8 Days - December 07, 2017

8 DAYS | 99

Hello, it's me again: Gong Cha at SingPost
Centre two days before its opening.

THE

DRINKS

BY YIP JIEYING PHOTOS AIK CHEN

STILL

GOOD

STILL

GOOD

DISAPPOINTING

Passion Fruit

Green Tea $4.10

For those of you who’ve been

waiting impatiently for your

favourite fruit tea to return,

we’re pleased to

report that this best-

selling item remains

equally refreshing.

The potent green tea

is spiked with lovely

bits of al dente konjac

jelly, tapioca pearls and

crunchy passion fruit

seeds.

NEW Purple Sweet

Potato Milk Tea $4.50

We’ve had taro milk tea (a Gong

Cha stalwart), but purple sweet

potato? This is another new

drink that Gong Cha Version

2.0 is offering. The

vividly violet hue is

very Insta-worthy, but its

unique taste takes some

getting used to. The subtly

sweet, earthy flavour of

sweet potatoes with a

full-bodied, sandy texture

mixed with milky tea,

makes this offering rather

heavy and jelak.

Earl Grey Milk Tea with 3J $4.10

We have always loved Gong Cha’s robust, fragrant earl grey

milk tea. Unfortunately, we taste more milk than earl grey tea

in this cup — reopening jitters, we hope. Our drink is adorned

with a trio of toppings called the ‘3J’: black tapioca pearls,

custard pudding and grass jelly. Other than the lack of tea

fragrance, this cup ticks off all the other boxes on our wish list:

the pearls are firm and chewy, the custard pudding and grass

jelly as wobbly and delightful as ever to slurp up.

Milk Foam

Alisan Tea $3

Just as we were

lamenting the absence

of tea flavour from our

fave Earl Grey Milk Tea (see

below), this cup makes up

for it. It boasts the

full-bodied aroma of

Alisan tea, a type of

oolong tea grown on

Ali Mountain in central

Taiwan, tempered

with a just-right dash

of milk. The frothy,

creamy milk foam ‘cap’

is nicely fluffy.

NEW Brown Sugar

Fresh Milk Oolong $4.30

This tastes like regular milk

tea, with barely any

trace of brown sugar.

Our cup is served sans

pearls or other toppings,

which made it bland and

unmemorable. We’d rather

order Gong Cha’s regular

Pearl Milk Tea, which tastes

similar yet yummier ’cos of

the bouncy pearls in it.

Gong Cha, #01-141A/B SingPost Centre, 10 Eunos Rd, S408600. http://www.facebook.com/gongchasg.

NEW Matcha With

Red Bean $4.30

Gong Cha’s rep playfully refers

to this new offering as a

“dessert”, and we agree. The

thick, rich beverage, which

tastes strongly of green

tea, is blended with

matcha powder, fresh

milk and sugar syrup. It’s

almost like melted ice

cream. We also like the

layer of soft red beans

at the bottom of the cup,

which adds a fabulous

mouthfeel.

The brand brought back most of its previous

offerings (such as milk-based teas and fruit-infused

green teas), plus a few new flavours. On top of this,

there are also two new ranges: a Smoothie and Tea

Latte line. Sadly, we only got to sample the existing

range (priced the same as before), plus some new

flavours from this line at our preview tasting, but none

from the smoothie and tea latte collection.

Are they any good? Read on.

8 DAYS

PICK