My Cup Of Tea

Pretty drinks all in a row.

Sweet drinks have never factored greatly in my love of food. Or any drink, for that matter. I find coffee the number two biggest smell-taste letdown (the number one is bacon), because it smells so darn god when it is brewing, but when it is drunk, the taste just does not jive with the smell. So I prefer to save the calories which come with a Coke or after meal tea or coffee (the thought of black tea or coffee is revolting, hence the calories) and plough them back into real dessert. The solid, munchy type. 

Lately however, I have a new craze. I’ve always really liked bubble tea – it’s because it gives me something to eat as I drink – and now I have found a place where it is served well, and by really nice people. 

The Chatime franchise is a mega huge one, with new outlets opening seemingly at the blink of an eye. It is a good business model – automated to a point, and able to run on less than capacity intellect. However, business is all about people. And the food business even more so. 

Hence, despite the many Chatimes around our area, we keep retuning to the kiosk in SS2 Mall. It is run by the Kua family and it may be the evolution of the family run coffee shop. Mr Kua invested in the franchise for his daughters, whom he unabashedly tells me are not the most academically inclined. Well, I say power to them! I’ve had to interview a number of the so-called graduates the Unis are churning out and I have not been impressed. So bloody what if you have an Honours Degree? Your work ethic sucks and because mummy and daddy paid for your piece of paper does not mean you have an ounce of sense for the real working world. 

Anyhow, rant over, the F&B industry is more of need of intelligent people with real-life experience and a willing attitude to learn than hotel school grads.  So it’s always nice to be greeted by the Kua family. I get a good chat, in really good English, while savouring the great beverages. 

Chatime prides itself on using only hand-picked, sun-dried Taiwanese tea leaves. It is so much more than a bubble tea kiosk, because its signature lines (or series as they are called), all feature tea-based beverages. No powdered, coloured drinks here!

The teas are truly exceptional. There is a lovely flavour and aroma, and a smooth mouth feel. Depending on what tea one selects, you can even expect something with a lot of ‘meat’ in the mouth feel, a robustness that really surprises. 

One drink is never enough. I try very hard to support the small business communities wherever I live and I consider it my duty to ensure the Kua family makes some money from me. 

A drink symphony!

This round we ordered the green rice tea with pearls, the roasted rice mousse tea and the grass jelly with fresh milk. Another thing that differentiates Chatime is that you can choose the level of ice and sugar that you want in your drink. Some drinks need no sugar at all, like the passion fruit. Some need the full sugar blast – like the slightly icky, powdery yam smoothie. But most do well with slight sugar, especially if you add in the pearls and the jellies. 

I’m slowly drinking my way through the menu, but it is hard to resist the ones I love the best. Still, in the interest of blogging, one must endeavor to differentiate. 

The verdict on today’s choices? Green rice tea with pearls is so good. There is that robusty flavour I wrote about, giving the feeling of largesse in every sip. The pearls lend another sensory dimension, with their chewiness. 

The roasted rice mousse is topped with whipped milk, making it sort of a tea latte. It is rather more serious, less fun. It has a woodsy, slightly nerdy character to it, but it is definitely a drink for people who don’t like stuff in their beverages, as it has no bubbles, no jelly. 

The fresh milk and grass jelly is ambrosia. The grass jelly (cincau) is the best to be had in the business. Smooth, fragrant, silken and not at all stodgy or lumpy. It is made fresh every day in limited quantities and needs to set in the fridge over night, so sometimes they run out of it! 

I have already filled my loyalty card with enough stamps for two free drinks! But I will save them for later! These drinks are filling, as they use real full cream milk!