The milk tea craze in the Philippines is not going to subside anytime soon. In fact, milk tea shops have been popping up like mushrooms in every corner for the past years!

But did you know that most of the popular milk tea chains in the metro were from Taiwan? It's the origin of this well-loved drink which is also called boba tea or bubble tea. See for yourself if these milk tea shops are worth the long queues!

Tiger Sugar is known to offer the best brown milk tea sugar that blends with the creamy milk tea base. The color of the caramelized brown sugar resembles tiger stripes, thus its store name.

Must-Try: Brown Sugar Boba Milk with Cream Mousse (PHP 120.00)

Branches: Bonifacio High Street, Eastwood Mall, TriNoma

Facebook page: Tiger Sugar Philippines

Serving freshly-made tea and juice drinks in over 3,000 stores worldwide, Coco Fresh Tea & Juice has gained cult-like followings with customers willing to wait in line. Try their fresh beverages including tea, milk tea, juice, slush, coffee, and other drinks.

Must-Tries: Panda Milk Tea with black and white tapioca pearls where it got its name (Regular PHP 90.00, Large PHP100.00), Two Ladies Milk Tea with tapioca pearls and pudding toppings(Regular PHP 90.00, Large PHP 100.00)

Branches: Eastwood Citywalk, SM Mall of Asia Complex, Venice Grand Canal Mall, Century City Mall, SM City Manila, SM Megamall, Lucky Chinatown Mall, UP Town Center, Uptown Place Mall, Trinoma, Festival Mall, Rockwell Center

Facebook page: CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice

Fiftea boasts its brand as the finest milk tea brand from Taiwan, proudly serving their 3-hour brewed tea in their concoctions. They offer a wide array of fresh beverages including tea lattes, fruit juices, milk teas, and ice cream teas.

Must-Tries: Boba Jasmine Milk Tea (Regular PHP 90.00, Large PHP 110.00), Fiftea Pearl Assam Milk Tea (Regular PHP 90.00, Large PHP 110.00), Ice Cream Green Milktea (Regular PHP 100.00, Large PHP 125.00)

Branches: Cityland III Makati, Alphaland Makati, Molito Alabang, Robinsons Otis, Uptown Place Mall, Shopwise-Circuit Makati, San Agustin St. Makati, Savoy Hotel - Newport City, Green Mall-Taft

Facebook page: Fiftea

Ten Ren Tea serves original tea, fruit tea, milk tea, yogurt, tea latte, and slush. They also offer freshly baked wheel cakes with sweet and savory fillings to choose from: sweet custard, chocolate, ube, custard, red bean, corned beef, chicken mayo, ham and cheese, tuna and corn. Wheel cakes are perfect partners of milk teas!

Must-Try: 913 King’s Oolong Milk Tea (Medium PHP 90.00, Large PHP 100.00)

Branches: Promenade, Greenhills, SM Mall of Asia Complex, Festival Mall

Facebook page: Ten Ren Tea Philippines

Yi Fang Tea is known for its fruit teas but they also offer their specialty drinks including sugar cane drinks, tea latte, flavored teas, and brown sugar pearl tea.

Must-Tries: Their Signature Fruit Tea (Regular PHP 120.00, Large PHP 140.00) and Brown Sugar Pearl Tea Latte (Regular PHP 120.00, Large PHP 140.00)

Branches: Ayala Malls The 30th, BGC High Street, Trinoma, M. Paterno San Juan

Facebook page: Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea Philippines

Xing Fu Tang is the latest addition to the milk tea craze in the metro. It recently opened last March 15, 2019 at The Podium, its first branch. Xing Fu Tang is best known for their signature Brown Sugar Pearl Milk. It consists of stir-fried brown sugar pearls as its base, then topped with brown sugar which is torched to give a smokier caramel flavor.

Must-Try: Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea ( PHP 120.00)

Branches: The Podium, Greenhills Promenade Mall, soon to open at Venice Grand Canal Mall

Facebook page: Xing Fu Tang Philippines

The Alley is a Taiwanese milk tea company that specializes in “Deerioca,” their hand-made version of tapioca pearls. They have become globally-renowned for their own bubble's unique texture and delightful aroma.

The Alley is set to open this May at the SM Mall of Asia with more branches soon to open.

Facebook page: The Alley Philippines

Images on the cover were grabbed from the Facebook pages of Xing Fu Tang, Yi Fang Tea, Ten Ren Tea, Tiger Sugar, and CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice