Cup of Happiness – Cha for Tea

I don’t know if this slogan is recent or if I didn’t hear of it until now, but Cha definitely always gives cups of happiness with their drinks! I had always heard good things about it, but didn’t actually try it until a few years ago when I went on excursions to new places one summer with my friend. Needless to say, my first drink lived up to the hype, and Cha for Tea is a go-to place now after I converted my family. I used to only get the Thai Tea, then the Honey Green Milk Tea, but now I really need to try more drinks from there.

They have a pretty extensive menu, from milk teas, to fruity teas, to slushies, and even hot drinks. They also have a food menu, with meal combos and small appetizers! Pre-covid era, they also had a stand with free samples of their most popular drinks, and you bet I definitely took more than one tiny cup’s worth of free sample…What I also really like is that the Retail Therapy Irvine Company app also offers coupons for Cha from time to time with BOGO free drinks, snacks, or meals, and who doesn’t love coupons for boba?

I do have to say though, I’m not sure if it’s particular employees at the location I always go to, but I do have a history of getting my order wrong, like a small instead of a large, or excluding the boba, or including ice, when the label says otherwise. Obviously, I can’t check the sugar level until I taste it, but even then, sometimes it’s hard to tell. Well, most of the time my orders are fine and tasty, but still…

Chain? Yes. I’ve only been to the Irvine Woodbridge location.

Drinks Tried: Honey Green Milk Tea, Thai Milk Tea, Mango Green Tea, Thai Cooler, Honey Black Milk Tea

Boba: Cha actually has three types of boba on their menu: boba, brown sugar boba, and caramel boba, though I think the latter two are just soaked in a syrup. While with most places, if there’s no descriptor with the boba, you can usually expect flavorless boba, which depending on how sweet you like it, could be good or bad, but Cha’s regular boba is always flavorful, and super chewy! The quality never lets down. I’ve yet to try the other two, but if the regular one is already good, then the other ones should be even better right?

Price: Cha for Tea’s drink prices are relatively worth the portion sizes, and overall quality, though if they mess up your order, hopefully you catch it before you leave. I feel like they could increase some of the food portions for the price of their appetizers, but that could just be me wanting more (or the definition of an appetizer, ha!).

Size: There’s a regular/medium and a large here. A regular size is good for a casual drink, and a large is not too big and great for when you want a mid-day snack in the form of a drink. 🙂

Interior: Pretty roomy, minimalistic interior and gives off chill vibes.

Wait: It pretty much depends on the time of day you arrive. Obviously, there’s little line when they first open, but sometimes they get so busy that the wait can be kind of long. No Omomo level long of course, but just a tad inconvenient.

Sell Food? Yes. I’ve only had from their appetizer menu, including the boiled dumplings, fried dumplings, and crispy chicken. The dumplings were okay, but my family loves their crispy chicken. Something about the crispiness and the flavor is spot on, and with parents who are from Taiwan and approve, they’re doing something right.

Reward System? I don’t think so.