Fly me to the Moonleaf Tea House

For those highly prone to get lost in those long-sounding Filipino adjectives of Teacher's Village, welcome to the club! Maginhawa, Magiting, Mapagkawanggawa, Mabait.. My God! Pronouncing them is difficult enough, but to remember the intersections and landmarks is pure madness, a crisis for the geographically challenged. I propose adding easy-to-remember street names such as Matakaw or Mataba. They have better appeal too, especially for restaurants, but I digress.

Moonleaf Tea House was the reason for this navigation challenge. Described as along Maginhawa St., Teacher's Village - that alone was vague, since Maginhawa is kind of a long winding road, which hosts denizens of other milk tea joints. Spotting Mini Stop at an intersection, we turned left (that was Magiting St.) and found the green Moonleaf logo at the right side, beside Fancy Cakes. Basically it ought to be called Moonleaf along Magiting, but probably Maginhawa has scored a higher popularity score at the polls, making it a more desirable address name. It doesn't matter though because WE FOUND IT! Tea time!

The popular choice for the day: Oolong Milk Tea! No one wanted to try the Jasmine or Black tea so Oolong it was. Oolong Milk Tea (P70) with Pudding or Pearls (+P10) was available in one size, but it was huge and not even a well could complain at the height of this cup. I suppose to-go was the trend at this place, having just a few seats that served as its waiting area. Brewing time was fast though and it was more like, checking my watch than waiting, texting and counting the change in my pocket.

The ordered Oolong Milk Tea came with less sugar, giving emphasis to the Oolong Tea. Oolong happens to be my second favorite tea, next to green tea which wasn't available in their menu. Nevertheless, the flavor was strong (translation: deliciously intense) yet properly complemented by the smooth and sweet taste of the milk. The overall blend bursts with flavor and tea-delight. The pudding is slightly soft - not sure if it's Moonleaf's version to mimic the consistency of "taho." Maybe next time, I would try the Aloe Vera add-on (P15). The drink on its own though, is sweetly addictive, appealing and greatly filling. Nothing watered down or boringly bland going on in their gigantic tea coolers.

I'm this close to mastering the map to Magiting, unless Moonleaf decides to land on the malls on its next sighting. Now that would really make me maligaya and masuwerte, but I don't suppose mahirap would make it to the list!

Cha Dao To-Go

Cha Dao Tea Place along Maginhawa St. was seen as the only destination to ward off the potential mad November heat stroke. But no, we couldn't go there because it was All Saints Day and we had to, well, do the more holy things required by law to make this holiday appear more official.

The only solution to deal with the summer madness: Cha Dao to-go! Brilliant idea.

I watched in fascination as 11 cups of milk tea were delivered, gulped in various degrees of thirst and delirium, and all finished in a matter of minutes, with matching burps and sighs. The assortment was colorful too: from chocolate to assam to the classic milk tea with extra, extra pearls.

I had the Matcha with pudding, less sugar. It came with less ice too, after having been in transit for a few minutes, which I pretty much preferred since too cold a drink would be an invitation for a sore throat with this kind of weather. The matcha flavor was rather diluted by a combination of water, milk and perhaps the ice that had melted. The tea flavor was not as rich as other milk teas, but I spotted a hint of jasmine in the green tea that made it more "fruity" on the side. The egg pudding was all right - sweet and smooth.

It might be safe to say that Cha Dao boasts of quantity over flavor, which might seem appealing to those more into the milk portion of milk teas, the tea novices and those who just like to go for that sweet milky drink. Without the egg pudding, this would've been a lighter drink and in that sense, a refreshing treat and life saver for those suffering in this unforgiving -ber month heat wave. Best of all, it's cheap and with branches scattered in the QC territory (Katipunan and Teacher's Village - what joy). I guess it's cheers to Cha Dao!

*Do forgive the crappy photo. Dehydration prodded me to take pictures in haste.

Going, Going, Gong Cha!

Perhaps by its musically inspired name—in which I find no appeal being lyrically incapacitated—Gong Cha has never tempted me with its lavishly named tea drinks. That was until I saw the gleaming queue at Glorietta (milk tea at an Ayala Mall, a rare find!) did I realize that well, maybe there’s hope despite its taunting name.

The milk tea listing can be quite exhausting—the long line something to be grateful for having given us ample time to think,brainstorm and analyze the potential taste of every green tea combination.

The “premium” milk teas start with the signature name Gong Cha, and I initially considered it an endeavor to create brand impact. The guess was a tad too academic, as explained by the cheery cashier. Gong Cha milk tea = with cream on top. Oh my, did you say cream? Good thing there was a second option.

Going for the Large Milk Green Tea (30% sugar) with pudding (P105 total) was perhaps the wisest decision. Not really a fan of pearls, which seemed to create a choking feeling after every sip, the pudding provided a smooth sweet treat that didn’t interfere with the drink or clog the straw. The green tea was identifiable but rather overpowered by the supposed tinge of Jasmine. If I were to rename the drink, it would be more like Milky Jasmine with Green Tea (in the proper order of flavors). The 30% sweetness was tolerable yet compared with the 30% of other brands (Serenitea and Cha Time) this was one big, SWEET 30%. I cringe at the thought of 100% sweetness—a surefire nightmare for my dentist and weighing scale!

Why many people would opt for Gong Cha can be no question with its massive list of exuberant flavors, tea selections, shakes, and price. Even tea cynics will find interest in their menu with their shakes (coffee, chocolate or milk flavor), creative mixes (like Yakult Green Tea) and ice cream specials. 

Still pondering over the origin of the name Gong Cha, I was looking forward to seeing a real gong be used to call out the orders, or a gong being used to lull the workers to their tea making rhythm. Wrong again. At least they didn’t have to sing out my name when they called out my order or it would’ve been Gone Cha for me.