4.7
Superb
119 Reviews
130 Main Street, Johnson City · 5.62 miles
Customers’ favorites
- Strawberry Jelly
- Strawberry Pop
- Lychee Jelly
- Cappucchino
“BEST bubbles in Binghamton! And cheap! I love bubble tea! My family is from Taiwan. I grew up in Flushing (Queens) where there are over 20 bubble tea shops within a mile of my parents' house. In other words, I'm an expert on bubble tea. Nihao is the ONLY place in Binghamton that gets the bubbles (aka tapioca pearls) right! Some people might disagree, but for me the most important part of bubble tea is the tapioca. Most bubble tea places mess up the bubbles. They either do not have the right texture (e.g. too mushy, too hard) or taste (e.g. too sweet, not sweet enough) or both. I've even had bubbles that were hard on the inside and not fully cooked! Moreover, after being cooked, the bubbles have a shelf life of a few hours, after which they become gummy and slimy. You can't refrigerate them either because then they become hard. In Taiwanese, the ideal texture is stylized in English as QQ, which is a very specific type of chewy that has some bounce to it (as opposed to, say, taffy which is chewy but has little bounce). All that to say, it's VERY hard to get the bubbles right. But somehow Nihao does it! THAT SAID... Nihao does have fewer options for toppings compared to some other places. Some people in my family love to add pudding and grass jelly, which Nihao does not have. Also, personally, I'm not picky about the tea. I know some people do not like the powdered mixes. There's no question that actual brewed tea with milk tastes better. But imo that's small potatoes! I can brew and mix the perfect cup of milk tea by myself at home. What I'm unable to do is obtain good quality tapioca and cook it to perfection! OH! ALSO! Nihao is about $1-2 cheaper per drink than every other bubble tea place in Binghamton!π§”