Bapu Tea House

Our first time here today and definitely be back again. We tried ube-taro smoothie and ube ice milk and so good. Very friendly staff and clean dining area.

I’ve been twice in one week! I love this place, super yummy and versatile drinks. Way more options than Milk Lab and I’d say slightly cheaper too. The vibe inside is friendly and welcoming with comfy seats. They also have a better rewards system for returning customers. 10/10 reccomend!

| Overview + Brown Sugar Ice Milk is deliciously creamy + Boba texture is perfect + Decent milk tea size in a cute cup with "ears" + Good selection of fruit teas, smoothies & iced coffee drinks + Cool ambiance + Fast customer service - Boba cost extra for Brown Sugar Ice Milk - Taro milk tea here is made of powder / other ingredients look artificial - Various toppings in the open - are they clean? - Menu is purely drinks; no desserts or snacks | Full Review Located in a corner of the Hope Valley Commons shopping area, Bapu Teahouse Durham looks inviting from the outside with its cool boba milk tea structure by the cafe's front door, showing Bapu's simple logo outside. Bapu's ambiance inside looks artsy, with cute aesthetics and cool atmosphere. What stood out to me was the assortment of toppings displayed. The good thing: they look pretty colorful and fresh; the not-so-good thing: they're uncovered, so I'm not sure if they're clean. Nonetheless, it's convenient to see the different topping options you can add to your milk tea. I noticed Bapu uses the artificial purple taro powder for its milk tea instead of taro paste, so I eliminated that choice from my milk tea selection process. There was only one young employee who took orders and also made the milk teas when I went, but his customer service was good as he made fine recommendations and served my order fast. Unlike Boba Baba's eye-aching menu screens, Bapu Teahouse's menu overhead looks clear with photos, highlighting its special drinks. There are no kiosks here, so you'd have to order face-to-face. As the server recommended, I ordered the Brown Sugar Ice Milk (75% sweetness, light ice). It doesn't look as Instagram-worthy as Tiger Sugar's brown sugar milk teas, but it looks yummy enough, with brown sugar syrup clearly visible in Bapu's cute & translucent cup with ears. Bapu only serves 1 size for its drinks. When I ordered this, the server asked if I wanted boba. Most decent milk tea cafes I go to automatically already have the basic tapioca pearls or boba by default in their brown sugar milk tea drinks but Bapu charges extra for that. Brown Sugar Ice Milk is listed as $6. With the boba topping, I ended up paying a total of $7.76, which is slightly higher than average price of brown sugar boba milk teas in cafes I've been to. Compare that to Feng Cha in Morrisville, which offers Dirty Boba (brown sugar milk tea for only $6.25 with the boba already included, so Bapu's pricing here sounds like a joke. To be fair, the size of the cup is large enough, with its cute top that reminds me of Doraemon or Hello Kitty. The material of it doesn't look cheap and it feels fun to hold. The sweetness of the brown sugar flavor was just right. It might have been too sweet if it was set to 100% sweetness level, and it's still probably slightly sweet at 50% but my usual preference of 75% for any brown sugar milk tea was perfect here. The milk was deliciously-creamy with the fresh & chewy boba - perfect texture. Server did a good job blending with just the right amount of ice, good amount of brown sugar syrup & boba. It's not on the same level as Boba Baba's Brown Sugar Boba or Tiger Sugar's brown sugar drinks but it's better than many mediocre brown sugar milk teas I've tried in other cafes. Bapu Teahouse's menu is purely drinks, with a nice variety of milk teas, fruit teas, smoothies & iced coffee. Sadly, there are no snack or non-drink dessert options here that you can pair with your milk tea. It's not a big deal if you're only craving for a drink, and it looks like Bapu has a good selection of toppings to customize your order. Just prepare to pay extra for those. | Overall Score: 3.4/5 | Recommended Alternative: Sharetea in Morrisville

The drink I ordered was absolutely delicious. The people there were super kind. The chairs are very low, so get your knees ready. Also a divider/barrier between the food and counter would be nice to see as someone who doesn't like people talking and breathing over their food. But overall, sweet spot and I'll be back.

Cute place and I like their smoothies a lot! A bit slow sometimes, but their drinks are fabulous! I highly recommend their strawberry banana smoothie. Last time I was there, one of the workers behind the counter totally lost her mind about the way a co-worker of hers was trained to make it, but she seemed socially awkward when I ordered the drink, and that’s just the tea business, baby! I was totally dying inside about her complete overreaction, as that smoothie was really good. Alas. People… Great place and good drinks. Grab or before headed to the grocery store, which is right next to it.