milk tea adventures!!!

reviews of milk teas and milk tea cafes in the greater toronto area! occasionally clear teas too :) Frequently at these locations: ♥ Chatime ♥ Presotea ♥ Bubble Republic ♥ Kung Fu Tea Shop ♥ Green Grotto RIP Latte Mei :(

[milkcha]

Yogurt Green Tea | Chatime

Review under the cut!

Name: Yogurt Green Tea Cost: 4.20 regular size Location: Chatime, 720 Burhamthrope Road W (Mississauga) - Mavis/Burhamthrope Content: green tea, yogurt drink Extras additions: aloe vera

Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★  Strength of tea flavour: ★★★ Sweetness: ★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: yes Recommend to others: yes

Great yogurt flavour!!! Clean taste and good balance of sweetness. The aloe vera is less sweet in comparison but complimented the yogurt flavour regardless.

[milkcha]

Malt Milk Tea | Chatime

Review under the cut!

Name: Malt Milk Tea Cost: 4.20 regular size Location: Chatime, 720 Burhamthrope Road W (Mississauga) - Mavis/Burhamthrope Content: milk tea, malt Extras additions: grass jelly

Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★ Strength of tea flavour: ★★★★ Sweetness: ★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: yes Recommend to others: tentative yes only if they like malt I guess

I like malt flavour, so I went with this drink knowing what to expect. It was a good medium body flavour of tea and malt, and the malt itself in the drink added an interesting texture along with the grass jelly I added. I'm not sure if I would recommend to others though as it is probably an acquired taste (especially the added malt itself, which is sort of like a wet sand texture).

[milkcha]

Yogurt Lemon Juice | Chatime

Review under the cut!

Name: Yogurt Lemon Juice Cost: 4.20 regular size Location: Chatime, 720 Burhamthrope Road W (Mississauga) - Mavis/Burhamthrope Content: lemon juce with added yogurt flavour Extras additions: grass jelly

Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★ (it's a yogurt juice, so it's not creamy) Strength of tea flavour: n/a Sweetness: ★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★★

Would drink again: yes Recommend to others: yes especially if you dig lemonade

A very refreshing and clean taste! It was a bit more sour than expected, but it mixes very well with the Yakult flavour to make a tangy lemonade-esque yogurt drink. Also it contrasted really nicely with the less sweet grass jelly.

[milkcha]

QQ Lychee Yogurt Juice | Chatime

Review under the cut!

Name: QQ Lychee Yogurt Juice Cost: 4.75 regular size Location: Chatime, 720 Burhamthrope Road W (Mississauga) - Mavis/Burhamthrope Content: lychee juice, yogurt added, tapioca and lychee jelly  Extras additions: n/a

Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★ (it's a yogurt juice, so it's rightly not creamy) Strength of tea flavour: n/a Sweetness: ★★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★★★ Would drink again: YESss oh yes Recommend to others: for sure!!! I already have in fact :D

This was a really great drink!! I've become a fan of yogurt flavoured drinks lately. If you like asian yogurt flavour, like from yakult or calpico, you would definitely enjoy this drink. It has a great yogurt flavour that goes well with the lychee flavour. The drink itself was pretty sweet but fruity and it worked well with the juicy lychee jelly and soft, sweet tapioca pearls.

QQ means it has tapioca and jelly btw, in case people were wondering.

[milkcha]

Hot Brown Rice Green Milk Tea | Chatime

Review under the cut!

Name: Hot Brown Rice Green Milk Tea Cost: 4.20 regular size Location: Chatime, 720 Burhamthrope Road W (Mississauga) - mavis/burhamthrope Content: hot brown rice flavoured green milk tea Extras additions: n/a

Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★ Sweetness: ★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): n/a Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: yes, but only if it's too cold to drink regular cold milk teas Recommend to others: yes

A new Chatime in Mississauga opened up, so of course I proceeded to go 5x in one week (I have no self control). Anyway, it was very cold the first time I visited so I decided to try something hot for once, and went with my favourite brown rice green milk tea, hot version! 

It's basically like it's cold counterpart, and is still very aromatic, though not as flavourful. The sweetness is barely there (though it doesn't really take away from the drink..probably because it's hot). The tea itself was also not as milky as the cold version.

[milkcha]

Panna Cotta Milk Tea | Bubble Republic

Review under the cut!

Name: Panna Cotta Milk Tea  Cost: 4.00 large size Location: Bubble Republic, 4555 Hurontario St. (Mississauga) - Hurontario/Eglinton Content: milk tea, panna cotta pudding Extras additions: n/a Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★ Sweetness: ★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: yes Recommend to others: yes

This is a drink that just came out and was being promoted when I went in. As expected from Bubble Republic, the milk tea is not very sweet, but very creamy. The pudding itself was sweet and creamy as well. It's definitely a tea I could recommend to those who are used to BR's level of sweetness (ie. not sweet at all). 

[milkcha]

Royal Earl Grey Milk Tea Family | Presotea

Review under the cut!

Name: Royal Earl Grey Milk Tea Family Cost: 3.49 small size Location: Presotea, Pacific Mall, Toronto/Markham/Scarborough (near south side entrance) - steeles/kennedy Content: early grey milk tea with tapioca, pudding and grass jelly Extras additions: n/a Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★ Sweetness: ★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★★ Would drink again: YES Recommend to others: For sure!!! its a good deal too

It had a medium strong earl grey flavour, which was great since I looove earl grey tea, and along with the medium sweetness, it was a good mix. All the tapioca, pudding and grass jelly were fun to eat and add a lot of interesting texture to the drink, and were all of medium flavour quality. ALSO, worth noting that it's the same price as the regular royal earl grey milk tea (the version without all the add-ons) so I think it's pretty worth getting the family version. Unless, of course, you don't like add-ons...

[milkcha]

Aloe Grass Jelly Honey Juice | Bubble Republic

Review under the cut!

[milkcha]

Pudding Milk Tea | Green Grotto

Review under the cut!

Name: Pudding Milk Tea Cost: n/a Location:  Green Grotto, 7030 Warden Ave, Scarborough Content: pudding flavoured milk tea with pudding itself Extras additions: n/a Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★ Sweetness: ★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: only the pudding part  Recommend to others: no

The flavour of the tea was sort of pudding flavoured, and wasn't too sweet, but with the pudding itself was good, creamy and solid. Though the tea itself is not really remarkable I would add the pudding into other drinks...

[milkcha]

Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea | Chatime

Review under the cut!

Name: Grass Jelly Roasted Milk tea Cost: 4.20 regular size Location: Chatime, 132 Dundas Street W (Downtown Toronto) - Bay/Dundas Content: roasted milk tea, grass jelly Extras additions: n/a

Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★ Sweetness: ★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★★ Would drink again: YES Recommend to others: YES there is a reason why it's on the top 10 recommendations list in chatime

A super fragrant tea, with pleasant roasted tea flavour! The grass jelly is abundant and sweet. Not much to say, except that it's AWESOME and I always recommend this or brown rice green milk tea to people who've never tried chatime before.

[milkcha]

Tieguanyin Milk Tea | Kung Fu Tea Shop

Review under the cut!

Name: Tieguanyin Milk Tea Cost: 4.10 medium size Location: Kung Fu Tea Shop, 207 Dundas Street W (Downtown Toronto) - at Dundas/University Content: tieguanyin brewed milk tea Extras additions: grass jelly Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★ Sweetness: ★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★★ Would drink again: yes Recommend to others: yes!!

It was mildly sweet and has a complex but not too strong tea flavour! Creamy as well. The grass jelly also tasted remarkably like grass jelly from those cans you can get out of the supermarket (ie. VERY fragrant) so I recommend it!! Also, my friend got the Tieguanyin Tea Latte which was unfortunately not as good as the milk tea, so definitely go for the milk tea version!!

[milkcha]

Winter Melon Milk Tea | Chatime

Review under the cut!

Name: Winter Melon Milk Tea Cost: 4.20 regular size Location: Chatime, 132 Dundas Street W (Downtown Toronto) Content: milk tea Extras additions: grass jelly Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★ Sweetness: ★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★ Would drink again: no Recommend to others: not really, chatime has better things!

I love chatime and was very excited that they introduced their wintermelon series so I tried out the milk tea version. Unfortunately, the flavour was not particularly strong and I've had better winter melon milk tea elsewhere (see here) so I was somewhat disappointed. It's not a bad drink, but I know chatime has so many better drinks so I wouldn't recommend trying them. The grass jelly as usual was good though!

[milkcha]

Brown Rice Green Milk Tea | Chatime

Review under the cut!

Name: Brown Rice Green Milk Tea Cost: 4.20 regular size Location: Chatime, 132 Dundas Street W (Downtown Toronto) Content: milk tea Extras additions: grass jelly Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★★ Sweetness: ★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★★★ Would drink again: YES YES  Recommend to others: YESS please you must try this

It's funny that I haven't reviewed this milk tea yet. This is my absolutely favourite milk tea. The brown rice gives this milk tea such a wonderful fragrance and subtle flavour, and brings out the tea flavour. It's also very unique to Chatime, and is the main reason I keep coming back to Chatime all the time! I also like adding grass jelly to this drink to add a bit of texture.

[milkcha]

♕ special review: Los Angeles milk teas

Special reviews under the cut!

I spent all of June and the majority of July in the US, in the Houston and Los Angeles areas! Here I bring some recommendations from those areas :)

♕ Los Angeles ♕

Name: Milk Tea (photo above) Cost: Forgot, I got it with a tea & cake combo! Location: Mr Coffee, 537 S Western Ave (Los Angeles, Koreatown) Content: milk tea Extras additions: none Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★★ Sweetness: ★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): n/a Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: YES Recommend to others: YES, ALSO IT COMES IN A MILK JAR!!

Keep in mind that I got my milk tea with a delicious slice of strawberry shortcake! The milk tea was quite nice, it had a very strong tea flavour, but still sufficiently sweet and milky, so eating my cake with it was very pleasant.

Also for novelty sake, it comes in a milk jar!!! Cute!!!!

Name: Lavender Milk Tea  Cost: 4.91 small size Location: Four Leaf Tea and Crepes, 318 E 2nd St (Los Angeles Little Tokyo) Content: lavender milk tea Extras additions: tapioca Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★ Sweetness: ★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: YES Recommend to others: YES

It was very fragrant, and appropriately medium sweet, with the tapioca being soft and chewy!

Name: Milk Tea Cost: 3.25 small size Location: Its Boba Time, 621 S Western Ave (Los Angeles Koreatown) Content: milk tea Extras additions: tapioca Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★★ Sweetness: ★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: YES Recommend to others: YES

It had a strong milk tea flavour, but without being bitter. The tapioca was soft, but wasnt very flavourful.

Name: Panna Cotta Milk Tea Cost: n/a (ok I forgot to check) Location: Piece of Cake Coffee, 709 W. Las Tunas Dr. (Los Angeles) Content: milk tea, panna cotta pudding Extras additions: none Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★★ Sweetness: ★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★★ Would drink again: YES oh my god yes Recommend to others: YES

There were no words to describe how heavenly the panna cotta pudding was. It was so creamyy and soft and it complemented the strong milk tea flavour!! Definitely recommended for those who can get to Piece of Cake Coffee. The sandwich I had with this wasnt bad either! 

Name: Milk Tea Cost: $5 Location: Iota Cafe, 528 S. Western Ave (Los Angeles Koreatown) Content: milk tea Extras additions: none

Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★★★ Sweetness: ★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): n/a Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: YES  Recommend to others: YES

A smooth and flavourful milk tea, not too sweet or bitter!

[milkcha]

♕ special review: Houston milk teas

Special reviews under the cut!

I spent all of June and the majority of July in the US, in the Houston and Los Angeles areas! Here I bring some recommendations from those areas :)

♕ Houston ♕

Name: Winter Melon Tea (asked it custom though, it was not on their menu display) ^first photo Cost: $2.75 (one size only, it was pretty big though!) Location: Star Ice & Teriyaki, 9889 Bellaire Blvd (Houston Chinatown) Content: clear wintermelon tea Extras additions: grass jelly Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: n/a Strength of tea flavour:★★ Sweetness: ★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: YES, though sans grass jelly probably Recommend to others: YES especially to wintermelon lovers!

Craaazy fresh wintermelon taste, and an appropriate amount of sweetness. The grass jelly wasn‘t as fragrant in comparison as a result though. On a side note, I had a rice dish here as well and it was Y U M M Y

Name: Lavender Milk Tea  Cost: $3.30 regular size Location: Tapioca House, 9104 Bellaire Blvd (Houston Chinatown) Content: lavender milk tea Extras additions: tapioca Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★ Sweetness: ★★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: YES Recommend to others: YES 

Sweet, strong floral flavour which I enjoyed! The tapioca was sweet and chewy as well. 

Name: Herbal Jelly Milk Tea Cost: $4.87 large size Location: Kungfu Tea, 9889 Bellaire Blvd (Houston Chinatown) Content: milk tea, grass jelly, tapioca Extras additions: none Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: ★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★★ Sweetness: ★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★★ Would drink again: YES Recommend to others: YES 

It was appropriately not overly sweet! Quite flavourful and creamy. The tapioca was also sweet and chewy, with the grass jelly in large chunks and light pleasant flavour.

[milkcha]

Winter Melon Chiller | Bubble Republic

Review under the cut!

Name: Winter Melon Chiller Cost: $6 for large Location: Bubble Republic, 4555 Hurontario St. (Mississauga) Content: Blended clear wintermelon tea chiller  Extras additions: grass jelly Qualities of tea (out of 6) Creaminess: n/a Strength of tea flavour:★★ Sweetness: ★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★ Would drink again: YES Recommend to others: YES if you like wintermelon like me :D

I get really excited over winter melon flavoured things so yeah... this was pretty good, everything you could want in an essentially wintermelon flavoured slushie. It was sweet and refreshing! The added grass jelly suits the drink in my opinion as well. 

[milkcha]

Honey Pearl Milk Tea | Chatime

Review under the cut!

Name: Honey Pearl Milk Tea Cost: $5.50 for large (+grass jelly) Location: Chatime, 5494 Yonge Street (Yonge & Finch, near Finch Station), Toronto Content: black milk tea, honey, tapioca Extras additions: grass jelly Qualities of tea (out of 6)

Creaminess: ★★★★★★ Strength of tea flavour:★★ Sweetness: ★★★★★ Add-ons (jelly, tapioca, etc): ★★★★★ Overall quality of flavour: ★★★★★ Would drink again: YES Recommend to others: yes, perhaps half sweet? its really sweet

This drink is part of Chatime's honey series. It was very sweet (actually initally too sweet, but got more manageable as the ice melted and diluted the sweetness). However, it was a nice creamy honey flavour! The tapioca was soft and pretty sweet, sticky and chewy which was good. I did get grass jelly too for kicks but the fragrance got lost in the intense honey flavour so I would go without extra add-ons next time.