When tea is a treat, not just a drink
BREWING a decent cup of tea yourself, like a pu’er or a longjing or simply grabbing a good-looking takeaway tea: If it sounds like you, then we have tested a few new tea shops, which will give your normal tea break a little more color and flavor. Shanghai Daily picks out four new tea shops for you to try!
Writea
Located in a stationery store on populated Fuzhou Road, Writea offers a spacious seating area, where customers can simply enjoy a good read with a nice cup of tea.
You will find some unusual innovative tea-based drinks here as the tea shop uses teas from Taosend, a German brand famous for its fruit and flower blended teas. Its signature Oriental mystery blend tea (26 yuan) has a strong fragrance of tropical fruits and flowers, such as mango. The lovely scent fills the air as it is brewed. The black-green tea base well balances the sweet taste and tropical flavors.
The variety of tea in store makes it hard to decide quickly. Tea latte, with a price range between 26 to 28 yuan, has eight different styles, such as rooibos, orange black tea, almond tea and honeybush. Both rooibos and honeybush are caffeine free.
Your tea of choice is freshly brewed upon order with an espresso machine, which is rarely used in tea-making in Shanghai.
If you are looking for something chilled, its signature Iced tea shake is just the one. Rose tea enzyme (32 yuan) is highly recommended: Caffeine-free rose tea is mixed with a serving of enzyme and then shaken with ice cubes. The enzyme is made with the same tea. Extra salted cream (3 yuan) can be added on top. If you mix well the cream with the tea, it will taste much like rose-flavored yoghurt.
Online delivery service is available.
Address: 364 Fuzhou Rd
Tel: 6352-5676
Opening hours: 9:30am-9:30pm
Cuo Nei Village
Have you ever tried tofu in your milk tea? Well, Cuo Nei Village gives you this unique option.
Peanut-flavored tofu (2 yuan) is an extra ingredient to add to any drink of your choice at this takeaway only tea shop on Ruijin Road No. 2. It tastes nutty and slight sweet with real peanut crunches. The combined flavor and texture is much lighter and more tender compared to pudding.
The shop offers a wide range of fruit teas. Lemon tea with butterfly pea (13 yuan), the three-layered fruit tea is a must-try as its colors are so appealing to the eyes.
The staff say the top purple layer is butterfly pea flower tea. The flower is believed to have many health benefits such as being good for the eyes and digestion due to its high in anthocyanin antioxidants.
The middle layer is lemon gel and the bottom is yuzu jelly. Don’t go for the no-ice option for this drink as you won’t get layers separated properly.
Online delivery service is available.
Address: 50 Ruijin Rd No. 2
Tel: 139-1836-3604
Opening hours: 11am-8pm
Tea Funny
The open counter of Tea Funny on Yongkang Road displays a stack of 100 newly printed postcards, a visual record of this new tea shop. All featured photos are taken by its owner Jeff Xue.
The tea shop is normally packed at weekends. It has become popular among young customers for its trendy décor, a combination of graffiti art and Zen indoor design. The grey-themed color seems to separate customers from the noisy outdoors, providing an inner peace to enjoy a simple cup of tea.
Both the shop’s logo and menu are designed by Xue. Most items on the menu are sold by set, which includes a mint herbal tea to start with while you wait for tea of your choice to brew plus a mini tea cake.
For example, Alchemist (48 yuan) is an option for you to choose from over 10 different teas ranging from traditional Chinese single origin tea, herbal tea, fruit tea to Japanese matcha displaying in tubes on the counter. The staff members are happy to recommend two or three teas based on your preference.
Here, customers are involved in tea brewing: a tea maker will be presented in front of you as you are in charge of how strong/light your tea will be by timing the brewing time. Remember to put your timer on when hot water is added.
No delivery service, but take-away options are available on selected teas with 10 yuan off.
Address: 46 Yongkang Rd
Tel: 135-8588-6856
Opening hours: 10am-8:30pm
Mua Tea
Hidden in Tianzifang, Mua Tea has gained an instant fame for its chic presentation of tea drinks though the shop just opened six weeks ago. Famous for its innovated fruit teas, the takeaway-only shop sometimes temporarily shuts the store due to too many online orders.
Strawberry hero (26 yuan/US$3.76) is its most-ordered drink, which is strawberry juice and bits topped with 10 centimeters of cream.
The cheese-flavored cream goes well with the juice.
Sweetness and amount of ice can be adjusted upon ordering.
Refreshing Nitro kiwi soda (22 yuan) is a great option for summer. The top foam is created through a beer tap, similar to nitro coffee, though it won’t taste as bubbly as a normal beer. It’s highly recommended to try the drink without adding extra sugar.
Mua Tea’s signature drink Like U (26 yuan) is actually a pineapple-flavored soda drink. It features real pineapple fruit bits and bubbly soda decorated with peppermint leaves. Yep, it tastes just like mojito without alcohol.
There is an offer available on Enjoy, a food app — 26 yuan for two drinks selected from five!
Address: No. 7, 210 Lane, Taikang Rd
Tel: 133-9139-2587
Opening hours: 10am-8:30pm
