Bubble tea trend comes to the Chattahoochee Valley with new shop on Airport Thruway

An international bubble tea chain will be adding their first location outside of metro Atlanta in the Chattahoochee Valley in the upcoming months.

The new bubble tea shop, named Kung Fu Tea, will be at 2505-K Airport Thruway in Columbus, next to One Main Financial, according to their location’s page.

The permit for the building was issued to owner Chen Chieh Meng on Dec. 20 of last year, according to a permit posted in the window of the building.

Kung Fu Tea — founded in 2009 by three friends in New York after a trip to Taiwan — specializes in creating handcrafted bubble tea drinks which originated in Taiwan in the 1980s.

Flavored teas are poured over ice and mixed with a variety of milks and creams (including dairy-free Lactaid milk) which can also include toppings like chewy tapioca balls, jellies, milk foam and more. The teas also can be combined with fruit juices, called Punch, or yogurt.

Examples of their menu offerings include milk tea with Oreo bubbles, strawberry lemonade tea, matcha tea with red beans or an Italian mocha slush.

The eatery also serves slushes and hot or cold espresso drinks.

A few of Kung Fu Tea’s other locations are on the campus of Georgia State University, inside of The Battery at Truist Park and in Doraville.

When the Columbus location opens, it’ll be the eighth in the state and the first not in the Atlanta area.

The Ledger-Enquirer reached out to Kung Fu Tea’s corporate office to figure out when an exact date for the location will open, but have not heard back from them yet.

This won’t be the first bubble tea place in the Chattahoochee Valley, however.

Yummy Villa, with locations in Columbus and Auburn, as well as Ice Queen at 6600 Whittlesey Blvd. also serve the Taiwanese drink.