Bangkok is a popular holiday destination for Singaporeans, and frequent travellers to the Land of Smiles would have heard of ChaTraMue. The 75-year-old Thai tea brand’s vividly red tins of loose tea leaves is a common souvenir. It also owns a chain of tea kiosks and cafes in its native Thailand, with overseas licensed outlets in countries like Korea, Hong Kong and China. There were three licensed kiosks operated by a licensee in Singapore, too, though the agreement expired last December. The three branches later operated under a new name called Tiga Tiga, though the concept was short-lived and the shops quietly closed before the Circuit Breaker this year.

But ChaTraMue ain‘t pulling out of the Singapore market. Following the end of the licensing partnership, the tea maker unexpectedly moved to open its own direct outlets here. “Since the license ended, we decided to continue offering Singaporeans the original Thai tea. We import all our ingredients like tea and milk, and equipment, directly from Thailand. Under a licensee, we have less control over the taste,” shares ChaTraMue’s general manager, Jerls Su, 30.

The company initially planned to unveil its comeback outlet at Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) in March, though its plans were unexpectedly scuppered by the Covid-19 outbreak. But now that dining out is great again, ChaTraMue is finally opening the outlet this Saturday (August 29). A second outlet is slated to open at One Raffles Place at the end of next month.

8days.sg got a preview of the PLQ space ahead of its opening, and here’s what to expect.

The takeaway-only unit is located at PLQ’s outdoor atrium, in between Korean fried chicken joint Mom’s Touch, and a Starbucks Reserve. At press time, the hoarding for the kiosk is still up. “It has been up for a long time,” laughs Jerls. Though there are no dine-in seats, customers can wait in the spacious air-conditioned shop for their orders, and leisurely sip on the drinks at the public communal tables outside.

For a touch of authenticity, the brand has hired a team of friendly Thai staff to make and serve the drinks. Oh, and the Thais don’t pronounce ‘ChaTraMue’ like how it’s spelled. “It’s pronounced as cha-ta-mer,” explains Jerls (centre in pic, wearing black). The name literally translates to’ ‘tea brand thumb’ in Thai, due to ChaTraMue’s signature thumbs up logo.

Naturally, cha yen is the highlight here. There are five ‘series’ of beverages here: Milk Tea, Tea, Signature Milk Series, Coffee and Chocolate. The Signature Milk Series come with pandan-spiked Emerald Pearls, but you can top up 60 cents for a dollop of Tapioca Pearl, Brown Sugar Tapioca Pearl and Brown Sugar Jelly in any pearl-less drink of your choice. Prices are comparable to an average bubble tea joint’s, starting from $3.60 for a cup of Thai Black Tea. Soft serve ice cream is also offered in two flavours, Thai Tea and Milk Green Tea, all made with ChaTraMue’s proprietary brews.

The brand is also planning to offer a “traditional Thai food” menu by the end of this year. According to Jerls, it comprises well-loved casual dishes such as mango sticky rice, Thai basil rice and tom yum soup which you can order along with your Thai milk tea. He adds, “The food will be served in takeaway boxes. The prices are not finalised, but it will be affordable, below $10 [per dish].” Sadly, ChaTraMue Singapore has no plans to open a dine-in outlet for now. Jerls says, “We’ve such concepts in Thailand, but it’s a different game in Singapore. We want to commit to opening more outlets, but there’s the Covid-19 situation. Hopefully, we will do well and open at more places.”

A few types of teas, like assam, oolong and green, are brewed at the shop’s in-house kitchen. A staff member laboriously pulls the tea with a tea sock for precisely nine times, according to the Thai HQ’s longtime recipe. The brewing is also done in small batches, so expect to wait a bit for your freshly-brewed cuppa. “Every cup is made upon order, so the waiting time is a problem. But we’d rather our customers get the best,” says Jerls. He also shares that the tea’s sweetness level is adjusted for Singaporeans’ taste buds: “The 100% sweetness level here is equivalent to 70% in Thailand.” If you prefer to tarik your own tea at home, the shop also sells tins of tea sachets and loose leaves (priced from $6 to $12 each).

The drinks

Now, we love our cha yen thick, intense and redolent of sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. Our not-quite-gao iced cuppa could do with a stronger hit of milk, while the black tea’s lovely floral note is but a too-fleeting flirty hint. Our add-on bouncy brown sugar tapioca pearls are expertly cooked down to a just-nice consistency.

Nope, this is not a typo. The Thai Tea Milk is a slightly fancier, ‘bubble tea’ version of the Thai Milk Tea, with pandan pearls. Fun to sip on, though unfortunately a little weak.

Ironically, the shop’s very creamy matcha drink with fresh milk is the most satisfying offering on the menu. We like the strong, earthy green tea flavour paired with fragrant, nicely chewy pandan pearls.

While there are drinks like O’Lieng (Thai Black Coffee, from $3.20) under the Coffee series, you can also get a Thai Mocha made with Thai coffee from the shop’s Chocolate range. We recommend lowering your usual sweetness level for your order; our 50 percent sugar level cup is still a tad too much even for our sweet tooth.

This full-bodied, toasty oolong flavour sweetened with a bit of Thai honey is light and refreshing for our beastly weather. It doesn’t come with pearls, but splurging on that add-on makes the drink even better.