Hi everyone! For today’s Tea Tuesday, Nathalie and Dee are teaming up to write about a recent experience at Chatime. Check out their thoughts below:
Beginning Our Bubble Tea Addiction
Dee: I remember the days of bubble tea just starting out here in Vancouver – and yes, that was back in the prehistoric days, but let’s take a sec to reminisce. Back then, there was only one place that had bubble tea and for better or worse, it got me hooked. My go to was Taro with pearls or Mocha with pearls. As time went on, more and more bubble tea places opened up and it was the place to hang out and catch up with your friends after school.
Bubble tea popularity has become less of a ‘fad’ and more of a staple in the Vancouver food scene. To compete in this space, you have to be unique. Hence the tea houses that offered mango stars, coconut jelly and fresh, real fruit in their bubble teas.
Nathalie: The one thing I love in the summer time is bubble tea. Though, as I get older I
can’t have a lot of sugar as my teenage years drinking bubble tea on South Granville Street.
What Makes Chatime Different than Other Bubble Tea Places
Nathalie: I visited Chatime and to my delight, they can change the sugar levels for you.
And it still tastes delicious.
Dee: This is where Chatime comes in – when it comes down to bubble tea, they boil it down (ha, ha!) to the essentials: real tea leaves, high quality natural ingredients. There is no preservatives and no pre-made tea or tea powders go into a cup of Chatime bubble tea. Every cup of Chatime bubble tea is brewed when ordered.
They offer two sizes to choose from for their cold drinks: 500ml and 700ml. You may also choose different ingredients from the traditional tapioca pearls, grass jelly, red bean and much more. Finally, you can choose how much ice and how sweet your drink is.
Like many other bubble tea places, Chatime has a huge menu to choose from. What is really cool is that you can try different teas that you wouldn’t normally see at many other bubble tea shops – like Tieguanyin tea.
Chatime’s Bubble Tea
Nathalie: All my pals had bubble tea, but I had the Superior Milk Chocolate with 50%
sugar. I can’t imagine it at 100%. Instead of being syrupy sweet, I could taste the richness of the chocolate.
Dee: I could really appreciate the dedication that went into making each bubble tea. I love the idea of each of them being brewed right when you order. We got to try several flavours including the Strawberry Pudding Au Lait, Superior Pure Cocoa, Roasted Milk Tea, Matcha
Green Tea Latte and the Matcha with Red Bean. I would definitely recommend ordering most of these half sweet, as most of the ones we tried were – but still fairly sweet.
My favourite tea of the several we tried was definitely the Roasted Milk Tea – it was a very strange flavour to wrap my head around – think delicious rice tea but adding milk to it to create a more heavier, creamier flavour. I think this will be my go to when I come back.
I really enjoyed the Matcha with Red Bean, but like Nathalie, I’m a big matcha fan. They definitely make it with great matcha here at Chatime.
After Thoughts:
Nathalie: I never realized Chatimes was down Robson near Bute. My only source of bubble tea was Bubble World previously on that street, that or I’d go to the Japanese
candy store (it has a name, but I’ve named it that) and get a matcha parfait. Speaking of which, I also tried the Matcha Latte which is also super delightful. The menu also offers teas I’ve never heard of like Tieguanyin Tea. If you liked the “Iron Goddess” from Blenz, I hear you’ll like this tea. In simplest of terms, it’s oolong. I hear every cup is freshly brewed for all teas.
Dee: If you’re a long time fan of bubble tea and want to mix it up and try some new flavours, definitely give Chatime a visit. I’m highly appreciative of their commitment to
customizing their drinks to customer’s tastes and needs and as I write this post, I’m already dreaming of the next time I’ll have their roasted milk tea again!
Disclaimer: Chatimes invited Gastrofork to a small event but our opinions are our own.
