Yesterday (April 21), bubble tea shops in Singapore had to cease operations by 11.59pm. This came after the government announced that the standalone outlets would not be allowed to open as essential businesses during the extended circuit breaker period. There was national mourning, long queues at bubble tea joints and even viral spats over unfulfilled orders as Singaporeans tried to buy one last cup before they had to give up BBT. At least temporarily till May 5, as the Ministry of Trade & Industry had stated on its Go Business website that these tighter measures will be in place minimally for a two-week period from 21 April 2020 until 4 May 2020 (inclusive) , with the possibility of extending the closure.

Turns out, there is no need to rush. After examining the guidelines released by the Ministry of Trade & Industry, 8days.sg found out that certain eateries — which happened to offer bubble tea but are not classified as standalone BBT shops — could continue to sell the nation’s favourite beverage. Stalls that sell BBT within hawker centres, kopitiams and food courts, like Dot Sugar at Maxwell Food Centre, are also exempted. This means we’re not looking at a complete BBT drought till June, as snack chains like I Love Taimei and Monga continue to churn out the drinks with delivery options.

Popular BBT brand R&B was one of the shops ordered to close, as they operate numerous standalone kiosks across the island. But there’s one outlet, located within a Koufu food court in Thomson Plaza, that could technically still be classified as a food court stall (R&B Tea is owned by the same folks behind Koufu, and we’ve ranked their brown sugar pearl milk third in our ranking of the best BSPM in Singapore).

An 8 Days reader sent us a photo of a Facebook enquiry sent to R&B Tea about their operational status during circuit breaker. In the photo, R&B Tea had replied that its Thomson Plaza outlet “will be open from 12pm onwards”, and to “stay tune [sic] to our Facebook and Instagram for more updates”.

At press time, it has yet to update its social media platforms. We presume that R&B Tea is currently checking with the authorities on whether it could resume business. After all, it's in a grey area — fellow bubble tea chain Bober Tea, who announced earlier this morning that its outlet at a Sengkang Esso petrol kiosk would remain open, later retracted its statement.

We will update this story once we have the confirmation. But now is a good time to explore other popular drinks that you can make in the safety of your home, like dalgona coffee or a Freak Shake-inspired Milo Dinosaur.

UPDATE: Yep, R&B Tea's Thomson Plaza outlet has been confirmed to have resumed normal operations, and is offering home delivery via Foodpanda.