milk tea in tomas morato – Jellybeans in the City

Roasted brown sugar + cheese cream at Chachago, Tomas Morato

And the invasion of the Taiwanese milk tea brands continue with another one setting up shops in the country: Chachago.

I first heard of this brand when my boss insisted on dropping by its nearby shop along Tomas Morato after out lunch out.

This branch is basically suited for take outs and not really hanging out. It occupies a small space in Pares Retiro with a small and cramped sitting area where you can wait for your drink.

Chachago offers a brown sugar series of drinks which is quite on-trend right now. These usually have milk as its base with its pearl sinkers and sides of the cup doused in rich brown sugar syrup (hence those “tiger” stripes). To enjoy this drink with a good balance of flavors, you have to shake the cup to distribute the brown sugar syrup into the milk.

Now, aside from the brown sugar syrup, my interest actually lies in the cheese cream that accompanies some of its drinks. It is a l layer of salty-sweet cream cheese whipped to a light and foamy consistency. I’ve always been a fan of cream cheese so when cheese cream started appearing on beverages, I just knew I had to have it.

I’ve tried two of Chachago’s brown sugar drinks with cheese foam:

Roasted Brown Sugar Cacao with Salted Cheese Cream (Php140).

Roasted Brown Sugar Tea with Salted Cheese Cream (Php120)

I think the cheese cream works a lot better in the tea-based drink rather in the chocolate-based drink. In the cacao beverage, both the flavor of dark chocolate and that of the cheese cream are too strong to complement each other.

At some point, when I’ve weaned myself away from my cheese cream addiction, I might try more of Chachago’s offerings.

This Chachago branch is located at Pares Retiro, 205 Tomas Morato Ave, Diliman, Quezon City. For inquiries and bulk orders, call +63 2 7172050.

Other branches are located at:

Scout Tobias, Quezon City
N. Domingo Street, Quezon City
Banawe, Quezon City
Katipunan, Quezon City
Kapitolyo, Pasig
Barangka, Mandaluyong
Fisher Mall, Malabon
BF Homes, Paranaque
Xavier Street, San Juan

Check out my reviews of other milk tea joints:

Gong Cha, Tomas Morato

The name Gong Cha (“the emperor” and “contributed” in Chinese) denotes “the best tea contributed to the king from all possessions.” it now translates to the store’s central philosophy: to treats its customers as emperors and provide them with only the best products.

While the area in Tomas Morato is now teeming with milk tea shops, for the longest time, it was only Gong Cha in Il Terrazzo Mall that my officemates and I were aware of.

Recently, after lunch nearby with my officemates, I opted to drop by and give in to my personal milk tea obsession: to taste each milk tea shop’s version of pearl milk tea with salted cream.

At Gong Cha, this takes the form of Milk Tea with Pearl Jelly (Php85) topped with Gong Cha House Special Milk Cream (Php42).

Gong Cha’s pearl milk tea is made from premium tea leaves freshly brewed every day and served with chewy tapioca pearls. The special salted cream that tops my drink is rich and frothy, definitely complementing the tea’s flavor.

I enjoyed myself with this drink as my well-deserved afternoon indulgence at work.

This Gong Cha branch is located at Second Floor, Il Terrazzo Mall, Tomas Morato Avenue corner Scout Madrinan Street, South Triangle, Quezon City.

Other branches are located at:

Quezon City: Eastwood Mall, Robinsons Galleria, Cyberpark Tower 1, Shopwise Araneta, Robinsons Magnolia, UP Town Center, SM Sta. Mesa, Fisher Mall, Trinoma Mall, SKY Garden and Main Building SM North EDSA, SM Sun Mall, Amoranto Street – Banawe, Ayala Malls Cloverleaf, SM City Fairview, Ayala Fairview Terraces
Pasig: L&Y Plaza Ugong, Ortigas Technopoint, Ayala Feliz,
Marikina: SM City Marikina
San Juan: Theater Mall Greenhills Shopping Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Santolan Town Plaza
Mandaluyong: Greenfield District, SM Light Mall, Forum Robinsons
Taguig: Uptown Place Mall, SM Aura Premier, Vista Mall Taguig, Fort Victoria Building, Venice Grand Canal Mall
Makati: Powerplant Mall, Glorietta 1, Glorietta 4, SM Jazz Mall, SM Makati, Landmark, Greenbelt Hamilton Tower, San Lorenzo Place Condominium, Shell Magallanes
Pasay: Newport City, Met Live Mall, MOA Arena, Entertainment Mall MOA, SM by the Bay
Manila: 2 Torre Lorenzo, The One Grand Centre, SM City Manila, Robinsons Place Manila, SM City San Lazaro, G-2 Avenue of the Arts, Lucky Chinatown
Caloocan: SM City Sangandaan
Paranaque: SM City BF, SM City Sucat,
Valenzuela: SM City Valenzuela
Las Pinas: The Village Square Alabang, SM Southmall, Vista Mall Las Pinas, Evia Lifestyle Center
Muntinlupa: Alabang Town Center, Festival Mall

Check out my reviews of other milk tea joints:

Milk tea treat at Infinitea, Tomas Morato

Like I said in many previous blog posts, my workplace in the Tomas Morato area is blessed to be in such close proximity to milk tea shops. This makes the object of my current food obsession so easily accessible to me in practically all of its possible iterations.

Take Infinitea, for example. Established in 2010, this milk tea brand already has over 200 stores in the country, one of which is located along Scout Borromeo, just a few minutes walk from my office.

Milk tea fans will be happy to know that here, they can expect drinks made of 100% loose-leaf teas freshly brewed everyday.

Aside from milk teas, Infinitea also serves a wide variety of drinks which include original teas, frappes, fruit teas, lemonades, ice-blended, soda pops, and even hot beverages.

However, my mission here concerns only satinh my craving for milk tea with salted cream. It is made with Nai Cha (original Hong Kong-style milk tea made from black tea and milk) and topped with a mixture of heavy cream and sea salt whipped together. This concoction only costs Php100: Php75 for the Nai Cha and Php25 for the salted cream.

I found this drink smooth and full-bodied, and at 75% sugar level, it has just the right amount of sweetness.

I would have preferred it to have boba pearls; alas, none were available during my visit to the store and cooking a fresh batch would take thirty minutes.

By the way, it is also quite filling.

Well, I guess my universe of possibilities for my milk tea breaks just got bigger.

This Infinitea branch is located at 26 Scout Borromeo, South Triangle, Quezon City, open daily from 10am to 10pm. For inquiries or to order your drink for delivery, call +63 2 3734887.