Kung Fu Tea was founded in Queens, New York City in 2010, and evolved to become the largest bubble tea brand in the United States with over 250 locations in six different countries.
If you’re unfamiliar with the story, bubble tea is a tea-based drink that originated in the Taiwan in the early 1980s, and it mostly consists of tea accompanied by tapioca balls, though it can be made with other toppings.
Bubble tea is available in several varieties, but the two most popular are black pearl milk tea and green pearl milk tea topped with tapiocas.
Even though Kung Fu Tea is a tea-based shop, they use several animal-derived ingredients, including honey, milk cap, yakult, lactaid milk, and milk creamer. However, there are still many options you can enjoy.
Vegan Options at Kung Fu Tea
Fortunately, Kung Fu Tea has many vegan options, which you can easily verify by visiting their website and looking at their allergen menu. They have a section dedicated to vegan-friendly items, which helped tremendously in pinpointing the vegan options we’ve laid out in this article.
Let’s look at the vegan options you can order at Kung Fu Tea:
Classic Series
Most Classic Series Flavors are suitable for vegans, except those containing honey.
| Flavors: | Calories: | Price: |
| Kung Fu Black Tea | 0 | $3.95 |
| Kung Fu Green Tea | 0 | $3.95 |
| Kung Fu Oolong Tea | 0 | $3.95 |
| Winter Melon Tea | 38-52 | $3.95 |
| Longan Jujube Tea | 82-122 | $4.95 |
| Winter Melon Green Tea | 38-52 | $4.25 |
Punch Series
Most Punch Series Flavors are also vegan-friendly, except the ones that contain honey.
| Flavors: | Calories: | Price: |
| Lychee Punch | 62-83 | $4.85 |
| Lychee Black Tea | 62-83 | $4.85 |
| Mango Green Tea | 75-105 | $4.85 |
| Peach Oolong Tea | 60 | $4.85 |
| Orange Green Tea | 66-94 | $4.85 |
| Grapefruit Green Tea | 52-65 | $4.85 |
| Sunshine Pineapple Tea | 191-244 | $4.85 |
| Passionfruit Green Tea | 84-105 | $4.85 |
| Strawberry Lemonade | 129-194 | $4.85 |
| Strawberry Lemon Green Tea | 126-189 | $4.85 |
| Rosehip Lemonade | 93-181 | $4.85 |
Slush Series
With Slush Series Flavors, you’ll see that they use milk a lot, but there are still several vegan-friendly options.
| Flavors: | Calories: | Price: |
| Red Bean | 468-640 | $6.05 |
| Mango | 187-262 | $6.05 |
| Pineapple | 320-426 | $6.05 |
| Passion Fruit | 250-357 | $6.05 |
| Caribbean Breeze | 327-420 | $6.85 |
Vegan Toppings
There are also several vegan
| Flavors: | Calories: | Price: |
| Nata Jelly | 79 | NA |
| Mango Jelly | 79 | NA |
| Herbal Jelly | 111 | NA |
| Red Bean | 125 | NA |
| Popping Bubble (Coffee) | 104-115 | NA |
| Popping Bubble (Mango) | 104-115 | NA |
| Popping Bubble (Grape) | 104-115 | NA |
| Oreo | 93 | NA |
| Lychee Crystal Bubbles | 54 | NA |
Vegan FAQs
Does Kung Fu Tea Use Dairy Alternatives?
For milk alternatives, Kung Fu Tea uses non-dairy creamer, which is not suitable for vegans or people with milk allergies, because it still contains a small percentage of sodium caseinate.
Unfortunately they don’t do substitute dairy milk with plant-based alternatives (i.e. almond, oat, or soy milk).
With that being said, some locations offer almond milk tea.
Are Kung Fu Tea Jellies Vegan?
Yes, some jellies are suitable for vegans, namely nata jelly, mango jelly, and herbal jelly.
Here are the ingredients in each jelly:
Nata Jelly: Coconut Pulp, Sugar, Water, Pineapple Flavoring, Xanthan Gum(E415), Potassium Sorbate(E202), FD&C Yellow #5(E102).
Mango Jelly: Coconut Pulp, Sugar, Water, Mango Flavoring, Xanthan Gum(E415), Potassium Sorbate(E202), FD&C Yellow #5(E102), FD&C Yellow #6(E110), Malic Acid(E296).
Herbal Jelly: Herb Juice (Chinese Mesona and Water Sugar) and Brown Sugar Syrup (Sugar, Fructose, Water, Caramel Flavor, Caramel Color, Potassium Sorbate, Acesulfame Potassium, Silicone Anti-Foam Tapioca Starch Water).
The exception is aloe jelly because it contains honey.
Summary
Kung Fu Tea has several vegan options, from the Classic and Punch Series to a few select Slushies. Despite the use of animal-based ingredients (they use several), we still have to look at Kung Fu Tea as a tea-house that is more or less vegan-friendly.
