New Yorkers looking for their next favorite sip have a new destination — and it’s not the average boba shop.
TEAPULSE, a modern tea atelier rooted in Shanghai, is making its Manhattan debut with four new locations. The rollout includes a flagship store in Koreatown, plus new outposts on Canal Street in Chinatown, Madison Square Park, and Central Park. TEAPULSE is growing its New York footprint that already includes cafés in Flushing, Bayside, Doyers Street, and Fresh Meadows, Queens.
“Manhattan is our destination. It’s our home,” said Yates, co-founder and CEO of TEAPULSE, stating that the borough will be their base moving forward.
The brand is the U.S. extension of Jidong Tea, a 19-year-old Shanghai institution with more than 2,000 locations worldwide. But don’t call it a bubble tea shop; Yates is quick to push back on that label.
“We don’t take ourselves as another bubble tea shop. Our menu structures are pretty different from all other boba concepts,” he said.
TEAPULSE’s menu is built around tea-infused lemonades layered with cheese, silky milk teas, fruit teas, smoothies, and a newly launched coffee line — all made without artificial additives and with high-quality, fresh ingredients. Signature flavors like Orchid Blanc, Jasmine, Osmanthus, and Amber Ceylon can be ordered as cheese teas or silky milk teas, while bright fruit teas are infused with antioxidant-rich lemonade in flavors like Strawberry and Grape.
“We have traditional boba teas, but kind of re-innovated,” Yates explained.
An addition to the menu is a light pastry program centered on pastel de nata. For Yates, the flaky, creamy Portuguese-style egg tart beloved across southern Asia and made famous in Macau is a personal touch.
“I was born in the southern part of Asia, and was very familiar with egg tarts. We ate them every day,” he said. Upon visiting Portugal, he fell in love with pastel de nata. “It was awesome — so great. And we figured, why don’t we bring the traditions from Portugal over here?”
While TEAPULSE is currently focusing on the pastries and their extensive drink menu, Yates revealed that donuts are also on the way, expected to arrive by March or April.
“We are based in New York, and the brand was born in New York City, so obviously, as a constituent of New York City, we do want to do more, engage more,” Yates said. “When the weather gets better, we will be doing a lot of activities or collaborations with nonprofit organizations, and within the communities.”
With locations near Central Park and Madison Square Park, TEAPULSE is already planning to take the experience outdoors when the weather warms up. “We are very down-to-earth as a brand,” Yates said. “We want to get into people’s everyday life.”
TEAPULSE’s new Manhattan locations include 65 W 30th St (Koreatown), 167 Canal St (Chinatown), 111 E 23rd St (Madison Square Park), and 1375B 6th Ave (Central Park). For more information, visit teapulseusa.com.
