still need to get adjusted). But...I can finally say that I was first in line for once! Sadly, right after the doors opened, a line began to form IMMEDIATELY. The place is pretty cramped and small downstairs. You'll have to pick up your drinks where you ordered, and that's hard since the counter is pretty small. There are more tables and seat upstairs if you want to chill and hang out with friends (or if you're like me, camp out and wait for the line to get shorter). I ordered the Chamomile Ooolog Crema, but then I realized that it didn't come in those big fat cups (sad moment for me). Nevertheless, the drink was really good, especially compared to most of the milk tea places in Berkeley (although a bit too sweet for me). My friend also ordered the Purple Kow Milk Green Tea, which was also pretty good. The staff was friendly, but they were really slow. The average wait time to pick up drinks was probably 10-20 minutes, and my friend and I were the first in line. This is probably because the place is new and the staff haven't adjusted to everything yet, so I don't expect the wait to be that long after a couple days (unless lines are really long). Overall, drinks are really good and I will go whenever lines seem somewhat reasonable, especially since it's a block from where I work. Update: Went there for a second time the next day and I order the Passion Fruit Tea with Aloe Jelly. They were definitely faster, but they forgot my Aloe Jelly :( The drink was overly sweet (I could barely taste the tea). Compared to other places outside of Berkeley, I would give this a 2.5-3. But for Berkeley, it'll probably be a 3.5. read more
12 years ago
Purple Kow is arguably my No. 1 favorite boba franchise in the Bay Area. What they do here that stands out from the rest of the boba brands is two things: their boba topping is just the best (soft, chewy and sweet), and their D Series drinks on their menu. Yes, their D Series drinks are all tea-free milk drinks, and they're super delicious. I always go with either D1 (with just boba) or D4 (with boba and grass jelly). The magical thing about their milk drinks are they taste like milk shake but without any of its thickness. In terms of the flavor, it tastes definitely vanilla-y with a hint of almost floral taste in the milk. It was magnificent. Please note, though, that their D Series drinks are pretty sweet, so I recommend adjusting the sugar level down to at least 50%. I personally get mine 0% (or no sugar), yet the drink still tastes pretty sweet to me; maybe the sweetness comes from the boba, I dunno. read more
Awesome boba place, now I know what the hype is all about! For all those who gives this place too little stars, my suggestions is to try something new! Specifically try something from their Most popular menu. Tried several different options, and I really like all their sweet drinks. The ones filled with lots of ingredients inside. Stay away from the fruity ones, because of extreme tartiness and this is a boba place, not a fresh supermarket. Don't expect awesome tasting fruits. Also the regular type of drinks are usually watered down because of a lot of ice that they put. So don't just get regular honey tea with boba. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it doesn't do this place justice. You would just be paying waay too much for simple drink that you can easily get anywhere else. Price is a dollar more expensive than the average boba place, but considering the nice decor, the cute upstairs room, and the convenient location I think it's justifiable. Plus they are trying to live up to the name of Purple Kow, so hence you pay extra for that also. Overall I definitely want to come back here, try different drinks, although most honestly, I'll just stick to D3. read more
7 years ago
Decided to try a new boba place, the menu had lots of choices. I ordered the A2 drink. It wasn't special, but did have a lot of boba. Parking was a challenge. read more
I've completed the circle!!! Tried all three locations hahahaha. So this location isn't the nicest out of the three but they're definitely consistent with the drinks. D4 all the way!!!!!! I was a little irked the drink took 20 mins but totally worth it. Purple Kow still tops the best boba in my book. read more
Parking sucks. Just to get that out of the way! If you're a pedestrian peddling your way through downtown Berkeley and craving milk tea, don't settle for a random cheap place like sheng kee, COME TO PURPLE KOW. While it is quite a walk from the main campus, purple kow has amazing drinks. So far, I tried the Iced Milk Drink with boba/pudding, the mango green tea with boba/grass jelly, and the regular black milk tea. Out of these three, I HIGHLY recommend the Iced Milk Drink. Get the Iced Milk drink with HALF sugar and add pudding and boba. PUDDING IS A MUST! Their pudding here tastes like Flan and is just soooo FREAKEN good it deserves to be raved about. The boba here is also perfectly chewy and has the right amount of sweetness. In terms of service, its slow. SLOW. Like that damn person who just has to buy three shopping carts full of stuff at safeway kind of slow. Expect a wait, even if there is noone in line, they will find a way to make you wait. Despite the parking and snail pace service, the iced milk drink here a lone is worth the trip and makes this place shine. read more
13 years ago
New boba place in Berkeley! And probably one of the better quality, more variety, and delicious ones.. Only complaint is they close at 5pm.. WHAAAAT?? like WHYY? I usually want some boba at night, maybe after dinner or a study break treat. But NOPE. Always closed by 5. But hopefully that changes soon.. The interior design is very modern and chic, though there's not much room to sit, let alone stand because it's usually pretty crowded. There is loft area, but it's small and gets stuffy because there's not much air circulation. Probably not the best place to study because it can get pretty loud too. As for their drinks, I really like their milk teas! Last time i got the matcha fresh and i really liked how you could actually taste the tea. The boba was also the perfect chewy consistency. Pretty generous portions, though the line can get pretty ridiculous. Expect a bit of a wait, but it should be worth it! Definitely recommend it! read more
For the price, they give you A LOT of milk tea. ~$3.50 nets you a 25 fluid-ounce cup of milky, tea-y goodness. For the record, that's a really big cup. We're fans of the standard Purple Kow milk black tea with pudding (which comes with soy milk, as opposed to the Purple Kow 'fresh' milk tea which uses whole milk). One of the great things about Purple Kow, is that they easily allow you to specify how sweet you want it. We usually get the drinks with half the sweetness since the pudding has a nice sweet, caramel note to it that goes great with the milk black tea. They have a fairly large drink menu with the option for various add-ins (i.e. boba, pudding, aloe, tea jelly, mango, etc.); however, they do lack the variety of flavors of milk teas that you can find at other places. They do offer various types of teas for their milk teas, including black tea, green tea, matcha, and oolong. There's a very small seating area as you walk in, but they have an upstairs area that is a little larger with more tables and chairs. This is definitely one of our favorite milk tea shops in the East Bay! read more
This is probably one of the BEST BOBA place I've been to!!! First of all, the cups are wider (instead of taller) compared to other boba places so you'll get a lot of drink. You will definitely get more than what you pay for as most of the drinks are about $4 - $6 range which is about right for boba. If you're taking it to go, these cups won't fit the cupholder unfortunately. The variety of flavors are pretty standard. You'll get your milk teas or slushes but they also have drinks with actual fruit inside. I usually order these types of drinks and the fruit taste pretty fresh! It's a pretty nice change and really delicious. They will also ask you how much sugar you want in your drink. I always order the max amount but haven't found it overly sweet and still drinkable. I appreciate having the option to control the sugar levels in my drinks. The size of the place is decent. The ground floor has some chairs and tables with a second floor providing more places to sit. The location is also near BART (about a block or two away) and some street parking. There's also a paid parking lot across the street if you need it. My only complaint is that this place can get crowded fast on a busy night but it's understandable. Whenever I feel like some good boba, I'm coming here! It's located in a decent spot with other places to eat and in a great part of town. Great place to chill with friends and drink boba! read more
12 years ago
They have lots of options. None of their flavors are very memorable. Their boba is very mushy, not sweet, negatively memorable. They have a stamp card. They have a short fat cute cup. Those are the only positives... read more
13 years ago
The adding toppings are really fresh and tasty at Purple Cow! They have the best egg pudding I've tried so far in the area :) I have only been here once though but so far my impression is pretty good. You should check it out if you haven't been here before! read more
12 years ago
These teas will fuck you up. This ain't the stuff of babies. You will feel like Tom Cruise on Oprah. That's good because I have school assignments to do and my professors don't think sleep is important anyway. Top of my list: Milk green tea with pearls (50% sweet level) Next: strawberry green tea (full sweet). Hey and listen girly men/women/warlocks, if this stuff is too sweet for you, just ask for less sweet, okay? Ok back to jumping on my neighbor's couch WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more
13 years ago
Still in search of an iced milk honey boba that compares to Half and Half up here in the bay, and I've concluded that they just need to open an actual Half & Half already. We got just as many Asians as in SoCal! haha...anyway, Purple Kow, I've heard, was supposed to be similar to half and half, but sure...the cups are equally as big and there's "iced milk," but it still is just not the same. We ordered the D3 (iced milk with caramel, pudding, and boba). For those of you from LA, notice it's not "honey boba." I asked for half ice and half sweet. It still was pretty sweet, so I'm glad I at least asked them to reduce it. And if I'd never had Half and Half before, I would probably like this more. However, the milk tea doesn't quite taste like milk tea and the frothy iced milk is kind of non-existent. Boba is not warm and freshly made or soaked in honey. But the pudding was quite delicious! I also tried my sister's roasted oolong milk tea, which was not bad, actually. All in all, it was not bad but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get this unless I happened to be in the area and felt like it. Stamp cards available too! The store itself is pretty cute and there's a loft upstairs with seating. Looks like possibly wifi too since I saw some people with their MBPs, but not sure about this. Good place to hang out in Berkeley =) read more
Much better with the timing. Temporary hours now M-R 11:00am - 6:00pm. F 11:00am - 8:00pm and OPEN Saturday!!!!! From 12:30pm - 8:00pm! Larger space than the SF one and no line (well, during the weekday at least). The upstairs gets quite warm, I'd recommend an AC unit to help with the circulation of the air. Taste - comparable to the SF location... Slightly sweeter and they give you lots of boba. read more
9 years ago
I didn't think this caramel iced milk with boba was very good. It did not taste like caramel at all. The tea flavor was overpowering, since I typically prefer it sweet. My receipt had indicated no modifications to the sugar and ice level, but it's possible that I may have miscommunicated my order. I was asked if I wanted to change my sugar and ice level or something to that effect and I said no. I was thinking that maybe this caused it to not be sweet at all. The boba themselves were decent. They were not mushy and they were firm enough. I do not like the really chubby cup, but it looks nice. The utility and functionality is not that great, due to its size. It's also right next to Top Dog, which is a plus. If you prefer tea to be the dominating flavor in your drink, then this would be for you. If you prefer something sweet, I would maybe try a higher sweetness level. It's a Berkeley milk tea place to try once before you leave, since you practically pass it by when you go to the BART station. read more
12 years ago
12 years ago
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