Sugar, ice and everything nice. These are the few things that customize our favourite bubble teas and bring us simple satisfaction. From the amount of ice and sugar down to the toppings and flavour, everybody has their own preferences. We’ve ranked our favourite Brown Sugar Bubble Milk drinks and rounded up some of the newest bubble tea additions last year, but it’s 2019 and boba is bigger than ever.
While we’ve been seeing more and more Taiwanese bubble tea stores popping up, a fair amount of home-grown stores have been making their way up the bubble tea ranks, with the quality of their beverages faring pretty well, comparable to the bigger chains out there. Interestingly enough, an increasing amount of merchants have been a lot more health-conscious than we would’ve expected — there has been a surge in the use of all-natural, organic ingredients, without the addition of artificial flavours. Could this eventually lead to bubble tea actually being good for us? We can only hope.
Regardless of their origin, we’re glad that the bubble tea craze has brought so many new faces to sunny Singapore. With an endless selection of beverages to choose from, whether you’re a beverage maven, lactose intolerant, or just on a quest for a pretty picture, there will be a bubble tea for you. Here are a few new places for you to check out.
The Alley
If you haven’t heard of The Alley yet, you’ve been missing out. The Taiwanese chain has finally opened an outlet at JEWEL Changi Airport! Famous for their signature handmade tapioca pearls, Deerioca, these chewy pearls complement their creamy creations perfectly. They will also be launching its first premium concept outlet, called The Alley Luxe, at Orchard Cineleisure on May 18th. This will be the first global outlet to serve both food and drinks, with freshly baked pastries like croissants and cruffins being served daily.
Our favourite is their classic Brown Sugar Deerioca Fresh Milk — it’s sweet and rich and definitely worth the wait. They also offer a matcha version, where they incorporate the sharp, aromatic flavour of real matcha powder into the sweet, brown sugar-based mixture. A surprisingly compatible combination, neither flavour overpowers the other and we’re left with a beverage chock-full of flavour. Another must-have is their Royal No. 9 Milk Tea, which is their signature drink — its semi-sweet, roasted flavour becomes more distinct with every sip.
The Alley Luxe’s Grand Opening will take place on May 18th, from 1pm to 10pm.
Try: Brown Sugar Deerioca Fresh Milk ($5.30) ; Royal No. 9 Milk Tea ($4.30) ; Matcha Brown Sugar Deerioca Fresh Milk ($6.30)
Locations
- Jewel Changi Airport; 78 Airport Boulevard, #B2-273, Singapore 819666
Opening Hours: 24 hours, daily - Orchard Cineleisure; 8 Grange Road, #02-06A/B Cineleisure, Singapore 239695
Opening Hours: 12pm – 10pm, daily
Follow them on Facebook and Instagram and visit their website for more information.
Bober Tea
No stranger in our office, Bober Tea is one place we’ve regularly been ordering from. With a menu that boasts a huge variety of drinks, there’s always something for everyone. On top of the sheer number of drinks to choose from, fresh batches of tea are brewed every three hours, with fresh tapioca pearls made in-house every two hours, ensuring the freshest quality. If that isn’t enough, their artisanal drinks are bound to get you a few extra likes on Instagram!
Bober Tea is a quaint, standalone stall in Bishan, but they do have online delivery.
Our personal favourites are the Cheese Cap Matcha and the Brown Sugar Crème Brûlée Milk.
Try: Cheese Cap Matcha ($4.10) ; Brown Sugar Crème Brûlée Milk ($4.30) ; Hokkaido Milk Cap Oolong Tea ($3.50)
Location
Bishan MRT Station; 200 Bishan Road, #01-01, Singapore 579827
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 10pm, daily
Follow them on Facebook and Instagram and visit their website for more information.
CHICHA San Chen (吃茶三千)
The Taiwanese freshly brewed-to-order bubble tea chain CHICHA San Chen has finally touched down in Singapore, opening up their flagship store in 313@Somerset on May 14th. When it comes to tea, they seriously don’t play around. Originating in Taichung, the chain freshly brews their high-quality tea leaves using a patented, second-generation Teapresso machine LION II, brewing each individual order as they come in. All of their ingredients and tea leaves are harvested from Taiwanese farms, ensuring the best possible quality for customers all over the world to enjoy. Six tea variations are available at CHICHA San Chen, including the classic Green tea and Black tea, to more unconventional choices like Dong Ding Oolong tea and High Mountain Pouchong tea.
Starting from $3.20 per drink, customers first select their tea base before choosing what flavours they want to layer with their fresh brew. Their creations are then topped with either coconut jelly or chewy, caramel-flavoured pearls which are apparently 1.5 times larger than your typical pearl. With an array of combinations between both hot and cold options, we’re excited to see how many different kind of drinks we can try!
A special feature of their flagship store is the tea appreciation counter, which is the first-of-its-kind in Singapore. Customers are able to sample five different roast levels of Taiwan’s Lishan Qingxin Oolong tea. On top of that, CHICHA San Chen also has various teas available in tea bags and loose leaf canisters for customers to brew at home.
Check out our visit to CHICHA San Chen here!
Try: Bubble Milk Tea ($4.20) ; Cassia Black Tea With Mousse ($4.70) ; Dong Ding Oolong Fresh Milk Tea ($4.70)
Location
- 313@Somerset; 313 Orchard Road, #03-41, Singapore 238895
Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm, daily
Follow them on Facebook and Instagram and visit their website for more information.
Hollin
Hollin has been around in Singapore for a while now, famous for their signature flavoured pearls that are only available depending on what day of the week it is. Their handmade pearls are made daily, with Honey White being the only flavour available every day of the week, while Coffee is available on Mondays, Matcha on Tuesdays, Peanut on Wednesdays, Sesame on Thursdays, Rock Salt on Fridays, Cocoa on Saturdays and Strawberry on Sundays.
Their bestsellers include a few unique drinks, including various versions of their exclusive Rock Salt Macchiato, such as the Pink Guava Rock Salt Macchiato and Caramel Tea Rock Salt Macchiato. Their menu spans across four main categories — Rock Salt Macchiato, Refreshing & Fruity, fresh milk Tea Latte and fresh milk Dirty Drink. On top of that, their current special is a Cocoa Strawberry drink. Most of their drinks are also caffeinated, so Hollin is the perfect place to go for a pick-me-up during your lunch hour.
Try: Pink Guava Rock Salt Macchiato ($3.90) ; Caramel Tea Rock Salt Macchiato ($4.20) ; Dirty Brown Sugar ($3.90)
Locations
- Toa Payoh; Blk 190 Toa Payoh Central, #01-538, Singapore 310190 (Opposite HDB Hub)
Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm, daily - Suntec City; Tower 3 East Wing, #02-615/605A, Singapore 038983
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 9:45pm, daily
Follow them on Facebook and Instagram and visit their website for more information.
Tea Tree Cafe
While it may not be very new, Tea Tree Cafe is a hidden gem we’ve recently discovered. With seven outlets across Singapore, we’re surprised we hadn’t heard of it sooner. They recently launched their seventh outlet at The Cathay. With their mission being “To bring forth a tastier & healthier choice for our customers”, we’re actually not too sure what the actual stats are health-wise. Fortunately, with the amount of boba we consume, just thinking they might be offering a healthier option sure makes us feel better.
So far, we’ve only tried a few drinks, but we’re in love with the Strawberry Milk Tea. It basically tastes like rich strawberry milk with a hint of tea, but with the pearl-esque chunky strawberry bits at the bottom, it definitely satisfied our boba craving.
Try: Strawberry Milk Tea ($3.50) ; Grass Jelly Milk Tea ($3.70) ; Earl Grey Milk Tea ($3.00)
Locations
- Kovan Heartland Mall; Blk 205 Hougang St 21, #01-03 Heartland Mall, Singapore 530205.
Opening Hours: 11am – 9.30pm (Mon-Thur); 11am – 10pm (Fri); 10:30am – 10pm (Sat); 10:30am – 9:30pm (Sun) - ITE College Central @ Ang Mo Kio; 2 Ang Mo Kio Drive, Block D #02-05/06 Singapore 567720
Opening Hours: 9am – 7.00pm (Mon-Thurs); 9am-6pm (Fri); Closed on Sat, Sun & PH - Kallang Wave Mall; 1 Stadium Place,#01-47, Singapore 397628
Opening Hours: 11am – 9:30pm, daily - Suntec City Mall; 3 Temasek Boulevard #B1-140, Singapore 038983
Opening Hours: 11am – 9pm, daily - Singapore Institute of Technology, Temasek Polytechnic; 29B Tampines Ave 1, Singapore 529757
Opening Hours: 10am – 5:30pm (Mon-Fri) - Connexis; 1 Fusionopolis Way, #B1-11, S138632
Opening Hours: 10am – 8:30pm (Mon-Fri); 10am – 3pm(Sat); Closed on Sun & PH - The Cathay ; 2 Handy Road, #01-24, S229233
Opening Hours: 12pm – 10pm, daily
Follow them on Facebook and Instagram and visit their website for more information.
Hi Tea
Hi Tea is a locally-established bubble tea enterprise that started in 2017. Introducing new creations every season, they have incorporated cold brew techniques into their recipes in an attempt to revolutionise the tea industry across South East Asia. With an assortment of various cold brew fruit teas, this is the place to go for a fruity fix.
Although they do have a small selection of fusion teas, pure teas, and one type of milk and milk tea, we highly recommend trying their fresh fruit teas, or perhaps one of their Cream Cloud fruit teas for something a little richer.
Try: Mix Fruit King ($5.80) ; Red Dragonfruit Jasmine ($5.80) ; Mango Jasmine with Cream Cloud ($6.20)
Location
- Far East Plaza; 14 Scotts Road, #01-14B, Singapore 228213
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 10:30pm (Mon-Thur); 11:30am – 11pm (Fri, Sun); 11am – 11:30pm (Sat)
Follow them on Facebook and Instagram and visit their website for more information.
Xing Fu Tang (幸福堂）
Any brown sugar boba fan is sure to have heard of Taiwanese chain Xing Fu Tang, and if you haven’t, you’re in for a treat! It’s barely been a year and a half since their launch, and there are sixty outlets in Taiwan alone, on top of multiple international outlets in Japan, Canada and Thailand. Specialising in their signature Brown Sugar Boba Milk, filled with home-made brown sugar pearls, their version is bound to be one of the most satisfying brown sugar beverages you’ve ever had.
Xing Fu Tang is finally making their way down to Singapore, with their first permanent Singaporean outlet launching on June 28th in Century Square. We can’t wait and we know you can’t either, so we’re glad to add that Xing Fu Tang will be launching a pop-up store at Takashimaya’s basement atrium food fair from May 30th to June 6th! We’re drooling at the very thought of being able to taste one of these drinks in only a couple weeks.
Try: Brown Sugar Boba Milk ($5.30) ; Mango Smoothie & Rabbit Panna Cotta (Price TBA)
Location
- Century Square; 2 Tampines Central 5, #01-22, Singapore 529509
Opening Hours: TBA
Follow them on Facebook and visit their website for more information.
Ten Ren Tea (天仁茗茶)
Still craving more Taiwanese bubble tea? Ten Ren Tea is one of Taiwan’s largest and oldest bubble tea chains. They’re not just good at bubble tea — they specialise in traditional brews, so for all you health-conscious tea connoisseurs out there, this is the place for you. Their teas are stronger, more flavourful and less sugary, substituting refined sugar with honey and fruit sugar. Using only natural and organic ingredients, fresh fruit is prepared daily, along with their soft, chewy pearls.
Try: 913 King’s Oolong Milk Tea ($2.90) ; Pu-erh Latte ($4.60) ; Taro Green Milk Tea ($4.10)
Location
- Chinatown Point; 133 New Bridge Road, #01-07, Singapore 059413
Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm, daily - United Square; 101 Thomson Road, #B1-60, Singapore 307591
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 9:30pm, daily - Tampines 1; 10 Tampines Central 1, #B1-K5, Singapore 529536
Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm, daily - 313@Somerset; 313 Orchard Road, #B3-08, Singapore 238895
Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm, daily
Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Jenjudan (珍煮丹)
If you still can’t satisfy your brown sugar cravings, fret not! Jenjudan is here to help. With humble beginnings in Taipei’s famous Shilin Night Market, they have created what we think might be one of the ultimate brown sugar pearls out there. Every two hours, through the in-house caramelisation of their self-produced sugar, a decadent, golden nectar is formed, slow cooking the pearls until they reach the perfect, chewy consistency that we all know and love.
Try: Brown Sugar Boba Milk ($5.20) ; Thai Style Milk Tea ($4.20) ; Brown Sugar Earl Grey ($3.50)
Location
- City Link Mall; 1 Raffles Link, #B1-13, Singapore 039393
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm, daily
Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Yifang Tea (一芳水果茶)
Finally, we have Yifang Tea. This Taiwanese fruit tea store opened late last year, and even though they have made their way into Singapore, they’re still sticking to their roots. Only using tea leaves that have been grown in local Taiwanese farms and using Meiji Fresh Milk rather than creamer, their beverages are packed with fresh, natural ingredients.
Despite specialising in fruit teas, one of their best sellers is their Taro Latte with fresh milk. Topped with a generous portion of fresh mashed taro grown in Dajia, Taiwan, this is THE drink for all taro lovers.
Try: Taro Latte ($5.70) ; Sun Moon Lake Black Tea ($2.70) ; Multi-Floral Honey Mountain Tea ($3.90)
Location
- Orchard Gateway; 277 Orchard Road, #B1-01, Singapore 238858
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 10pm, daily
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