8DAYS: New wave of bubble tea brands
Bubble teas are making a comeback with new joints offering Instagram-worthy sips with fruits and flavoured pearls. By Kenneth Goh
PLAYMADE BY ONE ZO
#01-59 Tampines 1, 10 Tampines Central 1. Tel: 9667-9571. Open daily. 10.30am to 10pm. www.facebook.com/playmadeonezo
What: Choosing pearls to go with bubble tea used to be a black or white affair. These chewy tapioca baubles now come in a riotous burst of colours and flavours, from matcha, black sesame to pink cactus, at Playmade by One Zo. The three-month-old kiosk is popular Taiwanese bubble tea chain One Zo’s first outpost here. Playmade is an English translation of One Zo, which means ‘playing with balls of dough’ in Mandarin.
Jazz up more than 30 drinks, from tea lattes, milk teas to fruit juice-cum-teas, with five types of pearls (80 cents for a medium cup, $1.20 for a large cup). Flavours of pearls include black sesame, burnt caramel and pink cactus.
Screaming for attention are the pink cactus pearls that are made with flesh of the thorny plant from Penghu, Taiwan. The purple puree smells oddly like mayonnaise, and tastes sour and “bloody”, according to co-owner Crystal Wee, 31, who cautioned us before we took a sip. The pink cactus is enlisted for its trendy millennial pink hue rather than its flavour as the pearls are drowned in honey syrup.
The pearls are made on-site in full view of customers - from the kneading of the tapioca starch mixture to miniature balls that roll out from a machine at lightning speed. About 15kg are tapioca starch are used daily. Ms Wee and her friend, Ms Amanda Poo, 28, fell in love with One Zo’s teas while on holiday in Taiwan in December last year. The bubble tea aficionados could not get enough of the “chewy but not too cloying” pearls and pumped in more than half a million for their maiden food venture.
Business has been brisk with up to 1,000 cups sold in a day. There are plans to open four more outlets by next year. A second outlet opened in Depot Road last month, with more pearl flavours such as peanut and taro, in the pipeline. It rolled out muah chee pearls for a limited time last week.
THE LOOK: The 27-sq ft kiosk has a unique open kitchen concept for customers to witness the pearl production process throughout the day. Plastered on glass panels and cupboards are motifs of colourful balls zooming about, depicting the fun and wacky flavours of the pearls.
THE DRINKS
1. Brown Rice Milk Tea with Black Sesame Pearls ($5.90)
Exclusive to the Singapore outlet is this wholesome oolong tea concoction that is infused with puffed brown rice that kisses the tea with light roasty notes. The grainy black sesame pearls brings out the nutty flavour of the tea.
2. Pink Cactus Smoothie with Pink Cactus Pearls ($7.10)
This millennial-pink smoothie is a blend of honey, milk, jasmine green tea and pink cactus puree. The sweetness of the honey-drenched pink cactus pearls overwhelms the sourness of the puree. The jasmine green tea adds flowery accents to the drink, which tastes like a more floral version of bandung.
3. Orange Pulp Green Tea with Pink Cactus Pearls ($7.50)
The green tea plays second fiddle to the freshly-squeezed orange juice, which gives a bright citrus punch with a subtle bittersweet aftertaste. This drink tastes more juice than tea. Nibble on the fibrous orange pulp and chewy pearls together for textural contrast.
4. Taiwan Green Milk Tea with Black Sesame Pearls ($5.40) (8DAYS PICK)
The earthy flavour of the black sesame pearls is best showcased when paired with the Taiwanese green milk tea. We like the contrast of the creamy milk tea and the sandy-textured pearls that are rolled with black sesame powder.
BOTTOM LINE: The wacky and innovative flavours of pearls makes Playmade by One Zo pop out from the sea of bubble tea players here. The black sesame and burnt caramel pearls boast good flavours. Only order the pink cactus pearls for a novelty factor.
