In Boba Buddies, columnist Judy Liu ’26 sits down with Stanford students to review offerings of different boba shops near campus. Each installation will feature different Stanford students taking Liu to their favorite spot and talking about what the drink means to them.
Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
Chun Yang, the hotly-anticipated boba shop in Forbes Family Cafe, opened on Nov. 3. Ever since, it has been frequented by students from all corners of campus — but is it worth the hype?
I decided to go with a group of “boba buddies” to try out some of their drinks and find out.
Chun Yang offers about 22 drinks, including both simple fruit and milk teas, and also more elaborate flavors like cheese and chocolate. Customers can modify their drinks using standard options such as sweetness and toppings. The price range is also typical of Bay Area boba shops, varying from $5 to $8. The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.
Chun Yang’s biggest perk is its location. Located in Huang Engineering Center, students now have a convenient way to get a beverage for their study session without paying for an online delivery service. Unfortunately, the drinks themselves are not as amazing as the prime location.
Alexandra Breschini ’26 got a large peach freeze. She said that although the drink tempts with a taste of peach, she ultimately felt it was really watered down. She thought the aiyu jelly was average, but the drink itself felt boring.
“It makes me sad. I would not come back to this,” Breschini said. “It just tastes like a poorly made snow cone.”
The first drink that I tasted was a medium-sized passion fruit green tea with lychee jelly, 70% sugar and a stronger tea flavor. The drink had passion fruit seeds, which is usually a good sign because it means that actual jam was used instead of a syrup. The lychee jelly tasted standard, and the drink wasn’t too sweet. But despite ordering a stronger tea flavor, it was hard to taste the tea. This drink was definitely above one from T4 or KungFu Tea, but not quite as good as a passion fruit green tea from Wanpo. Overall, I would rate this a 3/5 — there’s nothing really special about it.
The cosmo guava mango orange smoothie, which comes with aiyu jelly, was something that I personally looked forward to. I had really high hopes for this drink because I normally love guava, orange and mango. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Although the aiyu jelly has a good tea flavor, the drink itself tasted a lot like orange juice, and the guava and mango flavors were lacking. I’d rate this a 2/5.
The other drink I tasted was the taro with fresh milk drink, which I got with pudding and regular milk. The pudding had a good texture, but the taste of the pudding wasn’t great. I’d get it again, but only because of convenience. A side note — regular ice was a lot more ice than expected. This drink gets a 3/5.
But Chun Yang’s drink offerings were not a disappointment for everyone.
Andrew Zeng ’26 got the cold cocoa latte with regular ice and red beans. According to Zeng, the chocolate flavor was very rich and meshed well with the red bean.
“It’s quite nice. I think it’s a great treat to brighten your day,” Zeng said.
He said he’d be willing to come again. However, since he lives on east campus and Chun Yang is a bit of a trek for him, he’d only come back if he went with friends. Overall, he really liked his drink — but factoring in the distance, he rated it a 3.8/5.
Sylvain Paul ’26 got a large roasted oolong tea latte with boba. Paul said he really enjoyed the drink.
“I think it’s a little bit more tea forward than what some people are expecting, but I like tea,” Paul said. “Also, if you get it with a little bit more sugar, it sort of evens out.”
Paul wished the boba pearls had a little bit more flavor. However, the tea itself had an earthy flavor that he really enjoyed, and experimenting with the sweetness level helped him find balance in the drink. He would rate this as a 4/5.
Overall, Chun Yang’s convenience is unbeatable. The drinks are drinkable. The prices are definitely high, but still comparable to most boba places close by. They don’t take meal plan dollars, but because of convenience, you might catch me there again in the future.