Cha Nung 水巷茶弄 – One Of The Earliest Bubble Tea Brands In Taiwan, Opens at United Square Shopping Mall

Cha Nung, a well-known Taiwanese bubble tea brand, has opened in Singapore. They have over 50 outlets in Taiwan, along with overseas branches in Japan, South Korea and USA.

Cha Nung’s Chinese name is 水巷茶弄, which translates to “tea from the alley”. This implies that their teas are like hidden gems found in obscure alleys.

Originally a bubble tea and food ingredients supplier, Cha Nung leveraged on its food industry knowledge to open its first bubble tea shop in Kaohsiung in 2003. This made them one of the earliest bubble tea brands in Taiwan.

In December 2019, Cha Nung opened its first Singapore branch at the basement of United Square Shopping Mall in Novena.

Menu (click to enlarge)

The menu offers five types of bubble teas:

1. Signature Tea – brewed teas
2. Latte – made with fresh milk, has a lighter taste
3. Milk Tea Gao – made with creamer, has a richer taste
4. Macchiato – coffee flavoured bubble tea
5. Fruit Tea – made purely with fresh fruit juice and natural ingredients (no concentrated juice, syrup or artificial flavourings are used)

Their signature drinks are:

• Azuki Matcha Latte ($5.80 / $6.30)
• Milk Tea with Pudding ($4.50 / $5)
• Kanten Ai Yu ($6)
• Atomic Lemon ($5 / 5.50)
• Passion Fruit Tea with Twin Bear ($5.50 / $6)

All their teas are hot-brewed, and then re-brewed every 4 hours to ensure that the tea aroma is not lost.

There is a good variety of toppings ($0.50 / $0.80) available like Pearls, Ai Yu, Basil Seeds, Coconut, Kanten, etc. The most interesting topping is definitely the “Bear Jelly”.

Both the sugar level and ice amount can be customised.

Oolong Milk Tea

The Oolong Milk Tea ($4.50) was sweet and creamy, and I was impressed by how well the oolong aroma stood up to the milk tea flavour.

The highlight for me was the tapioca pearls, which were pleasantly sweet with a lovely chewy bite.

Incidentally, I liked the design of my medium size plastic cup because it has a nice rounded base.

Atomic Lemon

The Atomic Lemon ($5) is a fruit tea made from lemon and lime. To balance the sour flavours, I requested for 50% sugar level.

This was a refreshing drink with sweet and sour notes, and the slices of lime added shine through that burst of sharp-fruitiness. Order this if you’re a fan of sour stuff.

Delivery

Cha Nung is available for delivery on GrabFood, Foodpanda, Deliveroo and YQueue.

Conclusion

It is hard to stand out amidst the sea of bubble tea brands in Singapore, but I believe that Cha Nung has potential because they offer quality bubble tea drinks with rich flavours, made using natural ingredients only.

Cha Nung
Address: United Square Shopping Mall #B1-60, 101 Thompson Road Singapore 307591
Opening Hours: | Mon to Thurs: 11am – 8pm | Fri: 11am – 8.30pm | Sat & Sun: 10am – 9pm |
Phone: +65 9728 9666