Pearl milk tea (珍珠奶茶) has indisputably taken the world by storm. The humble drink, almost questionable in its composition, has in recent times become a growing symbol of Asian and diasporic Asian solidarity that it has seeped to all corners of the world. This is especially the case as Asian – and in particular, East Asian – culture and cuisine is becoming more widely accepted and enjoyed.

However, in Taiwan, this drink isn’t just a trend. It’s a lifestyle, enough that it caused us relative culture shock when we noticed just how broad the population who consumed this beverage was. Abroad, this drink is most popular amongst the younger generation, but in its country of origin, you’d as easily find older people with this drink as children. In fact, age was not the only indiscriminate factor. We saw this drink being consumed by everyone from weekend shoppers and youngsters with pocket money to tradespeople taking a refreshing break. The sheer scale was impressive, though we should have expected nothing less from a country so proud of its creations, and rightly so.

So What is Milk Tea?

Though its name in Chinese (珍珠奶茶) translates literally to “pearl milk tea”, it’s known by many other names including bubble tea and boba. It’s typically made of three components: the pearls, the milk, and the tea. Arguably, since its elevation into a customisable drink, you can also consider factors such as the quantity of ice, percentage of sugar, a whole host of other toppings – but we’re talking refreshments here, not maths. So let’s focus on the obvious three.

The tea is often some fairly low-grade generic black tea, used to impart flavour. Any faults in its flavour such as overwhelming astringency would be appropriately balanced by the fat of the milk, and the afore-mentioned quantity of sugar. “Milk” is a very loose term for the second component: it can be any combination of fresh milk, milk powder, condensed milk, or even coconut milk and non-dairy creamers. In any case, it needs an emulsified fat, which comprises much of the drink. Fresh, full-fat milk is inevitably the best, and often the most expensive option.

The pearls are arguably the most important. Nowadays, there’s all sorts of alternative toppings such as crushed cookies, beans, jellies, and ambiguous flavoured spherified liquids. Originally, there were only tapioca balls: small white “pearls” and larger black “bubbles”, both with a chewy texture. A good pearl is lightly flavoured, sweetened, and made of digestible starches. The whole drink is a bomb of sugar, and usually consumed between meals. However, it’s exactly this combination of fragrant tea, creamy milk, and something chewy to keep your mouth occupied which is what makes this drink so enjoyable.

Our Search for the Best Milk Tea in Taiwan Taipei

There are a large number of milk tea stores in Taiwan. And by large, we’re pretty sure it would be a number that we couldn’t fathom for such a small country – to give some context, the street across Taroko Mall in Taichung during our visit had 7 milk tea stores almost in succession. There are a couple in the Mall, and a handful more in within walking distance if you find yourself in need of more options.

We entered the country ambitious to try as many as we could. Day 1 was a great start, with 2 cups complimentary on arrival to our AirBnb accommodation. Then, it went quickly downhill. With our normal annual consumption at 2 around glasses (often shared), it was a challenge to suddenly incorporate this meal-like drink between some hefty meals. But we made an effort where we could, sampling drinks from the most basic pearl milk tea at their alleged origins to more outlandish options such as chain store Tea Plus’s limited edition Cake Cream Pudding Milk Tea. Whatever it was supposed to be, it was delicious.

While there were a few poor choices, we ultimately enjoyed most of them. This got us thinking, which store has the best Milk Tea in Taiwan? With such a large number of both chains and independent stores, we reduced our investigations to one (admittedly, biased) assumption – if we’re to find the best tea, we go to the capital.

Just like any of our other restaurant decisions in Taiwan, searches are conducted by entering the name of a dish on Google Maps while zoomed in on a city, both in English and in Chinese. This works quite well as most restaurants specialise in one dish, which is picked up by the Google algorithm. It’s also often in the restaurant name. Then, we added a few filters (4.5+ stars), read a few reviews, and came across a tea shop that piqued our interest.

PinCha (品茶) is far from the most famous tea store in Taiwan. Competing against the original Chun Shui Tang (春水堂) or chain-store giants Tiger Sugar and TenRen Tea, this humble little shop operates persistently in a quiet little off-road only a few minutes’ walk from huge attractions like the National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and the Tapiei 101 building. What drew us to this little store, at that time only boasting around 150 Google reviews, was just how vocal its patrons were in singing praise, pulling up its total rating to an impressive 4.9/5.0. Even now, more than 100 more reviews later, they continue to defend this score.

In our experience, that’s no small feat, and in checking out their website, it was easy to see why. Compared to the bigshot chains, PinCha has a goal. This means their rating is explainable either from the customers’ strong support for the vision of the business, or an unparalleled product. The final option of course is that it is because of both of those. There was only one way to find out, and that was to pay this tea shop a visit.

Introducing PinCha (品茶) – Vanyssa, the Elusive Fang, and the Blue Magpie

PinCha was started by two Taiwanese natives, Vanyssa and Fang, who met while studying postgraduate diplomas in the USA. You can read more about their story on their website (Chinese only). To our luck, we had the opportunity to meet them in the shop as they personally took our orders, made our tea, and agreeably answered some bumbling, impromptu questions as we tried to seize this whole YouTube / blogging thing.

Pin cha (品茶) means to taste tea, something that we quickly learned was integral to their business vision. Vanyssa answered our questions; for the most part, Fang remained off-camera. We asked them to explain the blue magpie, which sits in the logo as their mascot. Native to Taiwan, it is the only known bird to return to where it hatched to help at the nest in feeding chicks, and defending its home when under threat. In the same way, these two entrepreneurs found themselves returning home to Taiwan after their studies abroad, with a goal in mind to give back to their home country. In the rise of the tea trend, they saw an opportunity to push the incredible tea products of Taiwan, working alongside their suppliers to create a superior product.

Though their menu is small, PinCha proudly make their own pearls and jellies instore. This trait isn’t unique to only them – several newer chains nowadays practise this also in order to increase market interest. What puts PinCha above the rest is the extra effort that goes into the preparation of their products, as well as their foresight in predicting the movement of the milk tea trend. As Vanyssa explained, tea consumption is still in early stages. But surely, like coffee, it will reach its Third Wave.

The Three Waves of Coffee

To put simply, coffee consumption in history can be viewed in three stages.

1. Coffee is introduced to the world, and produced on a large scale. People drink it because, it’s cheap, palatable, and has caffeine for energy.
2. Coffee becomes a craft, and artisans place focus on sourcing, roasting, and blending. Out with the instant espresso powders, and in with the hipster cafés and personalised drinks. People now differentiate between Arabica and Robusta, and are happy to pay more for a specialty product.
3. Coffee is something to appreciate, like a high-end wine or an expensive delicacy. It becomes closer to a lifestyle.

In the Third Wave, all of the frills of flavoured syrups and whipped cream are trimmed away until the focus falls on where it all began – the coffee. Now, people are also considering the cultivar, the processing and brewing, and even the terroir – how the growing environment and location affects the flavour of the final product – a term previously associated exclusively with wine.

PinCha places their bets on the impending Third Wave of Tea. They aim to be completely transparent in sourcing their ingredients, and showcasing exceptional local teas. “Tea is Chorography”, or so their website exclaims boldly in English, a statement that describes PinCha’s values perfectly. They believe it is a consumer’s right to know the product source, to be guaranteed quality, and to experience the original taste of the raw ingredients. Their website, though in Chinese, provides insight into the background and flavour profile of each of their teas, allowing for the consumers’ more educated selection for a more specialised experience. These teas are also used for the jelly toppings, which are made instore just like their flavoured pearls.

The Teas

Shockingly, for all of this effort, the price of each drink is comparable to your average chain. Where we found ourselves paying NTD60-80 (US$2-2.70) per milk tea during our trip, each of our drinks at PinCha were virtually the same. Noms ordered the large Ceylon Ruhuna Milk Tea with mixed pearls totally NTD75 (US$2.50), and Jos ordered the large Luye Ruby Oolong Tea (President Tea) with mixed tea jelly (zhulu tea and Ceylon black tea jellies), totalling NTD70 (US$2.35), our total bill the same price of a regular drink in New Zealand.

PinCha describes the Ceylon Ruhuna as bold, so recommends those who don’t like astringent flavours to order sugar levels of 75% or more. When paired with fresh milk, the fat binds to the tannins to reduce the bitterness. With a deep, rounded flavour, the bitterness quickly subsides as you swallow, leaving a clean aftertaste without lingering astringency. Even Noms, who is sensitive to bitter flavours, enjoyed the drink fully. The pearls, too, were surprisingly fragrant, with the honey and brown sugar pearls distinct from each other. They have pleasant sweetness and a satisfying chew, an excellent drink for milk tea lovers.

The Luye Oolong is also delightfully fragrant. Jos ordered the 25% sugar level, which was enough to reduce any bitterness while adding flavour to the tea. The jelly was also incredibly fragrant and lightly sweetened – though we weren’t sure if we could differentiate the zhulu tea and the Ceylon black tea jellies, the combination of the fragrance and light sweetness made for a filling and almost guilt-free drink. In all, a memorable drinking experience, delightful all the way through, just as they aim for.

It is no surprise that two people as intelligent and driven as Vanyssa and Fang could create something like PinCha. With growing worldwide awareness of sustainability and traceability, stores like PinCha may be at the forefront of the consumer revolution, but also aim to become as commonplace as their chain-store counterparts. Besides a short walk from the nearest stations, it couldn’t be easier to consume ethically and consciously, and enjoy every bit of it.

PinCha (品茶)
1F, No, No. 15, Alley 2, Lane 345, Section 4, Ren’ai Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10686
Mon-Fri 9am-5pm
Sat 11am-6pm
Website (Chinese Only) and Facebook Page