This guide covers chain hand-shaken tea shops (手搖飲) in Taiwan. It does not cover independent single-location stalls, which sit outside the chain labelling rule described below.
Does half sugar mean half?
Half sugar does not mean half of a fixed quantity, because there is no fixed quantity to halve. The Taiwanese sugar tiers are ordinal steps on a scale that each chain sets per drink, and the top of that scale moves.
清心福全's product pages make this explicit. Its 烏龍綠茶 page lists the on-site sugar options as 「無糖、微糖、半糖、少糖」 and then adds 「本產品最高甜度為『少糖』」 — the maximum sweetness for that drink is 少糖, so no 全糖 exists to be halved (chingshin.tw/product/oolong-green-tea, checked 2026-09-07).
On 原鄉四季 the same site goes a step further: 「本產品之最高糖分設定為『半糖』，若消費者點餐習慣性點『少糖』，門市調製時將視同『半糖』」 — the ceiling is 半糖, and a customer who orders 少糖 out of habit is served 半糖 instead (chingshin.tw/product/taiwan-four-seasons-oolong-tea, checked 2026-09-07). Two words, one cup.
What do the sugar tiers mean?
The sugar words below are the ones that appear on the chain menus checked for this guide. The middle columns give the Chinese as written on those menus; the practical note records what the chain's own page says about it.
| Tier as spoken | Chinese | What it actually means | Practical note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full sugar | 全糖 | The shop's standardised maximum sugar addition for that drink | The TFDA Q&A treats 全糖 as a shop's 「標準化之最高糖添加量」, but not every chain offers it on every drink |
| Normal | 正常 | KEBUKE's name for its top setting where only three options exist | KEBUKE's menu marks such items 「糖量僅提供正常、微糖、無糖」 |
| Less sugar | 少糖 | One step below full sugar — and the ceiling on many 清心福全 teas | Ordering it on a drink capped lower gets you that lower cap instead |
| Half sugar | 半糖 | The middle step; on 清心福全's 原鄉四季 it is the ceiling | On that drink, 少糖 and 半糖 produce the same cup |
| Slight sugar | 微糖 | The lowest sweetened step named on both 清心福全 and KEBUKE menus | 國民健康署 advises choosing 無糖 or 微糖 when buying hand-shaken drinks |
| No sugar | 無糖 | No liquid sugar added | Not universal: KEBUKE flags some drinks 「最低提供1分糖選項」, so zero is unavailable |
| Numbered sugar | ○分糖 | A numbered scale used alongside the word tiers | KEBUKE's menu references 1分糖 as a floor but does not publish the full numbered scale on that page |
Sources for this table: kebuke.com/menu and chingshin.tw product pages, both checked 2026-09-07, and the 食藥署 Q&A A5, revised 2022-06-07.
What do the ice tiers mean?
Ice tiers change the temperature and, at some chains, the strength of the tea. KEBUKE prints its ice range directly on the menu for milk-tea items as 「冰量限制：去冰/微冰/少冰/正常冰」 (kebuke.com/menu, checked 2026-09-07).
| Tier as spoken | Chinese | What it actually means | Practical note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular ice | 正常冰 | The default ice fill | 清心福全 publishes its sugar and calorie figures at 正常冰, so this is the configuration the numbers describe |
| Less ice | 少冰 | One step down from the default | Named on KEBUKE's menu as part of its four-step ice range |
| Little ice | 微冰 | Two steps down; a small amount of ice | Named on KEBUKE's menu; not published on every chain's site |
| No ice | 去冰 | Cold drink, no ice cubes | At 清心福全 this triggers added plain water — see the note below |
| Warm or hot | 溫飲 / 熱飲 | A heated version, where offered | KEBUKE marks some drinks 「無常溫、溫、熱飲，最低冰量為『去冰』」, meaning no warm version exists |
Which chains publish what?
Chain transparency about these tiers varies more than the tiers themselves. The table compares what each chain's own website published on 2026-09-07 — not what staff will offer in store, which can be broader.
| Chain (official site) | Sugar tiers named on its own site | Ice tiers named on its own site | Per-drink sugar and calorie figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| 清心福全 (chingshin.tw) | 無糖、微糖、半糖、少糖, plus a per-product ceiling | 正常冰 named on product pages; 去冰 discussed in the FAQ; no full list | Yes — grams and kcal for 中杯 and 大杯 |
| 可不可熟成紅茶 KEBUKE (kebuke.com) | 正常、微糖、無糖 on some drinks; 1分糖 floor on others | 去冰／微冰／少冰／正常冰 | Yes — grams, kcal and caffeine mg per size |
| 50嵐 (50嵐.tw and 50lan.com) | None found | None found | No |
| 迷客夏 Milksha (milksha.com) | None found in page text; menus are image PDFs | None found in page text | Not present as readable text |
| 一芳水果茶 (yifangteaglobal.com) | None found | None found | No |
| CoCo 都可 (coco-tea.com) | None found | None found | No |
A note on 50嵐, because it is the chain visitors ask about most. Its corporate site states that the brand operates through separate regional agent companies — 深耕茶業 for 台北區, 雅嵐 for 中區, 五十嵐企業 for 台南區 and 新嵐 for 高雄區 — and the Taipei-region site carries the line 「本網站由台北區50嵐建置‧非全省50嵐官方網站」, declaring itself not the nationwide official site. Neither site published sugar or ice tier names when checked on 2026-09-07. 麻古茶坊's site links a 熱量表, but as an image file rather than readable text, so its tier names could not be confirmed from the page source.
What must shops disclose?
Taiwanese law requires chain beverage shops to disclose four things about a freshly prepared drink, and a per-tier sugar breakdown is not one of them. Under 「連鎖飲料便利商店及速食業之現場調製飲料標示規定」, covered businesses must show the cup's 總糖量 (total sugar), 總熱量 (total calories), 總咖啡因含量 (total caffeine) and the country of origin of the tea or coffee raw material, disclosed by card, menu note, label, sign, QR code or other electronic means (食藥署 explainer, filed 2024-08-14, checked 2026-09-07).
The rule covers chains, defined in the official Q&A as businesses using the same name through company or business registration, franchising or licensing. Restaurants and breakfast shops that mainly serve food are outside it (食藥署 Q&A A1 and A2, revised 2022-06-07).
Two details in that Q&A explain why the numbers on a menu often do not match your cup:
- The figure may be either an actual value or a maximum value, and a maximum must be annotated 「最高值」 (A3).
- Where a shop uses 全糖 as its standardised maximum, publishing only the 全糖 figure is lawful; sizes, however, must each be labelled separately (A5).
One more definition matters when you compare a menu figure to a health guideline. The Q&A states that the amended rule replaced the old requirement to declare 「全糖之添加量」 with a requirement to declare 「該杯飲料總糖量及總熱量」, and defines 總糖量 as the total of mono- and disaccharides in the whole cup (A4, revised 2022-06-07). That includes sugar from milk, fruit and toppings, not only the syrup the staff member pumps in — so a printed 50 g is not directly comparable to the 50 g added-sugar ceiling in the next section.
The rule also reaches drinks that are not mixed in front of you. Where a chain's shops merely decant beverages produced at a central factory, the Q&A says the cup must still carry total sugar, total calories and total caffeine (A17). Shops may additionally print voluntary reminders such as 「首選無糖或微糖」 or 「清爽少糖少負擔」, which the authority encourages rather than requires (A22).
Caffeine may be shown as a number or as a red/yellow/green band, where red is 201 mg or more per cup, yellow is 101–200 mg and green is 100 mg or less (A8). Failing to label carries a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$3,000,000, and false labelling NT$40,000 to NT$4,000,000 (A20). The current version of the rule, requiring total sugar rather than only added sugar, took effect on 2021-01-01 (衛生福利部 announcement, filed 2020-10-05, checked 2026-09-07).
How much sugar arrives?
A single large cup can meet or exceed the government's whole-day added-sugar guidance. 國民健康署's 2018 「國民飲食指標」 set the limit that added sugar should not exceed 10% of daily calories — about 200 kcal, or 50 g of sugar, on a 2,000 kcal diet — and the same release notes that a 700 ml full-sugar 綠茶多多 carries over 70 g of added sugar and that full-sugar 珍珠奶茶 and 烏龍奶茶 carry over 60 g (mohw.gov.tw, filed 2018-06-25, checked 2026-09-07).
Against that benchmark, here is what two chains actually publish. All figures below were read from the chains' own pages on 2026-09-07.
- 清心福全 烏龍綠茶, at 正常冰／少糖: 大杯 51 g sugar and 226 kcal; 中杯 34 g and 149 kcal.
- 清心福全 珍珠奶茶, at 正常冰／少糖: 大杯 50 g sugar and 720 kcal; 中杯 33 g and 475 kcal.
- 清心福全 原鄉四季, at 正常冰／半糖: 大杯 28 g sugar and 128 kcal; 中杯 18 g and 84 kcal.
- KEBUKE 金蜜烏龍: 中杯 47.2 g sugar, 189.9 kcal and 77.7 mg caffeine; 大杯 59.4 g, 239.3 kcal and 122.1 mg caffeine.
- KEBUKE 白玉奶茶: 中杯 53.3 g sugar and 471.8 kcal; 大杯 65.3 g sugar.
KEBUKE's menu prints more than sugar and calories against each drink. The same entries carry a caffeine figure or band and a dietary marker — 奶素可食用 for lacto-vegetarian, 全素可食用 for vegan-suitable in the site's own classification, 純素可食用 on some caffeine-free items — plus allergen warnings such as 「本產品含有奶精及其製品」 and advisories for children, pregnant and breastfeeding customers (kebuke.com/menu, checked 2026-09-07). 清心福全's product pages carry the equivalent detail as an ingredient table listing each component's country of origin, for example 錫蘭紅茶茶葉 from 印度、印尼, 嚴選奶精 from 泰國 and 珍珠（粉圓） from 台灣 on its 珍珠奶茶 page.
Read those 清心福全 numbers carefully: they are measured at the drink's maximum sweetness, which for these teas is 少糖 or 半糖. Order 微糖 and you get less than the printed figure, but the site does not say how much less.
What is not standardised?
Several things that visitors assume are national conventions are not. There is no legal definition of 半糖, 少糖 or 微糖 anywhere in the beverage labelling rule; the regulation governs disclosure of what is in the finished cup, not the design of the sweetness ladder. There is no published gram figure per tier at either chain that discloses grams — 清心福全 publishes one configuration, KEBUKE publishes one figure per size, and neither maps the intermediate tiers. There is no guaranteed 全糖 option, because ceilings are set per drink. There is no guaranteed 無糖 option either: KEBUKE marks some drinks 「最低提供1分糖選項」. There is no guaranteed hot version, and no chain among the six checked published an official English label for each tier. And the numbered 分糖 scale that appears on some menus is not defined on the pages where it appears.
The labelling rule also stops at the standard drink. The 食藥署 Q&A states that customised drinks, where a customer adds or removes toppings, are outside the rule's scope, and only recommends that shops publish the sugar and calories per portion of topping (A18, revised 2022-06-07). A cup with extra pearls is not covered by the number on the board.
How do you order it?
Order in the fixed sequence Taiwanese staff expect: drink, size, sugar, ice, toppings. Saying the sugar tier before the ice tier is what the counter is listening for, and the two words are usually asked back to you as confirmation.
If you want the lowest-sugar version of anything, ask for 無糖 first and let the staff correct you down to 微糖 or 1分糖 if that drink has a floor. If you want the strongest tea flavour at 清心福全 specifically, its FAQ says to ask for 去冰 without added water, or 加厚. And if a chain's tier names do not match what you read here, trust the board in front of you: the words move between brands, and the shop's own menu is the only authority for the cup you are buying.