Vancouver Food, Travel, Lifestyle & Photography Blog
On July 14, there will be two new limited-time available drinks available at Chatime BC locations. Meet the Chatime Strawberry Cheesecake Slush and the Chocolate Cookie Milk Tea.
The Chocolate Cookie Milk Tea features a milk tea base, a whole chocolate cookie and cookie crumble topping.
The Strawberry Cheesecake Slush tastes pretty much like a strawberry cheesecake. It would appeal to those might like a cheesecake in beverage form!
Chatime BC recently launched a retail line of vegan-friendly retail tea boxes. The company debuted these boxes at the Vegexpo held in Vancouver recently.
This line of retail teas come in a few varieties: Jasmine Green Tea, Puyu Black Tea and Japanese Roasted Tea. The boxes were sold in limited quantity at the show for $5 plus tax.
I sampled these teas at their Vegexpo booth and found them to have great tea flavour. At the moment, there is no official word on the availability of these tea boxes at Chatime BC stores. Stay tuned to their social media for official announcements.
To read more articles on Chatime, visit here.
Are you a Chatime BC Rewards member? Aside from earning points for every purchase you make, you can enjoy exclusive member deals like their Tea of the Month.
Note: My drink was not complimentary. This review is done anonymously.
For the month of June, members can order a large Chatime Oolong Milk Tea for $3.85. Toppings are extra.
I found the Chatime Oolong Milk Tea to be creamy, milky, nutty, and deeply-floral. It was very smooth with sweet lingering taste. Oolong tea on its own already has a sweet taste so if you want a drink that is less sweet you might want to ask for even less sweetness. At 50% sweetness, I still found it a bit too much; I would have it again at 0% or 25% max. The tapioca pearls also contribute to the sweetness.
It was my first time having the Chatime Oolong Milk Tea and I quite enjoyed it. I would recommend ordering it with a low amount of sweetness. Rating: 4/5
To read more Chatime reviews, visit foodgressing.com/category/type/chatime/
I recently tried a few new, limited time available drinks at Chatime. These were the Aurora (premium black tea latte) and the Fresh Taro Milk Tea.
The Aurora was launched in April and is officially described as a “Ceylon black tea that tastes gentle and smooth when mixed with fresh milk.” According to Chatime, if you love fresh milk tea, this is the drink for you.
I could definitely taste the black tea in the Aurora but the milkiness was rather subtle. I had the drink at 50% sweetness and it tasted like almost no sweetness. If you like a more black tea-based drink, then the Aurora might be up your alley. The latte aspect of the drink evaded me. Rating: 3/5
I love a good fresh taro milk tea sometimes and not the processed powdered stuff. This was the first time that I saw this available at Chatime.
The taro flavour was decent and the drink was nicely rich and creamy. The amount of fresh taro given was reasonable as were the size of the chunks. Rating: 4/5
Between the two drinks, I would reorder and recommend the Fresh Taro Milk Tea. For more information, visit www.chatimebc.com
Attention Bubble Tea lovers! Chatime BC has introduced some colorful Rainbow Pearls to their lineup of toppings. The lineup of Rainbow Pearls included a mix of red, purple, cyan, yellow, green, and white pearls. After trying them out, I found that these Rainbow Pearls taste the same as the regular Pearls.
According to the announcement on Chatime BC’s Facebook post, these are available for a limited time at all Chatime BC lower mainland locations with Vancouver Island shortly after. Head to your nearest Chatime BC location before they run out!
Disclosure: This post is in collaboration with Chinesebites.com.
While most of us are familiar with purchasing drinks at Chatime, did you know that they also sell a retail line of milk tea mixes? Yes, you can make your very own Chatime milk tea at home! The flavours that are offered are Premium Milk, Premium Jasmime, Supreme Oolong, Dark Roasted and Selected Mixes.
In my previous post, I mentioned how Chatime stores in BC had carried a limited number of these boxes (which are now sold out). I end up finding some at my local T&T Supermarket but these are also now sold out as well. So what’s a person to do?
I did some research online and did find a US-based online retailer of Asian products, Yamibuy.com. They actually carry all 5 flavours of Chatime Milk Tea at $8 USD per box (12 milk tea bags per box). If you are a Canadian and have a package receiving service in the US, this would be a way to get those oh-so-hard-to-get Chatime Milk Tea boxes. Yamibuy carries a large selections of snacks, cosmetics, electronics, and many more fun products from Asia. They also guarantee that their products are not fake or counterfeit.
If you want to get 500 points ($5) towards your first purchase, use my Yamibuy referral link here: www.yamibuy.com/en/login.php?invite_code=422853
Happy shopping!
In time for the holidays, Chatime announced that they were offering a limited number of tea boxes so you can make your Chatime milk tea at home. 5 milk tea flavours were made available: Premium Milk, Premium Jasmine, Supreme Oolong, Dark Roasted and Selected Mixes. According to Chatime, these boxes would be sold at all Chatime BC locations except Langara, Victoria and East Vancouver.
Note: This review is not sponsored and the product was not complimentary. Opinions are my own.
Chinesebites graciously tried to offer me a box to try as media but unfortunately, they were sold out already! However, the stars were aligned for me as I managed to find some at the T & T Supermarket by BC Place. After posting about the find on my Instagram stories, a friend saw the post and tried to find it at the T & T Supermarket in Metrotown. Either the store didn’t carry any or it was sold out because she had no luck getting a box.
At the T & T Supermarket by BC Place, they carried only the Premium Milk and Oolong tea flavours. It was also on sale this week for $6.99 from $8.99. This is quite a discount from paying $4+ dollars at an actual Chatime location. I end up getting a box of Premium Milk Tea to try. Each box contains 12 sachets of milk tea. One satchet can be prepared as either cold milk tea (90 mL) or hot milk tea (180 mL – 220 mL).
Eh voila, here is what the tea mix looks like. It’s very fine and dissolves quite quickly.
Now for a more true bubble tea experience, you gotta have bubbles, right? I have been using this brand of starch balls bought from T & T for a while now.
The instructions on how to cook the pearls are in Chinese and seem to require the use of something like an instant pot? Anyhow, after some trial and error, I figured out the way to do it per 1 packet of Chatime milk tea is to have about 80 grams of pearls per 1 L of water. You start off by heating water to boil then add the pearls. It’s actually quite a labour intensive process to make these pearls over the stovetop because you need to stir frequently so that the peals don’t stick to the bottom. And I cook them for about an hour before draining them and rinsing with cold water. The last step is to sweeten them to your taste (like with brown sugar, honey or agave).
And that’s it, at-home Chatime milk tea! The Premium Milk Tea flavour is true to that what you would get in-store. And with just a price of $0.58 per cup (sans pearls), I’d say it’s a very good deal with no compromise in flavours. A very convenient product when you desperately crave bubble tea (I have that sometimes). I made a hot milk tea and it was very satisfying. I highly recommend giving it a try.
Did you know that you can buy Chatime Milk Tea bags online? Find out more in my post here.
Exciting news for Chatime fans as Chatime has opened their sixth location in BC. The newest shop is in Kerrisdale at 6075 West Boulevard, Vancouver. Originally from Taiwan, Chatime has over 1200 locations worldwide including Abu Dhabi, Miami, London and more. Chatime Kerrisdale is currently in a soft opening phase but will be having their grand opening next week on March 10th. There is a buy one get one free grand opening special on March 10 – 12 (three days) where the free drink is a Pearl Milk Tea or Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea. Yesterday, I attended a media tasting organized by Chinesebites.com.
Disclosure: I sampled various drinks from Chatime which were complimentary. Photos are full-size versions.
The newest Chatime location has an attractive, artful space. I liked the colourful murales on the walls which added to the atmosphere.
There are quite a few tables along the wall and high top tables near the front.
At the back, there is a small lounge area with cozy banquette seating. In the photo below, we had the tasting there but you can imagine what it could look like on a regular day. It seems to be a popular place where students can work.
Chatime has a wide selection of drinks organized by category including Milk Tea, Fresh Tea, Smoothie/Slush, Chatime QQ, Refreshing Juice, Fruit Tea, Mousse and more. Drinks typically range between $4-$5. You can decide on the ice level (regular, less, no ice) and sugar level (extra, regular, less, half, slight or not sugar). Click on the image below to see the full image.
Topping options include pearl, grass jelly, coconut jelly, red bean, coffee jelly, aloe vera, and rainbow jelly, pudding and more.
While many bubble tea lovers enjoy sticking to their usual order, you might want to try some of the “hidden gems” on the Chatime menu. I was able to sample some of these hidden gems at the tasting.
Butterfly Pea is a wildflower in the Pea family. Its name is inspired by its expanded shape which resembles a butterfly. The flower is best known for its vibrant, blue-violet colour and this bluish color is released when brewed with water. The liquid then changes colour based on the acidity level of the drink. For example, adding lemon juice to butterfly pea flower tea results in a rich violet. The whole experience of creating these drinks is like watching a mood ring change colour. Aside from its novelty factor, butterfly pea flower is said to have high antioxidants. Other health benefits claimed include blood circulation, eye sight improvement, skin and hair nourishment, premature aging prevention, body slimming, and immunity enhancement.
While I have tried Butterfly Pea tea elsewhere in Vancouver, Chatime’s version of the drink is really good and refreshing. I enjoyed the very citrusy taste from the grapefruit juice. It is recommended to have these drinks in ice versions and to not have additional topping to fully enjoy the flavour of the butterfly pea.
Another favourite of mine from the tasting was the Oolong Tea Mousse. It had a very nice oolong flavour on the bottom with a nice foamy mousse on top. Loved the creaminess of it. I would recommend it.
The hazelnut milk had a very obvious hazelnut flavour which is good. The coffee jelly is the ideal topping for the hazelnut milk tea to compliment the nutty taste.
The Strawberry Au Lait tasted more like a dessert drink for me. It had blended strawberry syrup, coconut jelly and milk, and then topped with more coconut jelly. A drink that kind of has a summer feel to it.
The Kumquat Lemon Juice is a rather citrusy drink. Fresh kumquat is used when available, but due to it being a seasonal fruit, real fruit syrup may be substituted. Aiyu jelly is a favourite Taiwanese dessert that is made from the seeds of various fig found in the mountains of Taiwan. Aiyu jelly is usually served with honey and lemon juice as well as fruit tea.
Chatime Kerrisdale has a very comfortable, inviting space and it makes for a great place for students to hangout or study. I would recommend trying the Butterfly Pea and Oolong Tea Mousse the most.
Instagram: @chatime_kerrisdale
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Chatime. I enjoy their selection, ability to customize and their flavours are great too. Located at 1545 West Broadway (near Broadway and Granville), Chatime Broadway is one of five locations in Metro Vancouver (others are at Robson, Surrey Central, Richmond). I stopped by Chatime Broadway on two occassions recently to pick up a few bubbleteas and here are my thoughts.
To start, here are a few fun facts about Chatime. Chatime is originally form Taiwan and has over 1200 locations worldwide including Abu Dhabi, Miami, and London to name a few. 100 million cups of Chatime bubble tea are sold annually – now that’s a lot of bubble tea!
To ensure the perfect drink, Chatime tea is brewed fresh in store. Their emphasis is on *natural*, using real tea leaves and natural ingredients. They rely on natural flavours, rather than using preservatives, pre-made tea and tea powder. Real fruit juice is used rather than powder and pearls are discarded after a few hours in order to ensure freshness. Chatime tea leaves are sourced from Taiwan including from their own tea farm.
Chatime has quite the selection of drinks which is organized by category. There are Smoothie & Slush, Signature Milk Tea, Special Mix Tea, Fresh and Espresso Tea, and Mousse & Tea Latte. Drinks are mostly between $4-$5. Zomato has decent pictures of their menu.
Chatime is about making the drink right for you. You can decided on the ice level (none, less, normal, extra) and even sugar level (0%, 30%, 50% and 80%). They also have 8 toppings available at $0.50 each: pearl, grass jelly, coconut jelly, red bean, coffee jelly, aloe vera, and rainbow jelly, pudding.
Chatime drinks come in regular (500 mL) or large (700 mL) for cold drinks and regular (500 mL) for hot drinks.
The Chatime Broadway location is chic and modern with a long cozy banquette and some smaller dining tables.
I have tried several flavours from different locations (Robson, Surrey Central, Markham, Montreal). My top three of all-time are the Pearl Milk Tea, Taro Milk Tea and Matcha Red Bean Milk Tea. These flavours are conservative, classic and delicious! The Taro Milk Tea has blended taro flesh. I also ordered the Taro Pudding Milk Tea from Chatime Broadway though I wasn’t a big fan of the pudding. I much prefer the Chatime pearls which are big, soft and chewy.
The Chatime Broadway is less busy compared to the Robson but I find that their interior is much more cozy. Chatime drinks are great as usual. You can’t go wrong with one of the top 10 ones. Rating: 4/5
For more information, visit Chatime BC at their website and on Facebook.
Disclosure: I was invited to a media event at Chatime Surrey. All opinions are my own.
Chatime lovers can rejoice as a new Chatime location is opening today. The new addition to the franchise in BC is Chatime Surrey at 10255 King George Blvd. Chatime Surrey has a fantastic grand opening special of “Buy One Get One Free” from January 3 – 5. The free one is either pearl milk tea or grass jelly roasted milk tea. You might want to hurry because you never know when the pearls might run out!
Originally form Taiwan, Chatime has over 1200 locations worldwide including Abu Dhabi, Miami, and London to name a few. In fact, 100 million cups of Chatime bubble tea are sold annually – now that’s a lot of bubble tea!
In BC, there are four existing locations: 2 in Vancouver, 1 in Richmond and 1 in Burnaby. Conveniently located near the Skytrain station, Chatime Surrey is the 5th and newest bubbletea location for the franchise.
To ensure the perfect drink, Chatime tea is brewed fresh in store. Their emphasis is on *natural*, using real tea leaves and natural ingredients. They rely on natural flavours, rather than using preservatives, pre-made tea and tea powder. Real fruit juice is used rather than powder and pearls are discarded after a few hours in order to ensure freshness. Chatime tea leaves are sourced from Taiwan including from their own tea farm.
Chatime has quite the selection of drinks which are organized by category. Some of the categories include Oriential Pop tea, Chatime Jelly, Milk Tea, Fruit Tea, and Mousse. Drinks range between $4-$5.
Chatime is about making the drink right for you. You can decided on the ice level (regular, less, no ice) and even sugar level (extra, regular, less, half, slight or not sugar). They also have 8 toppings available: pearls, grass jelly, coconut jelly, red bean, coffee jelly, aloe vera, and rainbow jelly, pudding.
Chatime drinks come in regular (500 mL) or large (700 mL) for cold drinks and regular (500 mL) for hot drinks.
I only learned about Chatime when I attended a media event at their Downtown Vancouver store on Robson last May. Since then, I have been hooked and am a regular customer.
Yesterday, I was invited by Chinesebites.com to a media event at Chatime Surrey. My husband and son joined me at the event and we had the privilege of sampling any drink on the menu. While we are regular customers of the Top 10 Chatime drinks, we took the opportunity to try some ones that we normally do not order.
We started off with a matcha mousse with pearl (80% ice, half-sugar). The matcha flavour had just the right intensity without it being too bitter. This was my son’s favourite drink of the ones we tried. Next up was the taro red bean milk tea (80% ice, half-sugar). The red beans were cooked just right – that is, not too mushy but not too firm.
The hazlenut latte was the first hot drink I tried from Chatime. When I removed the lid, I was a bit surprised to find the drink not filled to the top. It was a regular size and I guess they don’t have regular sized cups? The drink was hot but still drinkable and I even had red beans as a topping. Overall, it kind of felt like red bean and hazelnut dessert soup!
The last drink we tried was a banana milk tea with rainbow jelly. I have to admit that this was not an ideal combo. The banana flavour was very intense and did not go well with the mixed flavours of the rainbow jelly.
As a fan of the Chatime franchise, it is exciting to see a new Chatime location being opened in Metro Vancouver. The drinks I tried were overall very good but I would personally stay away from the rainbow jelly; it adds too many complex flavours to the drink. Rating: 4/5
For more information, visit Chatime BC at their website and on Facebook.
