Honey Bee Tea opens in Brentwood

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Photo by Holly Fann

Photo by Holly Fann

Boba tea's popularity continues to grow in St. Louis. This week, Honey Bee Tea (8558 Eager) opened its second metro area location in the heart of Brentwood, after co-owners Hai Tang and his wife, Moon, opened the flagship in Manchester last year. A third location is also slated to open in St. Charles this spring. Here's what to know before you go.

The Menu

Photo by Holly Fann

The menu is extensive, with hot tea drinks, smoothies, slushies, milk teas, fruit teas, and intricate signature teas that combine flavors, textures, temperatures, and colors. While chain tea shops might offer 100-plus drink options and smaller shops only a dozen, Bee Tea exists in that middle ground: perfect for experienced boba tea visitors, as well as first-timers who may have never considered adding toasted creme brulee pudding to their afternoon drinks.

The menu includes five bobas, five jellies, and four creme brulee options, including such customizable additions as the more standard mango as well as more unexpected strawberry-flavored popping boba. Paired with sweet, ripe fruit and fresh milk and juices, the tea offered at Honey Bee is exceptionally good.

“We import our tea and ingredients directly from Taiwan,” says co-owner Hai Tang. The high-quality ingredients are evident in the soft, velvety freshness of the boba and rich teas.

Fresh Taiwanese bubble waffles are also available for snacking and can be topped with any of the custom drink options.

Photo by Holly Fann

The Atmosphere

The shop is chic and trendy, with an Instagram-ready wall of climbing faux foliage framing a neon sign that spells “Par-Tea.” Bowls of fresh fruit sit on marble tables, and emerald velvet and brass touches add polish to the space.

The Background

Photo by Holly Fann

Boba tea shops have been a ubiquitous part of East Asian culture since originating in Taiwan in the 1980s and quickly spreading into China, Japan, and South Korea. Much like coffeehouses in the United States, a daily visit to a neighborhood bubble tea shop is common practice in these countries, so it only makes sense that new tea shops are starting to land in strip malls and shopping plazas located in suburban neighborhoods in both St. Louis city and county.

When both chain and locally owned tea shops first appeared in St. Louis a few years ago, busy dining districts such as the Delmar Loop seemed like an obvious spot to attract new customers and introduce them to the world of tea-, milk-, and fruit-based drinks.

Hai Tang and his wife, Moon, opened the flagship Honey Bee Tea in Manchester last year. Hai is in real estate, and his wife owns a popular Korean medical spa in the area. Lovers of travel and tea, they spent many years visiting boba tea spots all over Asia and the United States, deciding what types of drinks to offer and how they could set their business apart from other local tea shops.