Bubble tea in Brighton is a bigger scene than the city lets on. Eleven names are trading in some form, most of them within a ten minute walk of each other between North Laine, Churchill Square and Queens Road, and Gardner Street alone has had three. This guide covers who is trading, where they are, when the ones with published hours open, and who actually runs each one, because “independent” gets claimed a lot more often than it is true.
Published prices are inconsistent across the scene. Some shops, Bubble CiTea among them, publish current prices, ingredients and allergen information on their own websites, while others make you rely on delivery apps or the menu board in the window. Where a shop tells you nothing in advance, this guide says so rather than guessing.
Table of Contents
Bubble Tea in Brighton at a Glance
| Name | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Pearls Bubble Tea | 5 Gardner Street, BN1 1UP | Multi-location brand, longest standing in Brighton |
| LayTea | 7 Gardner Street, BN1 1UP | Multi-location brand, next door to Pearls |
| Tee Tea | 16 Imperial Arcade, BN1 3EA | Independent, moved from Church Street |
| CUPP | 25 Bond Street, BN1 1RD | UK chain, now a CUPP x Moomin cafe |
| Bubble CiTea | Lower ground, Churchill Square, BN1 2RG | UK chain, publishes full prices online |
| T4 | 1 Queens Road, BN1 3WA | International chain, opens at midday |
| Mooboo | 46 Preston Street, BN1 2HP | UK chain, opens from 12.30pm |
| Meowko | 82a North Street, BN1 1ZA | Independent, cat themed, standing only |
| William Bubble Tea & Coffee | 122 St James’s Street, BN2 1TH | Independent, dedicated Kemptown bubble tea shop |
| Drink What 9 | 5A Cranbourne Street, BN1 2RD | Independent newcomer, Hong Kong style |
| Chatime | 133 Queens Road, BN1 3WB | International chain |
Addresses and trading status checked August 2026. The scene changes fast enough that any list claiming to be final probably is not, including this one by next spring.
Gardner Street, the Bubble Tea Row
Pearls at number 5 and LayTea at number 7 sit next door but one, with a third, Yue, having come and gone.
Pearls describes itself as the original bubble tea on the south coast, and it has been on Gardner Street long enough that a fair share of the city’s bubble tea drinkers started here. It is no single-shop local though: its own site lists locations from Brighton and Falmer to Leeds, Leicester and Reading. It runs a loyalty card and currently lists opening hours of 10am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 9pm Saturday and 11am to 7pm Sunday.
LayTea next door is likewise a multi-location brand, with Leeds on its books, and runs its own loyalty scheme, with a matcha list its regulars rate as highly as its bubble tea, the matcha guide covers that scene city-wide. Open 11am to 7pm, every day.
If you cannot decide, this remains the easiest comparison in the city. You can stand outside one and see the other.
Tee Tea, and the Address That Has Changed
Tee Tea is now at 16 Imperial Arcade, off Queens Road. Older guides still list it at 11 Church Street, so if you have been sent there by something you read a couple of years ago, that is why you could not find it.
It is a genuine independent and one of the latest-opening options in the city: 10.30am to 10pm every day, 11am on Sundays. For evening bubble tea it shares the late shift with CUPP, whose Friday and Saturday hours also run to 10pm, and Chatime on some days.
The Chains, and What Separates Them
CUPP on Bond Street trades as a CUPP x Moomin cafe, which is not a thing most of its other stores do. Its site describes drinks made with loose leaf tea, fresh fruit, organic milk and housemade brown sugar syrup, though its published menu is priceless in the literal sense, the image file is named “NOPRICES”. Its site and its Google listing disagree about closing times midweek, but its own pages give 10pm closes on Fridays and Saturdays, putting it among the city’s latest options.
Bubble CiTea on the lower ground floor of Churchill Square is the transparency award winner: it publishes current prices, ingredients, nutrition and allergen information on its own website, which no other shop here matches. Convenient if you are already shopping, and it closes at 5pm on Sundays.
T4 at the bottom of Queens Road does not open until midday, seven days a week, and shuts at 8pm, 7pm on Sundays.
Mooboo on Preston Street does not open until 12.30pm. It is the furthest west, past the Churchill Square end of Western Road.
Chatime at 133 Queens Road is the international-chain option on the station approach. It remains listed as a current Brighton branch by Chatime UK, although published opening hours vary between platforms, so check before a late visit.
The Ones You Will Not Stumble Across
William Bubble Tea & Coffee at 122 St James’s Street is a dedicated bubble tea shop in Kemptown. If you live that side, it saves you the walk into town. It takes cash, which not all of these do.
Meowko on North Street is cat themed and very small. There is no seating, so it is a walk-up rather than somewhere to sit.
Drink What 9 at 5A Cranbourne Street, beside Churchill Square, is the newcomer worth crossing town for: a Hong Kong-run independent doing Hong Kong-style drinks properly, fresh taro, jasmine green teas, plus Hong Kong-style bubble waffles. It takes orders through Uber Eats, and its early reviews read like love letters.
What It Costs
The honest answer is that it depends where you look. Bubble CiTea publishes its prices in full, its Dirty Milk Tea listed at £5.10 regular and £5.60 large at the time of checking, and that is the most useful benchmark the scene offers: bubble tea here is priced like a speciality coffee rather than a soft drink. Several others publish flavour lists without prices, CUPP most conspicuously, and the rest leave you to the delivery apps or the counter.
What holds everywhere: toppings are usually charged on top of the base drink, alternative milks sometimes carry a surcharge, and sugar and ice levels are free choices. Asking for 50% sugar is the single most useful thing to know if you find the standard version sickly. For the days the budget matters more than the boba, the cheap eats guide covers the city’s better-value corners.
Also Worth Knowing
A couple are late starters. T4 opens at midday and Mooboo at 12.30pm, so check opening times if either is your first choice. Most of the other confirmed shops are open before lunch.
Ask for less sugar. Standard sweetness in most shops is set high, and it is the most common complaint you will read about any of them. Every shop here lets you set it. Start at 50% on a milk tea and adjust from there.
Popping pearls are already sweet. If you are ordering fruit tea with popping boba, drop the sugar level further than you would on tapioca, because the toppings add their own.
Loyalty cards are worth taking. Pearls and LayTea both run them, and if you are the sort of person who reads a bubble tea guide you will use one.
FAQs
How many bubble tea shops are there in Brighton?
Eleven trading as of August 2026: Pearls, LayTea, Tee Tea, CUPP, Bubble CiTea, T4, Mooboo, Meowko, William, Chatime and newcomer Drink What 9.
How much is bubble tea in Brighton?
Expect speciality-coffee prices: Bubble CiTea, the one shop publishing full prices, lists its Dirty Milk Tea at £5.10 to £5.60, with toppings charged separately across the scene and sometimes a surcharge for oat or soya milk.
Which bubble tea shop in Brighton is open latest?
Tee Tea runs to 10pm according to current listings, CUPP closes at 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and Chatime also has late opening on some days. Check same-day hours before making a late trip.
Where can I get bubble tea in Kemptown?
William Bubble Tea & Coffee at 122 St James’s Street is the dedicated bubble tea option covered here, and it takes cash. Nanima on St George’s Road also lists boba bubble tea among its drinks.
Is there vegan bubble tea in Brighton?
Yes. Oat and soya are widely available across these shops, though some charge extra for them. Tapioca pearls are vegan as standard. Where it gets less certain is jellies, puddings and anything cheese foam based, so ask rather than assume.
Which bubble tea shops in Brighton are genuinely independent?
Tee Tea, Meowko, William and Drink What 9. Pearls and LayTea are multi-location brands with shops in other cities, and CUPP, Bubble CiTea, T4, Mooboo and Chatime are chains.
Final Thoughts
Mostly it comes down to where you already are. In North Laine, Pearls and LayTea are next door to each other and you can just try both. Around Churchill Square, Bubble CiTea is downstairs and Drink What 9 is around the corner. In Kemptown, William is the dedicated bubble tea option. In the evening, Tee Tea, CUPP and Chatime run latest, so check the day’s hours.
If you want the shop that tells you the most before you order, that is Bubble CiTea, prices, ingredients and allergens in writing. If you want the one the city is most excited about right now, it is Drink What 9.
And whichever you pick, ask for 50% sugar the first time. You can go up next time.
