We were walking in the basement of Raffles City Shopping Centre to get to the Esplanade MRT Station via the new link where we happened to come across this Gong Cha outlet along the way. I had heard all the hype about Gong Cha being better than Koi earlier and since there wasn’t a long queue, we decided to give it a try to judge the quality ourselves.

The presentation of the Gong Cha milk tea was much different from the other bubble tea outlets where the milk and the tea were given a good shake and mix. Here, the milk froth actually floated on the top to allow customers to enjoy drinking this in 3 different ways:

1. Sip the freshly brewed tea through the milk froth without a straw.

2. Slurp some tea followed by the milk through the straw for a smooth after-taste.

3. Stir and enjoy a perfect blend of milky froth and aromatic tea.

I tried all 3 ways as recommended and actually preferred the conventional method of mixing milk and tea together. The taste of the tea was somewhat different from the rest. It was much more aromatic like a strong brew of quality traditional tea leaves. It reminded me of sipping chinese tea in tea houses so I would consider this a fusion drink where East meets West.

The combination of sour plum and green tea were excellent. This was a superbly refreshing drink that sure to quench any thirst especially after a heavy meal. In fact, this could probably be the only sour plum bubble tea I’ve ever tried that really tasted of fresh plums with bits.

I liked my bubble teas with lower sugar levels and I thought 30% was just nice for me. For the pearls, I felt they lacked the chewiness punch that I like. Perhaps next time, I’d just go for the drink without pearls.

Tags: bubble teacity hallgong chamilk tearaffles city shopping centre