The Way of Milk Tea

Cha Dao Tea Place
#64-D Holy Spirit Drive
Don Antonio Heights, Quezon City
+63 (02)2100677 / +63905-2236040
05 October 2011

A few weeks ago, I received an invitation for a tea party at Cha Dao Tea Place in Kapitolyo (Pasig), but I wasn't able to respond right away because of one big hesitation: the location of the party, which was quite far from our place (I also am not familiar with the place). I could say I was happy to receive another e-mail saying the party was cancelled and that the invitees would just receive Gift CerTEAficates so we could try their drink on our own free time. I received four GCs, which I was so willing to share with my family, but my mom wasn't into going places just to eat, and brother wasn't into milk tea. When my bloggy-friend Jill (the Food Scout) decided to use her GCs for a little giveaway, I knew then what to do with my two extra GCs: share it with my bloggy friends!

I personally chose my cousin Marge because of course, she is family... and Daryll, because not only is she my newest blogger friend, she also lives near the Cha Dao Tea Place branch in Don Antonio. I was happy they accepted my invitation.


Cha Dao Tea Place first opened their doors June 2011 in Katipunan, Quezon City. Because their drinks fitted the students' budgets, they quickly made their name and as short as two months, they opened several branches, the newest being the one in Maginhawa Street (also in Quezon City), which opened a few days ago.


Us four met at the McDonald's branch outside Ever Commonwealth. From there, we decided to just walk (crossing the foot bridge first) so we could have a little exercise. In my mind, I took walking not only as a form of exercise but all the walking would make us tired, thus making milk tea drinking all the more better. Hahaha. It was a long walk, yes, but it was tolerable...although if you don't fancy some walking, there are tricycles to take you to the place (if you don't have your own ride). Cha Dao Tea Place is very easy to find, once you enter Holy Spirit Drive from Commonwealth Avenue, just go straight until you see Mini Stop. Cha Dao is very near there.

The store just opened when we arrived. We were greeted by very friendly staff, who quickly became our friends. We threw in some questions, which the staff answered, and even if we didn't ask for it, she also mentioned the short history of the store. I did admire how proud she is of the place she is working for.

Anyway, all the walking made us (especially me) a bit tired, but the place was so refreshing with all the green wall art and pillows. As you can see, there were two sides - one with tables and chairs, the other with tables and pillows. Of course, we chose to stay at the pillow side, as it gave us a unique way of drinking our milk tea.


Each table has its own menu board, but near the counter was this board. Thinking what we will have took us some time because we wanted to have a different kind of drink so we could get to taste four different flavors.


They have two cup sizes - the large and extra large. Base drinks cost about 65 - 75 pesos, while sinkers cost around 10 pesos. Taking cue from the staff's recommendations, we went for the best sellers, while sister went for the Yakult Blend.

Ordering, you first (of course) have to say your choice of drink as well as your preferred cup (L or XL). Then, you choose what kind of sinker you want, but of course this is optional. You can go for just the drink, but it sure is better to add a sinker, just to give your drink a little texture. After that, you choose your sugar level - lite, regular, or sweet, then you choose what kind of ice preparation - on the rocks (with ice cubes) or shaken (blended ice). On the rocks is slightly warm (or at room temperature), which is often recommended for take out drinks.


Assam with Egg Pudding. (Black Tea, Black Sugar, Milk) Marge's drink. I don't know how black sugar looked like, but I loved the whole blend. I wasn't able to taste the egg pudding sinker because it was big and couldn't fit into the straw, but halfway through her drink, Marge used the straw to disintegrate the pudding and said that it made the drink more delicious.


Wintermelon Tea with Nata. Black Tea, White Gourd, Milk. Daryll's Drink. This tasted similar to the Gourd Milk Chantilly I had at Dr. Pearl (though it is not a milk tea place) a few months, but of course, this tasted a bit different because of the black tea flavor.


Peach Mango Yakult Blend with Nata. Sister's Drink. Seeing the Yakult Blend menu really made her interested with it. Between the two of us, she is more a milk tea person having tasted different kinds in the market. We both were not sure if other milk tea places offer Yakult blended Milk Tea, but because it was unique, she really went with it. Asking the staff what she could recommend, sister trusted the staff's recommendation and went for the Peach Mango flavor. It was so delicious! Milk Tea + Yakult? Awesome!


Matcha with Grass Jelly. (Green Tea, Special Milk Mix) My drink. At first I wanted to go for the Strawberry Classic Blend Milk Tea, but they didn't have strawberry flavor that day, so I just asked for another recommendation. Part of me was thinking of how the pictures of the drinks will come out, so knowing Marge and Daryll's drink were brownish, while sister's drink was a bit yellowish, I just went for the Green Tea. There were two kinds of green tea, but since I was trying to cut back on sugar level, I just went for Matcha, because the Green Tea one had black sugar in it. I loved my drink. It was the kind that gets better as I sipped more and more of it, and halfway through my drink I mumbled that it tasted a bit like green tea cake.

All our drinks came with regular sugar level. The drinks were cold, but not icy, which was something I liked because we were able to savor the tea flavor more. The next time I get back here, I'd go for their Chocolate - Strawberry Yakult Blend with Popping Bobba, because the time we visited they were already sold out of the popping bobba sinker. Aside from the Milk Tea drinks, they also offer cookies and some chips.

There are many milk tea places coming out, and should you want to try Cha Dao's milk tea, you can visit their branch here in Don Antonio, or any of these branches:

KATIPUNAN, Quezon City - #42 Esteban Abada St. corner Rosa Alvero St., Quezon City (Beside Kostka and Fruit Magic)| Telephone: 2100765 / 0905-2236039

MAGINHAWA, Quezon City: 111A Maginhawa Street, Teachers Village, Diliman, Quezon City (Between Burger Project and Barangay Hall) | Telephone: 6227076 / 0917-8636644

KAPITOLYO, Pasig: Unit 2, FADI Building, #5 West Capitol Drive, Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig City (Beside Cebuana Lhullier and main Kapitolyo gate)| Telephone: 7388719 / 0905-2236041

EMERALD-ORTIGAS, Pasig: B-1 Food Plaza, Wynsum Corporate Plaza, F.Ortigas Jr (formerly Emerald Ave), Pasig City

You can also check their Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter for quick inquiries and updates.

Thanks thanks to Cha Dao Tea Place, as well as to Marge and Daryll for coming with me. Let's have a milk tea party again soon!