Chai for Cheap

I am not big on the coffee (which is weird, considering both my parents--my mom especially--are coffee chuggers), but I do enjoy a good cup of tea. It's too bad Struan and Tang didn't last long enough for me to appreciate it--the market wasn't ready for it yet. (And the name only held some significance after I read Tai-Pan!) It's only in recent years that I discovered how much I actually liked tea.

My liking turned into something deeper when Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf invited us over for an afternoon of tea-tasting about a year ago. I fell for the Moroccan Mint latte, which is Addie's drink of choice. It actually tastes like mint chocolate in liquid form. Ahhh. I also discovered the wonders of Chai (a cinnamon-tinged tea similar to an Indian-style one I tried before). I'd go back and forth between these two, as well as a cup of Hot Vanilla and the occasional non-coffee frap, whenever I visit CBTL.

Alas, the nearest CBTL branch is in Strata, which is a good walk away. A while back, though, I discovered a great, cheap substitute--Tea Square! It may not have that coffee-shop ambiance, as it's a little stall normally found in food courts, but it's perfect for people on the go. Whenever I'm pulling out from stores in Shang or Glorietta, I make sure to drop by. My top two picks: Four Red Berries (it tastes a lot like CBTL's Swedish Berries, and it's only P35!) and the Honey Vanilla Milk Chai (only P55!). You get to decide if you want your tea hot or iced.

Chai isn't for everyone though. "You're not gonna like it," I warned H, as he asked to have some of my iced Honey Vanilla Milk Chai. "You know me so well," he sputtered after taking a small sip. But Tea Square has got a number of other interesting flavors to choose from, Cranberry Green Tea and Milk Chocolate Chai among them--and they all cost either P35 or P55! I'll drink to that!