Kung Fu Tea is the “OG of Bubble Tea,” established in Queens, New York in 2010, the tea brand has now expanded to be one of the largest bubble tea brands in the United States. The tea shop is wildly popular on social media and known for its innovative ingredients.
For those who need or enjoy living a plant-based lifestyle, Kung Fu Tea has a variety of vegan options on the menu to slurp up. On their website, you can view their allergen menu, which shows a list of vegan-friendly options including Rosehip Lemonade and Kung Fu Green Tea.
In this article, we’ll break down the history of Kung Fu Tea and its vegan alternatives so you can enjoy these popular tea-based drinks!
What Is Kung Fu Tea?
To give some back story, bubble tea, or boba tea, is a tea-based drink that originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s. The ingredient list consists of a brewed tea with tapioca pearls and milk added. Today, the boba recipes can differ in the type of tea used, tapioca or fruit bubbles, flavors, milk alternatives, and sweeteners.
Kung Fu Tea is a Taiwanese tea chain that originated in New York. There are tea shops all over the country, with creative flavors and presentations. Kung Fu Tea even founded National Bubble Tea Day to honor the growing community and celebrate this delicious treat!
Is Kung Fu Tea Vegan?
Since quite a few of the menu items use animal-derived ingredients, not all Kung Fu Tea options are vegan. Kung Fu Tea drinks are broken into a few categories, such as Milk Teas, Milk Strike, Espresso, Punch, Slush, Yogurt, etc. Some of the ingredients in their traditional tea drinks include honey and dairy products such as milk cap, Yakult, Lactaid milk, and milk creamer. Unfortunately, Kung Fu Teas does not have any vegan milk options on their menu. But, the good news is there are plenty of vegan drinks on the menu to try!
The website offers an allergen menu, which makes viewing the vegan menu easy. Some of the most popular vegan options are Strawberry Tea and Mango Slush.
Vegan Drinks To Order At Kung Fu Tea
If you follow a vegan diet, you know that any sort of animal product is off-limits. Luckily, Kung Fu Tea has a variety of beverages besides their milk teas which are excellent choices for vegan bubble tea. Drinking tea has a ton of health benefits, and is quite commonly used for healing in different countries. We’ve broken down their menu to give you all of the options. Take a look below.
Classic Series Flavors
All of the Classic Series Flavor teas are vegan, except for the Kung Fu Honey Tea. The flavors are available hot or iced. See the table below.
| Tea Flavor | Calories | Price |
| Kung Fu Green Tea | 0 | $3.95 |
| Kung Fu Black Tea | 0 | $3.95 |
| Kung Fu Oolong Tea | 0 | $3.95 |
| Winter Melon Tea | 38 – 52 | $3.95 |
| Winter Melon Green Tea | 38 – 52 | $4.95 |
| Longan Jujube Tea | 82 – 122 | $4.95 |
Punch Series Flavors
The Punch Series Flavors are also vegan, as long as no honey is added. See the table below.
| Tea Flavor | Calories | Price |
| Lychee Punch | 62 | $4.85 |
| Lychee Black Tea | 62 – 83 | $4.85 |
| Mango Green Tea | 75 – 105 | $4.85 |
| Orange Green Tea | 66 – 94 | $4.85 |
| Peach Oolong Tea | 60 | $4.85 |
| Sunshine Pineapple Tea | 191 – 244 | $4.85 |
| Grapefruit Green Tea | 52 – 65 | $4.85 |
| Passion Fruit Green Tea | 84 – 105 | $4.85 |
| Strawberry Lemonade | 129 – 194 | $4.85 |
| Strawberry Lemonade Green Tea | 126 – 189 | $4.85 |
| Rosehip Lemonade | 93 – 181 | $4.85 |
Slush Series Flavors
Kung Fu Tea Slush is the brand’s Classic Kung Fu Tea flavors blended with ice, which makes most of these options vegan, besides the ones that contain milk. See the table below for specific flavors.
| Tea Flavor | Calories | Price |
| Red Bean Slush | 468 – 640 | $6.05 |
| Passion Fruit Slush | 250 – 357 | $6.05 |
| Mango Slush | 187 – 262 | $6.05 |
| Caribbean Breeze Slush | 327 – 420 | $6.85 |
| Pineapple Slush | 320 – 426 | $6.05 |
Vegan Toppings
The unique toppings of Kung Fu Tea add refreshing fruity flavors and fun textures to any regular tea base. Adding a topping or boba pearls to your drink is sure to make your taste buds happy.
Some of the toppings are made with actual milk and animal products, so not all of them are vegan-friendly. For example, traditional bubble tea is made with tapioca pearls. These are typically made with tapioca starch and water, but the Kung Fu Tea pearls are made with brown sugar, a non-vegan ingredient.
Besides the tapioca balls, there are plenty of other boba options to keep your drink vegan, like popping bubbles. The popping bubbles have a thin, gel-like skin filled with fruit juice that is easily popped when chewed. Below is the list of vegan toppings you can add to your drink choice.
- Red Bean
- Crystal Bubbles
- Coffee Popping Bubbles
- Mango Popping Bubbles
- Grape Popping Bubbles
Kung Fu tea Jellies
In addition to regular bubbles or bobas, another fun topping that Kung Fu Tea offers is its jellies. Adding jelly to your drink is like eating sweet jello! All of the jellies besides the Aloe Jelly are vegan. See below for the full list.
- Nata Jelly
- Mango Jelly
- Herbal Jelly
Summary
Next time you are looking to enjoy a hot or cold drink with fresh ingredients, try Kung Fu Tea! The tea-based brand was created in New York in 2010 and has grown in popularity since then. They pride themselves on serving delicious Taiwan-style tea with high-quality ingredients and no artificial flavors.
Although traditional boba teas are made with real milk on the ingredients list, there are still dairy-free options and plant-based alternatives available at Kung Fu Teas. On the menu, you can find a variety of vegan teas and toppings such as Lychee Punch, Popping Bubbles, and Jellies.