Bubble Tea in Singapore 2026: 7 Brands and What Each Does Best
19 October 2026 · By the Eventful team
For bubble tea in Singapore, pick by what you want: R&B Tea for brown sugar boba, CHICHA San Chen for tea brewed one cup at a time, and PlayMade for pearls rolled in-store. Below are 7 brands and what each does best, with every menu claim taken from the brand's own site or our own interviews, checked 19 October 2026.
Top photo: matcha bubble tea, by cyclonebill, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsNone of these brands lists cup prices on its own website, and prices on menu-copy sites are often years old. So we tell you what to order, not what it costs. Matcha people: our matcha tier list ranks eleven shops.
The tea-first brands
1. CHICHA San Chen: best for tea you can taste What it does: brews each cup to order, by its own description, from a short list of teas: green tea, osmanthus oolong, High Mountain Pouchong, black tea, Dong Ding oolong and cassia black tea. You pick the tea, then the flavour (honey, lemon, passion fruit, mango, fresh milk, mousse, oat milk), then toppings like pearls, grass jelly or coconut jelly. Popular item on its site: Sour Citrine Tea, Pouchong with lemon juice and black ruby jewel. The brand dates to 1998 in Taiwan.
Order a plain oolong with less sugar first. If you can taste the tea through the milk, the brand has done its job.
2. R&B Tea: best for brown sugar boba What it does: R&B says it sold its first Brown Sugar Boba Milk in Singapore on 1 February 2018 and has built a whole range around it, including Brown Sugar Boba Milk with Cheese Brûlée. It also blends its own No. 23 Oolong, Roasted Oolong and Peach Oolong. Outlets include Thomson Plaza #01-106 (11am to 9pm Sunday to Thursday), Parkway Parade #03-30A, Admiralty Place #01-08A (10.30am to 10pm daily) and Buangkok Square #01-27 (11am to 9pm).
The brown sugar one is the reason to come. Get the cheese brûlée version once, then decide if you are a cheese foam person.
3. CHAGEE: best for fresh milk tea without pearls What it does: CHAGEE, from Yunnan, lists its menu as Fresh Milk Tea, Snow Cap Milk Tea, Fresh Fruit Tea, Brewed Tea, Teaspresso Latte, Teaspresso Frappé and Iced Oriental Tea. It says it has over 6,000 stores worldwide. Its matcha range with Le Petit Prince landed on 4 September 2026, per our earlier coverage in CHAGEE matcha series.
Milk tea for people who do not want to chew their drink. The brewed teas are the lighter option.
The pearl and matcha specialists
4. PlayMade: best for fresh pearls What it does: pearls rolled in-store, by its own site, with no preservatives in the pearls and real fruit in its fruit teas. 24 PlayMade outlets, plus 4 Playground outlets for its experimental drinks. Its site has a calorie calculator with Nutri-Grade info.
If chewy pearls are the point, start here. PlayMade calls its Playground outlets the experimental line.
5. Gotcha Matcha: best for thick matcha Where: The Woodleigh Mall B1-K16, 11 Bidadari Park Drive, and Jurong Point B1-83/85, both 11am to 9pm. What it does, per our earlier coverage: matcha drinks, layered and thick, with specials that rotate. It started as a pasar malam stall.
6. LiHO: best for being everywhere What it does: LiHO's founder told us on camera that 2026 is "really a tough year" and that the group has a hundred-plus outlets, by its founder; its site says more than 80. It belongs to Royal T Group, which started in 2009.
When you need a cup near any MRT, there is often a LiHO. Watch our LiHO founder interview for the business side.
7. Molly Tea: a recent arrival Where: Orchard Central, its first Singapore store from March 2026, and Singapore Land Tower at Raffles Place. Its student second-cup deal ran 14 to 31 August 2026 and has ended.
A recent arrival; two central stores on its pages when we checked, with a third reported at Hillion Mall from 9 October 2026, so check its socials. Worth a detour only if you are already in Orchard or the CBD.
Good to know
· Ask for less sugar first. You can always add, but you cannot take it out.
· Brown sugar drinks are already sweet. Order them at 0% or 25% added sugar if the counter allows it.
· PlayMade's site lists calories and Nutri-Grade info, handy if you track sugar.
· Check a brand's own app or counter for prices; menu-copy websites are often out of date.
FAQs
Which bubble tea brand has the best pearls in Singapore?
PlayMade says it rolls its pearls in-store with no preservatives, which makes it our pick for pearls. R&B Tea is the pick for brown sugar boba.
Who started brown sugar boba in Singapore?
R&B Tea says it sold its first Brown Sugar Boba Milk in Singapore on 1 February 2018. We could not confirm whether it was the first.
How many outlets does LiHO have in Singapore?
LiHO's founder told Eventful the group has a hundred-plus outlets, while its site says more than 80.
Where is Gotcha Matcha in Singapore?
Gotcha Matcha is at The Woodleigh Mall, B1-K16, and Jurong Point, B1-83/85. Both open 11am to 9pm.
What is CHICHA San Chen known for?
CHICHA San Chen brews each cup of tea to order and lets you choose the tea, flavour and toppings. Its popular Sour Citrine Tea is High Mountain Pouchong with lemon juice and black ruby jewel.
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