You ever had EasyWay in 2007? It was out of this world. Chestnut milk tea, Lychee and Yaleto. Yes, there was no real competition -- but they were great. Mint and Osmanthus came around in the early '10s. These were by far the freshest and most cooling drinks I've ever had, particularly the mint. Their quality dropped several years later when they moved from a jasmine tea base to orange blossom. And then further when they quickly closed stores (and moved to Epic Tea). If you want fresh tea boiled in front of you, this wasn't the place for you -- and I don't think that's what iced tea should be. You're essentially looking for the pizza hut and maccas equivalent of drinks, and nobody did that better than EasyWay.
First of all, who’s saying iced tea and not bubble tea? My list:
Chi Cha San Chen - best tea and best pearls, taste and texture. Highest quality! They have those fancy machines and brew everything fresh.
Milksha - Earl Grey Tea Latte with Honey Pearls
Machi Machi - quality green and black tea, decent pearls, oat milk option for the dairy intolerant
The first and second generation stores -- EasyWay, Chatime, Happy Lemon, Sharetea, Gong Cha -- did not call it bubble tea. That came later. And is it still bubble tea if you get no toppings? That's why the menus usually show "Fruit Tea" and "Milk Tea", with the toppings being listed at the bottom.
I always called it bubble tea from when I was a kid in Brisbane and we only had “local Taiwanese restaurant who served pearl milk tea or taro milk tea only” and EasyWay as options. Supposedly the “bubble” does not refer to pearls but actually the foam from being shaken in the machine.
There you go. I remember at EasyWay, I always stressed they shake it manually. If they went to top it up from the tea holder, it would add a stale tea flavour (huge difference). I would get the one litre bucket, and ask for two large drinks (iced, sugar) to be shaken seperately before being introduced to the cup (with ice already present)
Some here are being tea snobs. From as early as '08, I was dropping about 1k on teas a year (took them to the net cafes). I've had a lot. The most of anything I consume in life (water excepted?) I slowed down around covid, but I'm back trying a fair few flavours from the more recent openings.
Yes at my worst it was daily, and during covid I started doing it at home (including handmade flavoured pearls). Too expensive in this economy now, but the three recs above are totally worth it though.
I used to rank Bubble Nini quite high due to the handmade flavours pearls but I feel they’ve dropped in quality a lot and can’t compete with the above ^^
While I do consider myself a tea snob (and specifically, pearl snob) I do enjoy the old school taro milk tea powder over fresh taro 😅
I can't stand it with the potato pieces. Of the old school ones, Chatime was the first to make their move to this. Milksha imo has a horrendous taro, with full bits and pieces. Have you had Cane Bobar? For some reason, all their teas taste foamy. This lends itself to the old school taro. It's texture is unlike any other rendering of taro I've ever tasted. Their lychee yoghurt is sweet but also nice.
>Some here are being tea snobs.
How so? Most if not all of the stores mentioned here aren't even close to the quality of better bubble tea stores in Taiwan directly. I'd say they're very generous in calling them "quality".
>I was dropping about 1k on teas a year
And then proper good tea leaves costs more than that alone for even less than a month's worth. The 1s you get at bubble tea stores are usually the lowest entry level products that traditional tea lovers won't use.
You are missing the point. I don't want gourmet tea. That's not the criterion here. We are looking for the best fastfood type tea... because that's the way they were always marketed. Only stupid people question the caffeine, sugar and oxalate content. If you fall for marketing, that's on you.
I had Chicha San Chen for the first time tonight. I had Black Tea Taro with Taro Pearls and Paste. Unfortunately, no line. It was ready quickly. I don't know how that impacts the "freshness" of the drink, but it had that stale fishy flavour that I associate with stale tea. The taro flavour didn't salvage it. Much better taro at Machi Machi and Cane Bobar.
I watch high and lowbrow films. Why? Copius amounts. I listen to high and lowbrow music? I judge them together. I drink high (apparently for Sydney) and lowbrow tea. Again, I have had a lot. And have now resumed that clip. It's unavoidable.
I loved EazyWay. Do you understand "loved"? I think about it all the time. If you never had their mint in summer, you never had iced tea. It's as refreshing as Vintage Kouros (if you know, you know). There's nothing wrong with Gong Cha -- gingerbread, mango alisan, wintermelon, caramel milk tea. I don't immediately put Chicha San Chen over Chatime (hate the enclosed packaging). Did you ever have the glass jars of yoghurt at The Moment? Incredible packaging. Again, I've had a lot of this -- I go back to 2006/2007, and I remember everything. And I can only speak to what's available here. I'm not interested in Taiwan. What they're pushing ain't the criterion.
I'll give the tea snobs a challenge. Grab an Old Style Plum from Gong Cha. And grab a plum tea (sparkling, if you like) from Machi Machi. No toppings. No comparison. The Gong Cha is much more complex and tastier a flavour. The best milk tea at Gong Cha is the caramel w/pearls, but they can't compete with the quality Machi Machi milk teas. Having said that, the recent gingerbread milk tea w/mousse and pearls beats the pants off 'em.
Im not an iced tea expert, however based on the crowds since it opened and their super professional setup and range, i suspect Tea&Co at Burwood is the new market leader.
The queue is always long, maybe give it a few more weeks before you visit.
This place is overrated af, doesn't justify the price at all - mushy pearls, weak tea flavour. People only going for the hype atm (I fell for this trap). Both Tea Spot and Chicha Sanchen o the road are far superior, Tea Spot especially for multiple oolong types and funky pearl options.
Chicha San Chen is my all time favorite (bubble milk tea, and honey osmanthus oolong), their pearls are the best I've had.
Is that the one with the line in Town Hall?
Station? TS Express
Easyway and Gong Cha? This is surely a joke post… right?
Judging from their milk tea choices of strawberry chocolate and caramel im inclined to think they aren’t into Asian flavours
I've been doing this for a few decades. I'm good with all flavours.
You ever had EasyWay in 2007? It was out of this world. Chestnut milk tea, Lychee and Yaleto. Yes, there was no real competition -- but they were great. Mint and Osmanthus came around in the early '10s. These were by far the freshest and most cooling drinks I've ever had, particularly the mint. Their quality dropped several years later when they moved from a jasmine tea base to orange blossom. And then further when they quickly closed stores (and moved to Epic Tea). If you want fresh tea boiled in front of you, this wasn't the place for you -- and I don't think that's what iced tea should be. You're essentially looking for the pizza hut and maccas equivalent of drinks, and nobody did that better than EasyWay.
First of all, who’s saying iced tea and not bubble tea? My list: Chi Cha San Chen - best tea and best pearls, taste and texture. Highest quality! They have those fancy machines and brew everything fresh. Milksha - Earl Grey Tea Latte with Honey Pearls Machi Machi - quality green and black tea, decent pearls, oat milk option for the dairy intolerant
The first and second generation stores -- EasyWay, Chatime, Happy Lemon, Sharetea, Gong Cha -- did not call it bubble tea. That came later. And is it still bubble tea if you get no toppings? That's why the menus usually show "Fruit Tea" and "Milk Tea", with the toppings being listed at the bottom.
I always called it bubble tea from when I was a kid in Brisbane and we only had “local Taiwanese restaurant who served pearl milk tea or taro milk tea only” and EasyWay as options. Supposedly the “bubble” does not refer to pearls but actually the foam from being shaken in the machine.
There you go. I remember at EasyWay, I always stressed they shake it manually. If they went to top it up from the tea holder, it would add a stale tea flavour (huge difference). I would get the one litre bucket, and ask for two large drinks (iced, sugar) to be shaken seperately before being introduced to the cup (with ice already present) Some here are being tea snobs. From as early as '08, I was dropping about 1k on teas a year (took them to the net cafes). I've had a lot. The most of anything I consume in life (water excepted?) I slowed down around covid, but I'm back trying a fair few flavours from the more recent openings.
Yes at my worst it was daily, and during covid I started doing it at home (including handmade flavoured pearls). Too expensive in this economy now, but the three recs above are totally worth it though. I used to rank Bubble Nini quite high due to the handmade flavours pearls but I feel they’ve dropped in quality a lot and can’t compete with the above ^^ While I do consider myself a tea snob (and specifically, pearl snob) I do enjoy the old school taro milk tea powder over fresh taro 😅
I can't stand it with the potato pieces. Of the old school ones, Chatime was the first to make their move to this. Milksha imo has a horrendous taro, with full bits and pieces. Have you had Cane Bobar? For some reason, all their teas taste foamy. This lends itself to the old school taro. It's texture is unlike any other rendering of taro I've ever tasted. Their lychee yoghurt is sweet but also nice.
>Some here are being tea snobs. How so? Most if not all of the stores mentioned here aren't even close to the quality of better bubble tea stores in Taiwan directly. I'd say they're very generous in calling them "quality". >I was dropping about 1k on teas a year And then proper good tea leaves costs more than that alone for even less than a month's worth. The 1s you get at bubble tea stores are usually the lowest entry level products that traditional tea lovers won't use.
You are missing the point. I don't want gourmet tea. That's not the criterion here. We are looking for the best fastfood type tea... because that's the way they were always marketed. Only stupid people question the caffeine, sugar and oxalate content. If you fall for marketing, that's on you. I had Chicha San Chen for the first time tonight. I had Black Tea Taro with Taro Pearls and Paste. Unfortunately, no line. It was ready quickly. I don't know how that impacts the "freshness" of the drink, but it had that stale fishy flavour that I associate with stale tea. The taro flavour didn't salvage it. Much better taro at Machi Machi and Cane Bobar. I watch high and lowbrow films. Why? Copius amounts. I listen to high and lowbrow music? I judge them together. I drink high (apparently for Sydney) and lowbrow tea. Again, I have had a lot. And have now resumed that clip. It's unavoidable. I loved EazyWay. Do you understand "loved"? I think about it all the time. If you never had their mint in summer, you never had iced tea. It's as refreshing as Vintage Kouros (if you know, you know). There's nothing wrong with Gong Cha -- gingerbread, mango alisan, wintermelon, caramel milk tea. I don't immediately put Chicha San Chen over Chatime (hate the enclosed packaging). Did you ever have the glass jars of yoghurt at The Moment? Incredible packaging. Again, I've had a lot of this -- I go back to 2006/2007, and I remember everything. And I can only speak to what's available here. I'm not interested in Taiwan. What they're pushing ain't the criterion.
I like chicha san chen for their milk teas (with cream and bubbles) and machi machi for their fruit teas.
I'll give the tea snobs a challenge. Grab an Old Style Plum from Gong Cha. And grab a plum tea (sparkling, if you like) from Machi Machi. No toppings. No comparison. The Gong Cha is much more complex and tastier a flavour. The best milk tea at Gong Cha is the caramel w/pearls, but they can't compete with the quality Machi Machi milk teas. Having said that, the recent gingerbread milk tea w/mousse and pearls beats the pants off 'em.
Im not an iced tea expert, however based on the crowds since it opened and their super professional setup and range, i suspect Tea&Co at Burwood is the new market leader. The queue is always long, maybe give it a few more weeks before you visit.
This place is overrated af, doesn't justify the price at all - mushy pearls, weak tea flavour. People only going for the hype atm (I fell for this trap). Both Tea Spot and Chicha Sanchen o the road are far superior, Tea Spot especially for multiple oolong types and funky pearl options.
Thanks for the insight, saved me queueing up.
Machi machi is elite
Best iced tea imo is the pokka branded hojicha. Best bubble tea imo is rose milk tea with grass jelly from tea republic
I'll be getting that from Tea Republic, and osmanthus milk tea.
Machi Machi has the most delicious Oolong tea. The taste is addictive.
Machi Machi creme brulee black tea - the trick is to resist eating the topping and mixing it into the tea instead. Rich velvety decadence.
I'm so doing this. I'm usually well-behaved in keeping the flavours seperate.
Tiger sugar - get no.2 on menu which is brown sugar with pearls and coffee jelly (coffee jelly slaps so hard)
Thanks. I'll be getting this.
Tea Spot i feel like you can genuinely taste the tea flavours