So many different drinks, so little time… I normally try to stay away from drinking my calories (hence I often just drink hot black tea with a little Splenda in the mix), but lately it’s been hard not to try out various milk tea, coffee, and even juice places. Here’s where I’ve gone in the past few months.
Chatime
The last time I drank a milk tea with pearls, it was at an Ersao branch on E. Rodriguez two years ago. I’d been craving that for some time and Happy Lemon didn’t do it for me (the pearls are so small!) so when I heard about this place called Chatime from my sister and her husband, I was so there. My drink is a pearl milk tea with 25% sugar and less ice. Being the milk tea place with plenty of branches, I can always count on a Chatime to satisfy my cravings.
Serenitea
This place is a favorite of some online friends, mentioned plenty on their Twitter accounts. The branch in Burgos Circle was the most accessible when I had a milk tea craving in the BGC area, so I went and got myself a milk tea with pearls (I figure it’s easier to compare between milk tea places when you order the same thing at each of them).
The milk tea mix itself tastes a little grassy, like it’s been infused with that smell the ground has when it’s been dampened by rain. The pearls were a little less firm than Chatime’s. I was already at 50% sugar but it still didn’t pack that zing I was looking for. Hmm. Wrong drink, maybe?
Gong Cha
My sister and I were at Megamall during their last 3-day sale when I spotted a red kiosk at the Atrium. They were on soft opening, but I could see plenty of people already lining up. This Gong Cha must be good, I thought.
That was the first day my love affair with Gong Cha began. I even came up with a song about it. “Gong Cha wish your milk tea was strong like me, Gong Cha wish your milk tea was fun like me, Gong Chaaaaaaaa!” My drink here was their house special wintermelon tea with additional pearls. I really love the Gong Cha cream (which is like the Happy Lemon cream cheese, less the saltiness) which blends with my tea as I sip it, creating an ever-creamier drink until the last drop.
Drink Tea
I spotted this place at Podium a few weeks ago while binge-eating Indian food at New Bombay. We couldn’t try it out back then because we were so full, but I came back the other day and ordered my usual: a milk tea with the least amount of sugar possible.
The pearls were red, a departure from the black pearls I’d been used to. They also had a different flavor, as if the sago mix contained a little cherry essence. Mmm! I’ll definitely be back.
Jamba Juice
I missed my invitation to the private launch event for Jamba Juice because it landed in my Spam folder, but it piqued my curiosity enough to warrant a visit.
Aside from its imported name and imagery, nothing really makes Jamba Juice stand out from its local counterparts which have been here for some time (owners possibly inspired by a visit to a Jamba Juice in the US). Mondo Juice in Galleria has the same blended frozen fruit and juice concept, and at a cheaper price. I ordered here the Five Fruit Frenzy, managed to finish it all, but didn’t experience my tastebuds dancing in my mouth. I think I’ll just make fruit shakes at home.
Blenz Coffee
Like I said, I’m a hot tea drinker, but when Nuffnang invited a few bloggers and myself to a coffee break at Blenz Coffee in BGC where we would learn to do latte art, I jumped at it. I mean, where else do you have license to play with your food?
Apparently, when you pull your espresso shot correctly, and when the milk temperature is just right, you can create pretty pictures when pouring the milk into your latte, and the color swirls should hold. It’s supposed to be one of the hallmarks of a good latte. Here I am with my monkey-face latte.
We also got to try out their Belgian chocolate drinks, which are made with Belgian chocolate bars melted in hot milk. So good! But what really stuck with me was their matcha latte. It’s real Japanese matcha (green tea leaves ground to a fine powder) blended with water using a bamboo whisk, which means it doesn’t clump up and look like pond scum. I’ve been on the hunt for a Blenz matcha latte fix since then.
Any other places I should try out? 🙂
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so many choices!!
in your milk tea encounters, have you chanced upon any of them offering the usual milk tea but with the pearl being injected with another flavor?
in a milk tea shop in binondo i tried one with ‘yogurt’ inside the pearl. they call it a magic jelly or magic bean or something. hehe quite unique.
Hi Jed. It’s been pretty much run-of-the-mill black pearls. What’s the name of that milk tea shop in Binondo? I’ve actually never been to Binondo, haha. (shameful!)
haha. really? its hard to park a car here hehe just a warning 🙂
here’s their FB page… menu, third from top
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=106741432760917&set=a.106740222761038.7642.100002751830893&type=3&theater
as for the tea itself i don’t what to say about it since tea is as common as water for me. i’m just in the milk tea craze for the chewy and sweet stuff 🙂
what i like with Gong Cha is they use a reusable plastic cup for their biggest size. i keep them. hehe.
10 years ago it was the ‘zagu’ craze. ano kaya ang pagkakaguluhan after another 10 years hmmmm
Nakakaawa nga the frozen yogurt shops eh (another past food craze). We’ll see in a year which ones remain standing.
Hi Noelle,
I don’t think that it’s fair that you compare Mondo Juice to Jamba. For one thing they are very different. Jamba Juice adds a lot of sugar in their “smoothies”, while Mondo Juice does not add any at all.
If you look at the calorie count at Jamba, it’s at least twice that of Mondo. Which is quite a lot.
Arthur, what I said was “Mondo Juice has the same blended frozen fruit and juice concept, and at a much cheaper price.” I meant that Mondo blends fruit and juice together; it’s the same kind of store, much like Starbucks and Figaro are the same kind of store, though they don’t formulate drinks the same way. I’m not saying that Jamba and Mondo have the same sugar/calorie count.
I’ve been a matcha enthusiast for 3 years now and I love the results. I feel the benefits of it. It is my stress reliever and it gives me energy the whole day without feeling tiredness. I love it!