Jin Tea Shop — Restaurant in Pasadena

As a disclaimer: I've only had Jin Tea's Oolong Milk Tea and their butterfly tea drink. That being said, Jin Tea is probably my favorite Boba Tea in LA thus far. For me, I really dislike overly sugary milk teas. I also happen to have a little bit of lactose intolerance (sad) so I REALLY appreciate that their Oolong Milk Tea is dairy free (I'm guessing they use Non-dairy creamer, I might be wrong). It's fresh and light without feeling like I'm drinking corn syrup. You can also taste that strong tea flavor, which they use Taiwanese Mountain Tea. And the boba - SO good, perfectly sweetened in brown sugar, complimenting the drink and not overpowering. All in all its a really solid drink, and I don't mind throwing 5$ at it everytime. They also offer REAL milk drinks as well as a variety of other teas and toppings that I haven't tried yet. As a Taiwanese American I really appreciate this tiny little spot in Pasadena, and I would go there more often if I could. Hope you enjoy! ✨

Edit: 2 years later and still loving Jin! They've now added a high mountain oolong milk tea which might be my absolute favorite tea drink in LA to date. Pricey, but I highly recommend. If you're also a herbal jelly drinker, theirs...

I cannot get enough of the day and night milk tea here! I've ordered many times through DoorDash and went to the store once to pick up my order - whichever way you do it, the tea is always super fresh with a small amount of crushed ice in it at the top. The reason I like the day and night milk tea best is because it has a distinct tea flavor with activated charcoal in it, but it also has a sweet milkiness that makes you want to drink more. I've gotten a few of the other teas here and some of the other specialty drinks, but the day and night milk tea is my go to tea.

If you like tea without the sweetness, you can definitely get that here! There are so many high quality teas you can choose from that it's hard to decide on one (that's why I always get three at minimum). Sweetness and ice levels can't be altered on their specialty teas, but if you get one of the regular teas you can choose how sweet and icy you want it to be.

If you go in person, they have a table right inside the door where you can order from and, if I remember correctly, they have hand sanitizer available near the register. You can then wait outside while they...

I was in the area looking to go to a different boba place, but Jin Tea Shop was suggested to me on instagram so I changed my destination! Super glad I did.

I ordered the organic egg puffle with boba, the butterfly pea flower lemonade, and sunny honey. Everything was amazing, especially the egg puffle! I've had a great variety of similar style egg waffles from different stores, and I have to say this one takes the crown. The waffle batter itself is not too sweet so it balances well with the brown sugar boba inside. Not to mention, the boba inside was still chewy despite being heated! I was pleasantly surprised as it's hard to include boba in desserts while keeping the chewiness and consistency. They did an amazing job.

I didn't get the chance to try any of their oolong tea drinks but their chrysanthemum tea in the sunny honey drink was legit. The butterfly lemonade was yummy as well!

I'm definitely coming back and can't wait to try...