It seems that a new bubble tea shop is opening every other day in Singapore nowadays. Recently, the wife and I chanced upon CHICHA San Chen (吃茶三千) at Jem shopping mall in Jurong East.
CHICHA San Chen (吃茶三千)
High-pressure tea machine
CHICHA San Chen (吃茶三千) is a famous Taiwanese bubble tea chain with over 200 stores in Taiwan and China.
It is known for its “brewed to order” bubble teas, meaning that you can customise the drinks based on your preferences.
The tea bases are brewed in a high-tech tea machine. After that, you can add on milk, honey, juices, tapioca pearls, konjac jelly, etc to complete your bubble tea.
According to the company, this “marries the best of bubble tea with traditional tea”.
After trying the CHICHA San Chen bubble teas myself, I can testify to the veracity of this statement.
New outlet at Jem shopping mall
The bubble tea chain opened its first flagship outlet at 313@Somerset in May this year. Shortly after, it opened its second branch at Jem shopping mall.
We visited the Jem branch twice, once during lunch on a weekday and another time on a weekend evening.
On both occasions, the queue was very long and we had to wait for around 30 minutes to get our drinks.
Menu (Click to enlarge)
Full Menu
Popular Items
The menu offers six tea bases: Green Tea, Osmanthus Oolong Tea, High Mountain Pouchong Tea, Black Tea, Dong Ding Oolong Tea, and Cassia Black Tea. Each tea base costs $3.20.
After selecting the tea base, you can choose to add on a flavour like milk, honey, cream, passion fruit, mango, etc. Each flavour costs $1 or $1.50 on top of the tea base.
Finally, you can add toppings like tapioca pearls, konjac jelly, coconut jelly, or grass jelly at $0.50 or $1 per topping.
If you can’t decide, the shop has various recommended combinations like the Bubble Milk Tea (Black Tea + Cream + Bubble), Dong Ding Oolong Fresh Milk Tea, and Cassia Black Tea with Mousse. See picture of “Popular Items” above.
Sugar level options are 100%, 50%, and 0%. It is possible to request for less ice and even hot tea.
Bubble Milk Tea
The wife and I ordered the Bubble Milk Tea ($4.50) on our first visit. This signature drink comprises black tea added with cream and bubble pearls.
The drink was smooth and creamy. The black tea flavour was quite strong and sweet, but it wasn’t overwhelming.
The highlight for me was the tapioca pearls. CHICHA San Chen pearls are made in Taiwan but freshly cooked in Singapore. They are covered with a layer of caramel.
The pearls were soft, chewy, and sweet. They are 1.5 times larger than the usual size which made it even more satisfying to chew on them.
On the whole, this was a safe and pleasant drink that should suit most palates.
Cassia Black Tea with Mousse
We also ordered the Cassia Black Tea with Mousse ($4.70).
The cassia tea flavour was sweet and aromatic, with slightly bitter undertones. The mousse gave the drink a light and airy texture.
Personally, I preferred the Bubble Milk Tea because I have a sweet tooth. The wife enjoyed the Cassia Black Tea more because she likes her drinks to be less sweet.
Dong Ding Oolong Fresh Milk Tea
On our second visit to CHICHA San Chen, we ordered the Dong Ding Oolong Fresh Milk Tea ($4.70).
The oolong tea had a sweet, aromatic and full-bodied flavour. I really liked how it stood up to the sweet taste of the fresh milk, creating a very fragrant and well-balanced bubble tea drink.
The wife and I both agreed that this was our favourite bubble tea drink among the three drinks we tried.
Conclusion
Compared to other bubble tea shops in Singapore, I feel that CHICHA San Chen has best managed to retain the rich fragrance of tea in their drinks. The company has put effort into brewing high quality teas so that their bubble teas are not just sugary concoctions of syrups and tapioca pearls. The bubble tea shop is currently very popular in Singapore, so be prepared to queue. We waited for around half an hour before getting our drinks.
CHICHA San Chen (Jem)
Address: Jem, 50 Jurong Gateway Road #L1-17, Singapore 608549
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 10pm
CHICHA San Chen (313@Somerset)
Address: 313@Somerset, 313 Orchard Rd #03-41, Singapore 238895
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 10pm