Bubble Tea Fans Are Flocking To These New Bubble Tea Chains In Singapore

Food fads come and go. But one that is not going away anytime soon is the bubble tea craze. In fact, new bubble tea flavours and variations have surfaced in the market, such as freshly brewed tea filled with chunks of fruit or toppings that are not the run-of-the-mill tapioca pearls.

A wider range of tea flavours is also available. Some bubble teas even come with a fork for customers to pick at the chunks of fruit in the drink, such as watermelon cubes, passionfruit pulp and slices of lemon and lime. The teas are sold at places such as Partea at Suntec City; Heetea at SingPost Centre; U-Cha at 313@Somerset and nex; R&B Tea at Marina Square; Teafolia at Tampines MRT station and Bedok Mall; and Mr Tan at United Square - all of which opened in the past three months.

At the five-week-old PlayMade by One Zo at Tampines One – a franchise of the popular One Zo brand in Taiwan – not only are there pieces of fruit in the drink, but customers can also watch the pearls being made on site.

R&B Tea

Foodcourt operator Koufu has brought in its first tea brand in a joint venture with R&B Tea from Taiwan. Highlights at the two-month-old outlet include Mighty Luffy ($6.80), Hawaiian fruit tea with fruit chunks; Devil's Booster ($4.20) of peach tea, pineapple and orange; as well as roasted oolong with tea cream ($4.50).

Its next outlet – a standalone kiosk at Block 470 Toa Payoh Lorong 6 – opens on November 21. On its first three days, it will be giving away 200 free cups of either milk tea with golden pearls or No. 23 oolong tea.

R&B Tea is at #04-101/102 Cookhouse by Koufu, Marina Square, 6 Raffles Boulevard. Visit www.facebook.com/rbteasg

Teafolia

Fruit tea is Teafolia's focus. It offers options such as its signature fruit tea ($5.90) with sliced green apple, watermelon, lemon, lime and pineapple pulp; Kiwi Karate ($5.80) with mashed kiwi fruit; and Grapefruit Gravity ($5.50) with sliced grapefruit and grapefruit bits. The menu also features a "Stirring Milk" range of beverages, as well as smoothies.

Teafolia is at #01-29/30 Tampines MRT station, 20 Tampines Central 1; and #01-K1 Bedok Mall, 311 New Upper Changi Road. Visit www.facebook.com/teafoliasg

HeeTea

Tucked in the corner of the new SingPost Centre's food-centric basement, HeeTea from China features a selection of cheese tea and fruit tea. Pick from Super Four Seasons Fruit Tea ($6), with passionfruit pulp, watermelon, strawberries, and slices of orange, lemon and lime; pomelo tea ($4.50); and pineapple fruit tea.

Heetea is at #B1-147 SingPost Centre, 10 Eunos Road 8. Visit www.facebook.com/Heeteaasia

U-Cha

You cannot miss U-Cha, with its gigantic bear mascot fronting the stores. To order, first choose a base of cheese tea ($4.20), fruit tea ($4.50), pure tea ($3.20) or fresh milk tea ($4.20).

Next, pick the type of tea, from Earl Grey to lychee black and rose oolong. The fruit in tea options include watermelon chunks and orange slices.

U-Cha is at #02-13A Nex, 23 Serangoon Central; and 01-37 313@Somerset, 313 Orchard Road.

PlayMade by One Zo

Famous Taiwanese bubble tea brand One Zo is now in Singapore under the name PlayMade by One Zo. The name is a twist on the Chinese characters of the brand, which refer to the art of making its unique pearls. A special blend of flours from Taiwan is churned with pink cactus juice, caramel or ground sesame seeds. It is then kneaded by hand and put through a special machine to create the pearls. Matcha pearl, which is launched today, is available only this month.

A drink with the pearls costs an extra 80 cents for a medium cup and $1.20 for a large cup. Some unique drink options include pink cactus smoothie ($4.60 or $5.90), cocoa latte ($4.20 or $5.70) and orange pulp green tea ($4.60 or $6.20) - part of its fresh fruit series.

PlayMade by One Zo is at #01-59 Tampines 1, 10 Tampines Central 1. Visit www.facebook.com/playmadeonezo

Mr Tan

Mr Tan, located outside United Square mall near the Starbucks Reserve cafe, offers Royal Fruit Tea ($3.90), orange fruit tea ($3.90) and peach guava tea ($3.90), as well as fruit soda and milk tea with cheese milk foam topping.

Mr Tan is at #01-K1A United Square, 101 Thomson Road.

Partea

Have a tea Partea at this six-week-old tea store, which specialises in fruit and cheese teas. The Rainbow Tea series includes jasmine green tea ($6.50) with fruit such as watermelon, strawberry, mango, passionfruit pulp, and lime. The Sunrise Tea range includes green tea or sijichun tea with orange ($5.30) and gaoshan oolong tea with pineapple ($5.20, $6.40 with cheese). It also offers fresh milk tea, cold-brew Chinese tea and tea beancurd.

Partea is at #02-470 Suntec City, North Atrium, 3 Temasek Boulevard. Visit www.facebook.com/parteasg

LiHO

Besides its initial signature cheese tea options, the home-grown brand has amped up its offerings with fresh fruit drinks too.

It started offering lemon juice beverages and tea (from $2.90) in May and its avocado series was launched in September. Two weeks ago, it rolled out dragonfruit-based options - dragonfruit green tea ($4.20 or $5.20) and cheese dragonfruit smoothie ($6.90) made with fresh dragonfruit and fresh milk and topped with its signature cheese topping.

LiHO is at various locations including Bugis+, Clementi Mall, and White Sands. Visit www.facebook.com/lihosg