Showing posts with label Bubble Tea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bubble Tea. Show all posts

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Ochado Chanodo (茶の道)

Recently I have shared a post about the 2 popular Bubble Tea competitors in Singapore where patrons are willing to queue more than 30 minutes just for a cup of their desire bubble tea. And in that post, I also mentioned about a new similar concept bubble tea outlet which is known as Ochado Chanodo (茶の道). (click HERE for post mentioned)

In today’s post, I will be reviewing more about Ochado’s varieties of bubble tea as well as their special toppings, which you might be interested to pair some with your drinks.

Ochado is located in the North area, which might be considered as an inconvenient area for certain people. But despite the location, they do served decent flavour of tea that are up to stardard compare to either KOI or Gong Cha. And I am sure good stuffs are worth for the traveling time and who knows it might taste even better compare to those that you have tried. This shop is just about 2 bus stops away from Yishun Mrt station, and you can easily spot it with its outstanding green and black furnishing outlook too.

James, who is the supervisor (店长) of this shop, told us that actually this shop is partner by a few bubble tea lovers including himself. Before setting up the shop, they actually flew to Taiwan to do research and learn about the operating procedures and also choosing the right type of tea leave for each item on their menu. Other than over seeing the shop, James also in-charge on cooking the pearls and tea. According to him, they will always discard all the unused tea after every 4 hours to maintain its taste and fragrant and this also applies to the pearls where he needs to discard and re-cooked them every few hours in order for the customers to have soft and chewy pearls. James philosophy is, he values his customers and he always make sure each and every one of their customers can get the best quality of Tea upon purchase.

I will review 7 different types of choices, with a few of it are on their popular ordering list. First let’s take a look at this refreshing "OchaDo's Lemonade - 招牌鲜桔茶" which is also known as “Ladies tea” according to James. This is a mixture of green tea with freshly squeeze lime juice (where you still can see the physical lime fruits in it) and top with preserved sour plum (话梅). Great cooling drinks to quench thirst on hot afternoon or after a heavy meal to wash down all the greasy food.
Type: Green Tea
Price: S$2.90 (Medium), S$4.30(Large)


You will be wondering what is “3Q” like when we first heard about this name. "3Q Passionate Tea - 百香 3Q 冰茶" is actually red tea with three types of chewy toppings such as Konnyaku Jelly, Pearls and Aloe Vera. A new combination way to stir up your palate with chewy pearls, crunch aloe vera and soft shredded jelly.
Type: Red Tea
Price: S$3.50 (One Size, Medium)

But if you prefer something lighter that is not too sour or without any sugar added, perhaps you can consider this “Honey Aloe Vera Tea - 养颜蜂蜜芦荟冰茶” which comes with red tea and aloe vera bits. The sweetness of the tea is from honey rather than Fructose (fruit sugar, 果糖) that is used in Ochado’s bubble tea. When you give this tea a sip, you can taste a light honey fragrant in it and at the same time enjoys the healthy bits from the aloe vera cubes.
Type: Red Tea
Price: S$2.90 (One Size, Medium)

James told us this “Grape Yogurt Aloe Vera - 紫色魔力冰茶” is one of the partner’s favourite drinks, which he will always order whenever he comes to the shop. Although the appearance of this drink might not be very eye catching like those shown above, but if you like graph flavour, this is a good choice. It taste a bit sour when sip but after a few mouthful, it will release a sweet scent that makes you crave more for more which indeed matched well with its Chinese description “紫色魔力冰茶”. For this drink they used genius grape flavour yogurt to blend with the red tea so I guess it’s a good choice for ladies too.
Type: Red Tea
Price: S$3.50 (One Size, Medium)

After those non-milk teas above, now it’s time to take a look on our “Star” drinks of the day, “Pearl Milk Tea - 珍珠奶茶”. I am sure more than half of those patrons who visit those bubble tea outlets would usually walk away with a cup of “Pearl Milk Tea”. So what are the main criteria you look for to judge a cup of good and recommending pearl milk tea? Is it the aroma of the tea, the taste, or the soft and chewy bubbles or all the above? I think I would leave this for you to share with me your comment if you do have a chance to try out Ochado’s Pearl Milk Tea…….
Type: Milk Tea
Price: S$2.90 (Medium), S$4.30(Large)

Roasted Tea with Azuki Beans and Pearls - 珍珠红豆烤奶” use roasted tea leaves to brew into roasted milk tea that served together with two different toppings such as azuki beans and pearls. I love the combination of azuki bean and pearls where the sweetness of the beans blends well with the mild taste of the pearls. The first cup of Ochado’s tea that captures my heart and attention is their “Okinawan Matcha Milk Tea - 冲绳抹奶茶” which is a blend of green milk tea with azuki beans topping where I also added some extra pearls in it. But this roasted tea with azuki beans and pearls will be more towards the sweet aroma side due to the type of tea used.
Type: Roasted Milk Tea
Price: S$3.50 (Medium), S$4.90(Large)

Finally we are down to the last review for this post on another popular order called “Pop Eggs Milk Tea - 魔力爆蛋奶茶”. Guess you will be thinking, “Pop Eggs” what is that? From a glance you might mistaken them as pearls, which they are quite similar on appearance and size. But when you get to try them, you will be surprised! These little “eggs” are actually from Japan and they will burst with some coffee liquid when bites so it a good choice for coffee and tea lovers. Maybe you would like to consider this for change from the usual chewy pearls milk tea if you like that popping effect tickling in your mouth like eating some salmon roes.
Type: Milk Tea
Price: S$2.90 (Medium), S$4.30(Large)


MUST TRY List!


Refreshing Tea: OchaDo's Lemonade - 招牌鲜桔茶

Ice Blended: Mango Yogurt - 芒果優格冰沙

Milk Tea: Okinawa Matcha Milk Tea - 冲绳抹奶茶 (with azuki beans in it)

Fushion Ice Tea: 3Q Passionate Tea - 百香 3Q 冰茶

QQ Tea: Pop Eggs Milk Tea - 魔力爆蛋奶茶

Kid's Favourite: Yakult Green Tea - 多多绿茶



Just to share with you some of their special toppings that are available in their store:- from top to bottom which I have label for your reference. You can find:-

1. Coffee Crystal (咖啡水晶) :- which is small cube sizes coffee flavour jelly that is slightly crunchy texture than grass jelly.

2. Konnyaku Jelly (蒟弱):- the jelly is shredded and it comes in two different colour which is white and brown, very unusual to have dual colour Konnyaku jelly in bubble tea.

3. Pop Eggs (魔力爆蛋):- if you like coffee and wish to try something different apart from the chewy pearls or grass jelly, you should go for this toppings. According to the store supervisor (店长), James, these coffee eggs are packed in Japan using freshly brew coffee and it goes pretty well with Mocha or Milk Tea too.

There is another not commonly used topping for bubble tea known as Basil Seed (罗勒子) which in Ochado they have come out with a new drinks known as “Aloe Vera Basil Seed Lemonade - 柠檬芦荟罗勒子”. Maybe I should give it a try next round. And while chatting with some of the patrons whom are queuing or waiting for their orders, they actually shares and feedback to us that Ochado’s tea has its unique taste which makes it the same stand as KOI café and Gong Cha too. But with this review, I hope it has given you a better idea of what Ochado can offer and perhaps you can drop by one of these days to try it out yourself and share with us your comments.

To end the post, Joyce and I would like to thank James (店长) and Noel of Ochado Chanodo (茶の道) for their warm hospitality on inviting us to this bubble tea review in order to for us to share some of their specialise drinks and toppings that might interests you.


Ochado Chanodo (茶の道)

Block 102, Yishun Avenue 5
#01-129
Singapore 760102
Telephone: 6757 4301
Email: ochado@live.com

Operating Hours:
Monday - Friday: 11.30am - 10.30pm
Saturday & Sunday: 10.30am - 10.30pm


Special Note:
~ Ochado Chanodo (茶の道) also accept bulk delivery around Yishun and Sembawang area, you can call up the shop for more enquiry about your orders and location @ 6757 4301

~ Click HERE for Drinks Menu or LINK for more bubble tea photos.



Thursday 9 September 2010

Gong Cha(贡茶) vs KOI vs Ochado(茶の道)

Other than KOI that draw large crowds from the bubble tea lovers, Gong Cha(贡茶) is also another franchise from Taiwan and there are only 2 branches in Singapore located at Novena Square 2 and City Square Mall. I love milk tea, so usually I will go for their milk tea range like their signature Gong Cha Ali Shan Milk Tea with pearl or Gong Cha Milk Green Tea with herbal jelly shown above. Their pearl is soft and chewy and the milk tea taste smoothing and great with 30% sugar level which I find it is just nice compare to 50%.

You can also choose the level of sweetness range from no sugar, 30%, 50%, 80% or 100% which I will usually go for 30% only. So far the queue at Novena Square 2 was not that bad during lunchtime, and the average waiting time would be like less than 15 minutes or so. You can also add pearls or different types of jelly to your drink with additional $0.50 or so for the top-up.

Do you know why it is known as "Gong Cha - 贡茶"? The base of this tea is usually either matcha tea, black tea, tea or oolong tea that top with milk foam to arouse the taste and fragrant of the tea.

Gong Cha Outlets:-
Novena Square 2
10 Sinaran Drive
#01-172
Singapore 307506
Telephone: 6397 6816

City Square Mall
#B2-K3/K4
Telephone: 6509 3803



A few days ago when I walked past a new shopping mall at Bugis(武吉士 ) area, I was surprised to see a very long queues at the end corner of the mall. Out of curiosity, I went nearer to the queues to see what are those people queuing for. And while approaching the store, I saw the popular milk tea signboard – "KOI Café" and I realize that those people are actually queuing for "KOI" pearls milk tea. From this photo and you will notice that most people really loves KOI and despite of the hot weather they still can queue under the hot sun just for that cup of "fragrant and chewy pearl milk tea". Out of all the KOI outlets, which one do you think draws the most number of customers and which is their most popular tea on the list? Upon looking at the queue, I actually have the urged to go and ask those people what makes them fell in love with this tea and willing to queue under the hot weather just for that cup of tea.

Similarly to Gong Cha(贡茶), KOI also allows the customer to choose the sugar level of their tea range from no sugar, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%. Personally, I found that 50% and above will be kind of too sweet to our liking unless you really have sweet tooth. The one shown on the photo above is their "Ice Cream Milk Tea" where a scoop of vanilla ice cream will be added into the tea so for this a 30% sugar level will be great.

If compare to Gong Cha(贡茶), the pearls from KOI has a wonderful texture that is soft and chewy which is not too hard and importantly it burst with mild flavour that goes well with their tea. If you don't like tea, you can also go for their coffee menu which they have a few decent choices too. So are you willing to spend more than 30 minutes queuing for a cup of chewy bubble tea.......

KOI Outlets:-
Koi Cafe Ang Mo Kio
Blk 704 Ang Mo Kio Central
#01-2545
Tel: 6459 1518

Koi Cafe Bishan
513 Bishan street 13
#01-503
Tel: 6258 1729

Koi Cafe Iluma
201 Victoria Street
#01-15 Iluma At Bugis
Tel: 6884 6817

Koi Cafe People’s Park
1 Park Road #01-16
People’s Park Complex
Tel: 6536 8330

Koi Cafe Marine Parade
Blk 83 Marine Parade Central
#01-562
Tel: 6440 4869

Koi Cafe Toa Payoh
190A Toa Payoh Central
#01-562
Tel: 6256 1169



Other than the two HOT bubble tea competitors above, there are so many other bubble tea stores available in Singapore such as "Each a Cup - 各一杯", "Sweet Talk - 甜言密语", "Ochado - 茶の道" and many other small outlets in coffee shop or food court. I have tried all the 3 stores mentioned above and strongly agreed with most of my friends who have tried "Sweet Talk - 甜言密语" that they are really very generous with their sweet syrup which makes their bubble tea far too sweet to drink. I remember there is once I ordered their lychee flavour bubble tea and it seems like they have pour in half bottle of the lychee syrup which makes the drink so sweet and full of artificial lychee taste.

So after all, I think Each A Cup bubble tea still taste acceptable with their sweetness and mini pearls. Recently, they also have this sugar level choices for customer to select too.

Recently I spot a newly renovated shop around my area which has that unique decoration that resemble most Taiwan bubble tea outlet known as "Ochado - 茶の道". I was attracted to their wide range flavour tea such as Assam Tea, Oolong White Peach Tea, Okinawa Milk Tea, Fusion Iced Tea and etc. I have tried their “Okinawa Matcha Milk Tea - 冲绳抹奶茶” which has a very fragrant matcha taste that blends well with the sweet azuki beans and chewy pearls.

With a good impression of their tea and pearls, I went back on another day to try out their “Pop Eggs Milk Tea - 魔力爆蛋奶茶” which I am curious to find out what exactly is “Pop Eggs - 魔力爆蛋”. And after checking with the friendly counter staff, she told me that “pop eggs” are actually coffee flavour bubbles that will burst with light coffee liquid when you bite it. This is indeed a very interesting topping to go with milk tea and to me, I feel that I taste rather like those royal jelly capsule. Posted by Picasa

OCHADO
Block 102 Yishun Avenue 5
#01-129
Singapore 760102
Telephone: 6757 4301


Note:
~ The price of these milk tea from Gong Cha(贡茶),KOI Cafe and Ochado(茶の道) range from S$2.20 - S$4.90 excluding extra topping of pearls or jelly from S$0.50 each choice.




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