It’s no secret that Vancouver loves its bubble tea, and the city’s favourite comes from Chatime, the Taiwanese chain that seems to be taking over the world one chewy tapioca pearl at a time. It is one of the world’s fastest growing franchises, with 1,000 outlets worldwide, including five in the Lower Mainland.
“People like us because all of our stuff is from Taiwan, where bubble tea comes from,” says Alex Yeh, manager of the Chatime on Broadway. In other words, it is as authentic as a drink filled with chewy bobbles can get.
“Cha,” of course, means “tea” in Chinese, and Chatime emphasizes the quality of its teas, brewing them fresh in store from loose tea leaves, not powders or concentrates. Plus their state-of-the art equipment ensures a consistently great cup each time.
Chatime also offers more varieties of tea than many other bubble tea emporia do: “A lot of places don’t have oolong, and we have a brown rice green tea, made with toasted brown rice,” Yeh says.
But the most important thing is the pearls, he says: “They need to be chewy.” Chatime, it seems, has mastered the art of the perfect pearl in the perfect cuppa. Chatime Various locations chatimeca.com
Chatime
Various locations
Gold – Best Bubble Tea
