Chatime – One More Steep

Pearl Milk Tea by Chatime
Black & Oolong Tea / Flavoured
$11.99 for 290g (4 servings)

First Impressions

Pearl Milk Tea was an impulse grocery store purchase – because why not? It’s from Chatime and features 4 servings of bubble tea – 2 Original Milk Tea, 2 Oolong Milk Tea and 4 brown sugar pearls. Because I had recently reviewed Original Milk Tea, I will be focused on Oolong Milk Tea option.

Each packet of Original Milk Tea and Oolong Milk Tea are each 20g, which is the same as the packets of Original Milk Tea that I had previously purchased. The Original Milk Tea is orange, Oolong Milk Tea is green.

Original Milk Tea consists of: sugar, non-dairy creamer, black tea powder, and flavour.

Oolong Milk Tea consists of: sugar, non-dairy creamer, oolong tea powder, and flavour. The aroma of Oolong Milk Tea smells very similar to Original Milk Tea – mostly sweet with a bit of milky aroma.

Preparation

Chatime has recommendations for preparing the boba pearls by microwave or boiled water.

By microwave – tear open the packet, microwave for 30 seconds. Pour the heated pearls into 60ml of hot water and mix with milk tea powder. Top with 60ml of hot water or 60ml of ice.

By boiled water – place packet into boiled water, allow it to heat up over 1 minute. Pour heated pearls into 60ml of hot water and mix with milk tea powder. Top with 60ml of hot water or 60ml of ice.

I opted to prepare the Oolong Milk Tea with the boba pearls that were heated in the microwave.

First Taste

The boba pearls soften up a lot in the microwave, and the Oolong Milk Tea mixes up very easily with the hot water that I used. I topped up the cup with ice. The colour of the Oolong Milk Tea is a milky brown, the boba pearls are large and dark brown.

The boba pearls themselves are soft, chewy, and sweet. Oolong Milk Tea has a creamy flavour, but also nutty and floral. The pearls are large, and not all perfectly circular, so make sure you’ve got a large straw to accommodate them. The tea itself is decent – not overly sweet and I can taste the nuances of the oolong in the mix.

A Second Cup?

As Oolong Milk Tea is a drink mix, there can only be one tea preparation with this mix.

My Overall Impression

I liked Chatime’s Pearl Milk Tea. While Chatime’s Original Milk Tea was $0.90 per packet, Pearl Milk Tea has each boba tea at $3 per serving – which makes it more expensive for sure. I found the flavour to be good, and the texture of the boba pearls is great – I love how soft and chewy they were. It’s a great deal compared to ordering the equivalent from their actual shop ($6.10 for pick-up), but there are also cheaper methods of making boba at home. For the convenience, I like it and will definitely make it again at home (and at work!).

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Original Milk Tea by Chatime
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.99 for 200g (10 x 20g sachets)

First Impressions

I am still in search for the perfect tea product to have on-the-go that has everything in it that I love (for a milk tea or tea latte), without being too something. Too sweet, too bitter, too expensive. There’s so many things that could go wrong.

Chatime is a popular brand out of Taiwan that happens to have brick and mortar locations. It happens to be a popular option for my fellow nurses to order in when it comes to food delivery services. so when I spotted a familiar purple on the shelf of my favourite Asian grocery store, I knew I had to give it a go.

The bag contains 10 sachets of the Original Milk Tea powder. Each sachet is 20g and contains: sugar, creamer, black tea powder, and artificial flavour. There’s also a “may contain” warning for gluten, tree nuts, egg, and sesame (in case any of those are allergens/concerns for you).

The powder itself is kind of a light brown, like a milk tea, and doesn’t have a very obvious aroma to it. It does smell sweet though.

Preparation

Chatime recommends making Original Milk Tea as cold or hot preparations.

For a cold preparation, combine 60ml of hot water with 1 sachet, then stir until the powder dissolves. Add 60g of ice.

For a hot preparation, combine 120ml of hot water with 1 sachet, then stir until powder dissolves.

I opted to do a hot preparation, and I used water heated to 93°C (200°F).

First Taste

Original Milk Tea mixes up to a light brown colour. It has an aroma that creamy and black tea. The flavour of Original Milk Tea is surprisingly not as sweet as I was expecting, especially considering sugar is listed as the first ingredient. The black tea has a touch of astringency to it, and the sugar balances well against it. The creamer in the mix adds a nice amount of creaminess to it, without overpowering the black tea flavour. If I had been making it at home from scratch, I probably would have made it sweeter.

A Second Cup?

As Original Milk Tea is a drink mix powder, there are no second cups with the same powder.

My Overall Impression

I liked Chatime’s Original Milk Tea. It’s a very convenient method of making milk tea on-the-go, especially seeing as how I have access to a hot water dispenser at work. I like that it’s not too sweet, because it allows me to add some sweetener as I see fit. The flavour is good, and the slight astringency remind me a lot of the milk tea that you can get at Hong Kong-style cafes. Original Milk Tea is priced nicely, especially if you compare it to what a tea delivered to you would cost ($0.90 per serving versus $5+), making Original Milk Tea an affordable option.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.