Sharetea, a bubble tea chain with hundreds of locations worldwide, opened their first Georgia location in Sandy Springs OTP (outside the perimeter) in January 2018. You can find it in the Hammond Springs shopping center to the left of Jinya Ramen Bar (if facing Jinya's storefront). The chain started in Taiwan in 1992.
I was really impressed with both the tea and service we received at this shop. The tea was outstanding and the staff was very nice and enthusiastic. With bubble tea shops in Atlanta almost a dime a dozen these days, I admittedly was caught off-guard by the excellent taste and quality of the drinks I tried at Sharetea. If this shop was closer to where I live or work or in an area where I regularly dine out, I'd visit more often.
The store is small, sort of like Kung Fu Tea. There's seating inside, but not a whole lot. It's not like Paris Baguette or Sweet Hut where there's space for several groups. Due to its small size, I don't think this place is conducive to work/study, but it's possible during non-peak periods when the space is emptier. Like other bubble tea shops and cafes, the setup is straightforward. There's a single register with an open tea-prep kitchen.
The menu consists mostly of tea with some coffee and ice cream (ice cream is served in drinks only). At the time of writing this review, there's no food. All drinks come in one size only and range in price from $4 to $5 each. Ice-blended drinks and drinks with ice cream cost $5.25 each. Toppings, like boba (pearls), are 50 cents each. There's no credit card minimum. You can adjust the ice and sugar levels of most, but not all, drinks.
Sharetea offers about 50 different kinds of drinks including fresh teas, brewed teas, regular milk and fresh milk (not powder) teas, "creamas," and the aforementioned ice-blended drinks which are essentially slushes. There are 9 toppings. A couple of the more interesting toppings include mini pearls and aiyu jelly. Aiyu jelly (ogio) is a fairly unique tea topping in Atlanta. It's brownish yellow in color, sweet and mildly tangy in taste, and made out of a certain type of fig. You should try it if you've never had it before.
I tried a few of their creama drinks (coffee creama, mango green tea creama, and wintermelon tea creama; $4.50 each) and their classic green pearl milk tea ($4.50). All of the drinks tasted fantastic. The teas had good to great tea flavor; generally strong and robust. The quality was very good and the taste was near-addictive. The boba had ideal taste and texture as well; nice and appetizingly chewy.
The coffee creama is one of Sharetea's top 10 drinks. Also included in that list are the classic black (not green) milk tea and wintermelon tea (technically not the creama version, but the tea is the same). Out of the 3 creama drinks I tried, I liked the wintermelon tea creama the best. Wintermelon is one of my favorite teas to get at Kung Fu Tea and Sharetea's version is just a good, if not better. It has a really pleasant, distinctive flavor.
I like the rich, creamy top layers of the creama drinks. Unlike the drinks that come with toppings, the creama drinks aren't served with straws. Instead, they come with small knives which you use to cut slits (2) into the drink's seal. You drink directly out of the cup. The miniature knives make for some neat presentation and while it may look a bit gimmicky, it actually helps prevent leaks or spills when transporting drinks prior to seal-breaking. The creama drinks are served in eye-appealing layers, similar to Boba Guys' layered milk teas and 85°C's sea salt beverages. The drinks are as tasty as they look. read more