Chicha San Chen opens first location in Jakarta
With the city’s scorching sun constantly breathing down our necks, it’s only natural that Jakartans flock en masse to the closest bubble tea shops they can find. Our quest for these sweet and chewy thirst-quenchers just got more interesting as Taiwanese import Chicha San Chen finally opened their first Indonesian location in Jakarta’s Grand Indonesia shopping mall.
Unlike more renowned brands such as Xing Fu Tang and their specialty brown sugar bobas, Chicha San Chen goes the other way, preferring to focus on the tea part of the equation instead.
Award-winning Dong Ding Oolong Tea
All of Chicha San Chen’s tea is sourced from their own plantation in Taiwan
Image credit: @chichasanchen.sg
Just to underline how much they care about tea, the name Chicha San Chen roughly translates to ‘have three thousand teas’.
The new Grand Indonesia outlet
Image credit: Grand Indonesia
As a matter of fact, their tea is so good that they’ve won the Superior Taste Award from the International Taste Institute, sort of like a Michelin Star for consumer food and drink products.
The Dong Ding Oolong Tea Latte got its name from the mountain where the tea is cultivated
Image credit: @gourmatchia
For a taste of their award-winning tea, we recommend trying their signature Dong Ding Oolong Tea Latte (Rp. 50,000, ~USD3.47). Even with the addition of fresh milk, the distinctive taste and fragrant aroma of the tea itself is still unmistakable, resulting in a well-rounded, balanced milk tea.
The Cassia Black Tea with Mousse is for those who prefer their milk tea to be less sweet
Image credit: @toyrapeutic
Fans of macchiato will also like the Cassia Black Tea with Mousse (Rp. 50,000, ~USD3.47) with the mousse on top adding a lovely touch of sweetness to the drink. Of course, we’d be remiss to not mention the classic Bubble Milk Tea (Rp. 55,000, ~USD3.81), with black tea and soft, chewy bobas that proves tea isn’t the only thing they’re good at.
If you prefer a more zesty drink, Chicha also has several fruit teas available, such as this Green Tea with Passion Fruit
Image credit: @fomosgfood
You might’ve noticed that each menu item in Chicha is paired with a different tea variety as each tea has its own flavor and this is just one way they bring out the best of them. This is also why the default sugar level is set lower than other bubble tea chains, roughly 70% of what we’re used to, as the intention here is to make the tea the star of the show.
Brewed-to-order teas with unique paper and twine cup holders
To brew their teas, Chicha uses their own customized Lion teapresso machine
Image credit: Chicha San Chen Singapore
Another way they ensure the quality of the tea served is that each drink is brewed-to-order using their own customized teapresso machine. It’s the kind of service you’d expect from specialty coffee shops and while we might not be able to properly appreciate the joys of freshly brewed teas, the sight of the sleek machine is impressive enough for us.
The earthy tone of the eco-friendly packaging blends well with the woody fragrance of the tea
Image credit: Chicha San Chen Singapore
Equally eye-catching are the cup holders they use for the drink — made of paper and twine, and as charming as they’re eco-friendly.
Chicha San Chen brings the focus back to tea
As much as we love brown sugar bobas, there’s more of them that you can shake a stick at spread all over town by this point. We certainly welcome Chicha San Chen’s effort in bringing back the focus to the tea itself and for our money, their level of care in how they serve their drinks more than justify the price premium.
Address: Grand Indonesia East Mall Third Floor, Jl. M.H. Thamrin No.1, RT.1/RW.5, Kebon Melati, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta City, Jakarta 10310
Opening hours: 10AM-9PM, Daily
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Cover image adapted from @gourmatchia and Chicha San Chen Singapore
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