Bubble tea taste-off : All the contenders
Filed Under (coffee, food, local) by rinnah on 10-02-2012
Tagged Under : 1utama, chatime, clementi, gong cha, koi cafe, kota damansara, ochado, pavilion, raffles city, sunway pyramid, tropicana city mall
When I first came to Singapore, I observed a strange phenomenon at the place where I stay. There are many shops all selling bubble teas within the same vicinity. In fact, on a routine walk to/from the MRT station, I pass no fewer than five different shops specializing in bubble tea drinks (not counting the drink stalls at the food court).
There are many contenders for the title of best bubble tea and in the name of blog research (and pure curiosity) I tested a few of the more popular/well-known brands – Koi Cafe, Gong Cha, Chatime and Ochado. The irony is that I seldom think of buying bubble tea back home in Malaysia, but yet in Singapore, here I was, standing patiently in queue with 15 other people for bubble tea. To ensure fairness of my taste test, I ordered the same drink from all franchises – no fancy schmancy specialty teas, just plain straight up milk tea with pearls and less sugar.
(Erm, I have no photo for Gong Cha, Chatime and Ochado simply because I forgot to take one. #bloggerfail)
What did my not-so-epicurean tastebuds think?
Chatime’s tea seemed to be least refined (tasted like they used cheaper tea leaves to brew) of the four contenders. Ochado’s roasted tea version was the smoothest and most to my liking. Koi and Gong Cha were better than Chatime, but ultimately forgettable. Despite my order of half-sugar, Chatime was also the sweetest mix (maybe to hide the taste of cheaper tea?) and therefore got booted down to the bottom of my bubble tea list.
I can safely say that I prefer the quality and texture of Koi’s pearls (tapioca balls) overall. Gong Cha’s pearls were a wee bit rubbery, as were Chatime’s. Ochado fared slightly better due to the smaller size of their pearls and I even tried their famous pop-egg pearls (which contain coffee syrup). While I liked the concept of the pop-eggs, it was way too sweet for my liking – like taking swigs of syrup straight from the bottle.
Now, if only I could merge Ochado’s roasted milk tea with Koi’s pearls I would be one very happy bubble tea drinker. 
except for Koi, the rest I have tasted them before. I find Cha Time a little too sweet but lotsa variety, the pearls are nice to chew on. Ochado is very forgettable, and Gong Cha is my favourite of the lot. Love the milk but the pearls are a little too soft for my liking. Now I need to go to SG and drink Koi!
rinnah : I’m kinda boring, I prefer just normal milk tea and not all the flavored varieties.
Come to SG, I’ll belanja you Koi! 
have tried gongcha only once, and chatime numerous times. i have no bad experience with their half sugar as it is usually is really half-sugar. chatime is also the only one with most outlets. and there is a new soya stall in 1u LG (next to oyster king), now they have blended all sorts of flavor of soya with bubbles. i like that shop
rinnah : Dunno if it’s just me then, but I find even half-sugar to be sweet.
I shall have to try the soya bubble drink next! 
I’ve tested Gong Cha, Ochado and Chatime, but also Come Buy. I’d say that while Chatime is nice, it’s definitely inferior compared to the others (Maybe like you said, inferior tea). Come Buy has nice chewy pearls, but their milk tea is meh though the quality is not as inferior as Chatime’s IMO. My favourite is Gong Cha
And between the Ochado and Chatime nearby my place, I’d take Ochado over Chatime any day 
rinnah : I find Chatime is easily accessible at most places. Gong Cha and Ochado not so easy to find.
Found your bubble tea experience interesting. Seems like you had a real bubble of a time just sipping and chewing on all sorts of pearls.
After trying a few types myself, I still find myself gravitating towards Chatime because I’ve found my favorite flavors there. I guess it may be a personal preference issue in terms of the refined taste that you mentioned. I wouldn’t go so far as to consider Chatime as cheap tasting though. They are still the leading bubble tea brand in Malaysia after all. In terms of sugar, I guess different brands have different measures of half sugar. So that just takes one experience to know what level will suit you best. In the end, it’s nice to know what’s your cup of tea, literally! Haha. Hope u don’t completely give up on some brands before trying other flavors on the menu. Cheers to finding your favorite cuppa! 
rinnah : Hi Kim and nice of you to stop by!
I’m not too partial to flavors in my bubble tea, so I prefer just regular plain ol’ milk tea. Hehe.
We only have Gong Cha at the workplace :s I have never tried Cha Time because the fluoro colors turned me off. I think I’ll have to find an Ochado next@
rinnah : Be sure to try Ochado’s pop egg pearls! But it’s rather sweet for me.