Cha For Tea - Irvine

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I've grown tired of boba milk tea. There was a time that I craved it like a crack addict, when I relished the forever chew of those marble-sized pellets, yearned to feel the thunk-thunk-thunk of them being propelled up through the oversized straw. It was something I discovered in my late teens, then gorged on for a decade, then got sick of.

These days, I pass on the boba. Don't get me wrong. I still go to Tapioca Express on a fairly regular basis. It's just that now I always order the taro milk tea, sans the tapioca pearls.



Taro milk tea is, to me, the closest I can get to a malted milk shake without actually committing to all the ice cream fat and calories. It has the same mellow Ovaltine sweetness--that union of the slightly starchy and the creamy. And it comforts me, every time.

Tapioca Express makes my favorite rendition, which I'm not sure even has any tea in it; but just as good, if not lighter and with a more tea-like tannins in it, is Cha For Tea's.

And whenever I get a taro milk tea there (or anywhere, for that matter), an order of spicy popcorn chicken is a must. And Cha For Tea's chicken is one of the spiciest and crispiest in town. The drink complements the chicken, a pairing as essential as milk and cookies, beer and pretzels, but even better than that.

Cha for Tea
4187 Campus Drive M173
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 725-0300

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