This is my FAVORITE place to get boba milk tea in the East Bay. Parking can be tricky at this location because it's so close to UC Berkeley but definitely worth it if you want some good milk tea. There is also usually a line (lots of students) but it moves quickly. I always order the B1 which is the Purple Kow milk tea and add boba for $0.50. You have a choice of either black or green tea, and can request to have fresh organic milk added to your drink! Amount of sugar and ice level can also be customized. Drinks come in a big 25oz cup or you can super size it for an extra $0.95. I always ask for no ice which is an additional $0.50 but I don't mind because I enjoy the rich tea flavor. They definitely brew their tea from real tea leaves and don't use a nasty powder. Boba is always cooked to perfection and super chewy. They offer a frequent buyer card--buy 10 get 1 free so make sure to ask for one! There is a small selection of fried snacks like salt and pepper chicken nuggets, and sweet potato fries. Everything is made fresh to order. There isn't much room to sit and hang out downstairs but there is an upstairs area if you want to chill and have your drink. read more

Purple Kow - Regular sized (25oz) milk tea with boba--the short and chubby cups are SO CUTE!!! - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

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It's good, don't get me wrong. It's just not what I think of when I think "boba." I like caramel and condensed milk flavors a lot so the menu interested me. The drink size is deceptively the same as other places even though the signature cup shape is wider. I got the D3, ice milk drink with caramel pudding and boba pearls. It's just sweet milk with pudding (which MAKES this drink to me) but next time I'll get regular milk tea to make a better judgement of the place. I'll definitely go again because that caramel pudding is crack. Also, the air of secrecy is funny and all but very, well, pretentious. I'm bringing my 6'7" fined next time purely to see if the boba man behind the curtain starts to sweat a little. read more

Purple Kow - D3, ice milk drink with boba and caramel pudding - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

This place is real good! Ive drive down 15 miles to get their drink! They open till late and the staffs are always nice!! Their little snacks are always a go to for me.. CHEERS :) read more

12.16. We were thirsty after a long walk so we sat down in this tea shop. I ordered lychee green tea with half sugar. The container was unique. Another girl ordered peach boba tea . Mine was $4.89. We sat there and Airdrop photos. read more

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Ehhh, I went to the Concord location, and then went to the Berkeley location. Big mistake. Berkeley was just so so. That location doesn't serve Taro, and the flavors weren't as bright and fresh as I would have expected. It wasn't terrible, but if I had a choice I wouldn't go to that particular Purple Kow. read more

Terrible service. The cashier gave me lip and was being impatient and rude when I asked questions. Couldn't even bother to describe their drinks. Never coming back and I suggest you don't too. read more

Do you remember in kindergarten when the whole class got together and made chicken noodle soup? The teacher wrote down the recipe on the board and helped the kids learn the instructions. "First we put the water in the pot. Jimmy, please pour in four quarts of water." "Next we put in the chicken stock. Sarah, please pour in one quart of chicken stock." .... "For the last ingredient we add salt for flavor. Johnny, please pour in two tablespoons of salt." Johnny decides that he really likes sweet things, so he adds two tablespoons of sugar instead. Johnny now works as a barista at Purple Kow. read more

Got their honey milk tea with boba. It's a standard flavor, nothing spectacular. This place's pearls is on the smaller side. I don't get the pleasure of chewing on it that much. The flavor of the pearls is great. I wish there was a little bit more of the tea flavor. Their fruit teas look delicious, with real fruit pieces in them. Trying those in the future. read more

This place holds a special place in my heart -- it's my first and favorite boba place at Berkeley. The boba can come in big fat cups so the portions are pretty big. You can also get a smaller size. The milk teas are pretty good, and so are the fruit teas. I'm so talented at review writing. Purple Kow is gr8, I love it. read more

My friend and I decided to be more adventurous and it failed us both. I got the Peach Oolong with Fresh Mango QQ: Too sweet. Definitely disappointed since this is supposed to be a popular drink of theirs. But I'll try their milk tea next time. Also, make the size of the jelly so you can actually suck it up with the straw. I literally couldn't get more of the mango or the jelly since they were too big for the straw.. I do like the decor. It's definitely nicer than Quickly's and Sweet Heart. But I can always get a good cup of milk tea for $2 at Sweet Heart, so I don't know. Unless they have some crazy amazing drinks, I don't know if I would come here again after I try their milk tea next time. Also, why offer people stamp cards if you don't have any? Instead, they stamp the receipts?! Talk about underprepared? You can get the store looking nice but can't print stamp cards?! O.o??? read more

The line for Purple Kow remains super long and service is a little slow, but I'd still come here for milk tea on West Side. Tip: Don't get any of the iced milk drinks unless you reallllly like milk! I was tempted by the giant poster to get D3 (or was it D4?) because it looked so good--milk with boba and egg pudding. The drink was okaaay, very thick and milky, and super sweet even though I asked for less sugar (80%). It also tasted a lot like caramel, which made me wonder if they put caramel in it on accident (between D3 and D4, the ingredients are the same except one has caramel and the other doesn't). I drank about 50% of it, before giving up. The boba and the egg pudding were still pretty good though. I'm definitely sticking with a fresh tea/milk tea order next time. If you plan to check this place out, don't set your expectations too high. Purple Kow is decent, but certainly not the best. read more

My new favorite boba place that finally opened over the summer. It's a bit on the pricier side, but you get quality and a chubby cup! Two of my favorites is the matcha fresh milk tea and the D3, the iced milk tea with caramel, pudding and boba. I liked the match fresh milk tea as it tastes as it sounds and doesn't taste like it came from a powder. Also, since it's made from fresh milk, it's less heavy on your stomach. The D3 is really good. I would order it with no sugar or 25% since the caramel makes the milk tea really sweet. I also like the pudding and boba as they offer different textures while drinking. read more

Definitely not as good as the SF one. The ice milk drink is a little too thick compared to the SF one and the line is just as long. I don't know how they do it but I think numbers should be called in the order it was ordered. Sometimes 70 would get called before 61 and I don't find that fair. I think they should be more consistent with their orders. I'd recommend for them to get smaller cups because getting the regular cup already makes me quite sick of milk tea... Other than that, I like how they have more seating than the SF one. There's a upstairs where I've seen people studying. read more

I was excited when they opened a purple kow here. This store is nice and clean. Oh and it's also connected with Top Dog. Weird. Service: Friendly, quick, and professional staff members. No complaints here. Milk Tea: It's similar to other the purple kow in sf in terms of quality. My favorite drink to get is the almond black milk tea. Yum But my biggest complaint here is that they NEVER HAVE ANY BOBA NOODLES!!! Ever since they opened I've been asking for boba noodles (I mean they have it on their menus), but every time I come to order it THEY DON'T HAVE IT! why?! Why must they torment me with that tasty looking boba noodle on the menu and they crush my hopes and dreams at the cash register?! Please I beg of you purple kow to either get some boba noodles or put a piece of paper over the boba noodle topping! Overall: It's a decent boba place, but I think they need a little more time to up their quality. I would give this place a couple of months before trying them again. read more

Okay, but I don't really get the hype.. and also, how does their sign resemble a cow? Is it supposed to? This is a little tea shop crammed into the Center Street strip, and seating consists of one or two tables, which is pretty standard for Berkeley. I've heard raves about this place, so I had to try it. I tried their oolong tea with added aloe, no milk, and half sugar. I didn't get that smokiness of oolong I look for with fresh loose-leaf oolong tea, and the aloe must have been saturated in sugar water because it was crazy sweet. I did like that the tea was strong and robust, but the balance was just a little off for my taste. I also had a sip of my friend's regular black tea, and I think it suffered from the same issues as mine did. The sizes are gigantic though, and the prices for the teas I tried were reasonable for how much we received. I'm not a huge fan of the tubs that they use, even though I know that's their signature look. They're hard to hold, and moisture condensed on the outside and makes the containers slippery, not to mention super cold. I might come back to give their milk teas a try sometime, but so far, this definitely isn't one of my favorite milk tea places. read more

Came here on Sunday afternoon and it was a 15 person line with about a 5-10 minute wait, mainly because one lady ordered 10 drinks. Otherwise I can see it being a somewhat more streamlined process. There was one pretty stressed out looking gal manning the register, orders that came out, and the overall customer service. Given the amount of tasks and demand of customers, she did a really great job with service. Then came the milk tea. Asked the gal if they used real milk. She stated that the standard was to use a soy creamer base, but they have a fresh milk option, which comes normally with the menu items that stated "fresh" in the name. There were options also to get 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% sugar. I got f5, which is milk tea with pudding and grass jelly, with fresh milk and 25% sugar. $4.24, which is not bad for freshly brewed tea and customization. The milk tea was rather bland. Seems like they use nonfat or very low fat milk. The pudding had a sharp caramel flavor, with not as much focus on egg flavor, and the grass jelly was virtually tasteless, so not a fan of those. Next time I come, I would like to opt for a warm drink or one of the fruity flavors with some other jelly type. They have a good selection of milk tea flavors as well as fruity tea with a lot of add ons. Not bad at all. read more

I got the matcha milk tea (B10) 80% sugar with no boba in it. Enjoyed it some, but the irregular cup-sizes are not conducive to cupholders in cars. We had to wait in line for a while and then wait some more after our orders were placed -- and this was on a summer day around 3 PM or so -- I'd hate to see what the wait is like when school is in session! Sitting in there made me feel like I was in college again. read more

A solid choice for Boba Tea right by the UC Berkeley. I would have to agree that the drinks here are a little more watery than they should be, however, the menu is pretty extensive and the drinks are pretty big for their price. They also come in the now-popular Bucket Cups, which are actually inconvenient in every practical way(they don't fit in any cup holders, wai ): ). The one thing I will comment on is, DO NOT GET THE FOOD HERE! The two snacks that I tried, the popcorn chicken and the sweet potato fries, were extremely oily, almost to the point of being soggy from the oil :( gross. But, if you're looking for a solid drink and are around this side of campus, come give it a try! :D read more

Huge servings. I like their iced milk drinks with chocolate pudding and caramel.

I've had Purple Kow in San Francisco before so I knew to expect gigantic cups of bubble tea here as well. I like that Purple Kow offers different sugar levels since even 50% sugar is pretty sweet as is. The tapioca they use are very tiny so expect to get like 5-10 bubbles with each sip. I don't really like the interior that much. It's really awkward in the front of the store and there is some limited seating upstairs. read more

Same amount of stars, but I really recommend their popcorn chicken as well! I didn't know they give you ranch if you ask for it either. They give legit big pieces of meat and its so crispy and fresh. read more

Purple Kow - Ask for ranch! - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

I heard about purple kow for so many years and finally made my way to one. The hype about the cups got me lured in! Regarding this particular place, I really didn't like how they put so much ice in my milk tea ( I ordered the purple kow black milk tea with mix of boba and brown sugar jelly; the jelly was so good and sweetness was perfect). 50 cents extra if you don't want ice? Say what?! Otherwise, service was great. The lady was talking on her cell phone right before I went to order, but hung up immediately after I was ready! read more

I like the short fat cups! Sure is a lot of milk tea and other flavors and a huge menu of different items to choose from. I liked mine and wouldn't mind going all the way back to berk to try other flavors. Great customer service and extra seating upstairs. read more

Purple Kow - An F5 twins qq milk tea with grass jelly and pudding - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

I'll keep it short! Shits amazing. They have so many flavors!!! Milktea to take away some depression hahaha. Service is pretty fast and the place is cute but hella small. I like that they have a spot upstairs for customers to just chill. Come back again! Yup of course !!! But they need to have more food options. Or just buy food next door lol! read more

Purple Kow - My new favorite: D3 milktea with caramel boba and pudding - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

Love our Purple Kow! Positives: + Service - Quick and hassle-free. Usually long lines going out the door but drinks produced rapidly. + Personalized Drinks - Outstanding boba and love that you can adjust the sweetness and amount of ice. Our favorite is D4 with 80% sweetness! + Portions - The large is actually KING-sized. Drawbacks: - Seating - Not enough and there is often nowhere to sit. Best to grab a drink and walk around Downtown Berkeley. - Food - Not their expertise. read more

This location in Berkeley is right next door to Top Dog. They have some of the largest cups for boba drinks. Tried their large lychee tea with aloe and lychee jelly at 50% sweetness, rose milk tea at 25% sweetness, and their strawberry fruit smoothie. The drinks are pretty good and the large cups actually fit in the car's cup holders. There was no line when we went in the early evening but the wait was still about 10+ minutes for the drinks. A lot of folks order then come back 10 minutes later. They do check your receipt when you pick up the drinks. 10c/bag if you need one to hold all your drinks. read more

Purple Kow - Large lychee tea with aloe and lychee jelly - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

I got a peach drink with standard sugar. It came out way too sweet! Next time I will try 30% sugar. They don't have AC so it's a bit uncomfortable sitting upstairs during the summer. They also don't have wifi so don't bother bringing your laptop. read more

Before ShareTea opened up, Purple Kow was the most popular boba place in Berkeley, even though it's on north side. Compared to some of the former SouthSide options, Purple Kow was the perfect place to get Boba; it wasn't TOO far from campus and they have an extensive menu. Now with way more options to get boba/tea around Berkeley, I would say you could probably find better options for Boba. That being said, the boba here isn't bad--but it's pretty comparable to the other places nearby. The drinks: You can choose the amount of sweetness in the drink, which I like. The drinks here are actually super sweet, so I would opt for a less sweet version of the drinks. Sometimes, they even do the seasonal flavors; like pumpkin and peppermint tea. The boba itself is sweet, and given that the drinks can be sweet, it can feel like too much (especially, if you're getting one their "chubby cups". The D4 is a sweet milk drink, and it's a great first option when going to Purple Kow. The atmosphere: There is seating in Purple Kow, so feel free to bring a friend or 2 here. The service is quick and efficient, and I've never waited too long to get tea. This place definitely gets crowded at the top of the hour, and in the evening time, so if you can't find a spot to sit, there's always spots to sit near the grassy field in front of the university entrance. read more

D3- ice milk w/ boba, caramel and pudding/ half sugar/ less ice Super insanely sweet, even at 50% sugar. Found this to be the sweet spot IMHO for this drink~ read more

Stopped in with some friends while roaming around Berkeley, having worked up a craving for some bubble tea and having heard of Purple Kow from other friends before. Sadly, I was not really all that impressed, and neither were my friends. I had gotten the passionfruit with boba, and while I consider that somewhat foolproof, it just wasn't that good. The boba were a little overdone and the drink itself felt syrupy. I forget what Mr. Piano got, but it was likely a milk tea (he doesn't like fruity boba), and it was too sweet for him even having asked for less sweetness, so much so that he had to throw half of the drink away. One of my other friends also couldn't stomach the syrupy sweetness (and the blah textured boba) and ended up tossing half of her drink as well. Perhaps we had too high expectations? Either way, I think I'll stick to other boba places for now, because there generally plenty to choose from. read more

The good: the location and space. The bad: the boba This place is less than a block from the Western end of UC campus, making it a convenient place to grab a quick tea. It's a great environment for socializing too, with a very cool, well-decorated and sleek space with upstairs, downstairs, and outdoor seating. The boba, however, is not very good. I consistently feel a little sick to my stomach after and the pearls have very little flavor to them. If you have time and don't mind walking a little further from campus, I would personally go elsewhere if you want good quality boba. read more

I like their signature milk tea and iced milk drink. Their boba pearl is good but a little bit in smaller size than other place. Friendly staffs. read more

Purple Kow.. Purple Kow... Purple Kow. One boba spot to rule them all. Like Tpumps, this place allows you to customize your drink to your liking. Different flavor choices with your choice of tea, sweetness level and milk. I decided to go with a peach green tea with regular sweetness, no milk, boba and green jelly. My girlfriend decided to go with a strawberry green tea with regular sweetness, no milk, boba and glass jelly. OMG these drinks have great flavor. You can really taste the flavor and the debate of Purple Kow vs Tpumps is now an afterthought. Purple Kow has way better flavor and to top it off, these drinks are made with real fruit that are at the bottom. Real over imitation everyday day. On a side note, the decor is very modern and very ascetically appealing compared to the grungy decor at the San Mateo Tpumps. Also IT HAS SEATING. Aso, these cups are huge. They wouldn't fit in my cup holders but it didnt matter because it was gone before I got remotely close to the car. =) read more

Purple Kow - Peach and strawberry teas - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

Nice, clean boba place near the Down Berkeley BART station. There's plenty of seating on the first and second floor - good place to hang out with friends. The service here is friendly and there was only a short wait when we went on a weekend afternoon. The menu is huge and there's a lot of different types of drinks here. It's helpful that they have a poster of their most popular items. I ordered D3 which was ice milk with caramel pudding and boba ($4.50). The tapioca has a good chewiness to it. The drink is a large serving size (in a short, fat cup) and was really tasty at first but after finishing half of it I felt a little sick from how overly sweet it was. That was probably my fault instead of theirs since based on the ingredients you can probably expect it to be really sweet. Maybe next time I will get 50% or less sugar or a different drink. read more

Purple Kow - D3 ice milk with caramel pudding and boba - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

Got the standard black milk tea. The regular size is bigger than usual. Next time though, I want to try one of the fruit teas. Pearls - pretty good. Chewy and soft. Drink - on the watery side (none of the milky texture). Tea was over-steeped - pretty dark / tad bitter. read more

Purple Kow - Black milk tea - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

I haven't been to the SF location, and I was conveniently in Berkeley, so I figured I might as well stop by! I came on a Sunday afternoon with 2 other friends. There was a line but it wasn't too long, and they are pretty efficient. I like how they have a most popular items poster up, it really helps for the indecisive and new to the store. The bathroom is accessible with a key that you can request from the counter. You're supposed to wait for it from the counter but we ended up just passing it to people one after another. I got D4, which was iced milk tea with boba and grass jelly, less sweet. Even at less sweet, 80%, it was still pretty sweet but not overwhelming. I think full sweetness might have been a bit much. Overally, pretty good tea flavor, with a lot of milkiness. Boba and grass jelly were both good. I ran out of tea wayy before I ran out of addons. Their pint cups don't fit in standard cupholders, so I ended up chugging it on the way back to the car. Their register software crashed right after I ordered, so they ended up taking orders manually. Also, they warned that boba would take 20 minutes to prepare, but I must have ordered before the cut-off, because it mine pretty fast. The stamp card is good for both the Berkeley and SF location, so I picked one up! read more

Purple Kow - D4! Iced Milk Tea with grass jelly and boba - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

FIRST TIME here. My cousins were raving about this place, so since we were in the area, why not? The inside of this place wasso chic, sorta reminded me of IKEA. I ordered the D3. Which is an iced milk drink with pudding & boba with Half sugar. HOLY crap, I got the smallest size & that thing was huge! It could be like a meal-replacement, I swear. It was PERFECT for a sweet tooth like me. I couldn't finish the whole thing because I underestimated the size of this drink. lol. It was yummy! The pudding in my drink made it a little bit more sweet! Love it! Am I fan? Possibly :) read more

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Rushed and detached service. It was our 1st time visiting, and let the young clerk know. Asked for help with suggestions. Got an impatient attitude and no assistance. Boba drinks were ok, after a long wait. Thank you for the experience and service. Got a stamped card but Will not be back. read more

Purple Kow - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Purple Kow is one of the many places I frequent in downtown Berkeley. The chubby cups are reminiscent of Class 302 cups. The interior has more spaces to sit upstairs and the decor is trendy and modern. Their service is always quick, though they seem to run out of ingredients from time to time. If you like you're drinks heavy, creamy, sweet, and without tea? I'd go with their iced milk drinks. The D3 with caramel and pudding is for the sugar addicts. Their milk teas are definitely lacking in strong tea flavor. I've ordered their roasted oolong milk tea before at full sweetness. It's basically sweet milk, not unlike their iced milk drinks. The tea is watery and their boba can be a hit or miss. Purple Kow tends to overcook their boba. I'm a fan of their fruit teas. My go-to drink to order is rose oolong with lychee (A4). The rose compliments the lychee and the added rose petals bring out the aroma of the drink. Order this at less sugar if you don't have a big sweet tooth like I do. read more

I like how you get to choose your sweetness level here. Oftentimes I find these boba drinks to be too sweet for my taste. You also get to choose between black or green tea for your milk tea. And this location is conveniently next door to top dog! read more

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