GONG CHA: A SAVORY DISCOVERY FROM TAIWAN

Remember the first time you tried bubble tea (boba)? Flushing’s Gong Cha can help you recapture that feeling of novelty with its famed milk foam green tea:

[MILK FOAM GREEN TEA]

Taiwan-style drink chain Gong Cha appeared on the scene in 2006 in Kaohsiung (also Gāoxióng, or 高雄).** By 2012, the bubble tea franchise expanded to other parts of Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong (where Gong Cha’s founder hails from).

The first USA Gong Cha franchise store opened in 2013 in Fremont, California.*** In 2014, Gong Cha followed up with three more New York City locations, including Downtown Flushing’s 40-04 Union Street location:

[STORE]

Now, back to tea drinks. For $3.50, you can try milk foam tea in black, earl grey, green, oolong, or wintermelon flavors. No matter the flavor, make sure to stir the cool savory foam well with the underlying tea drink:

Or, you could pick any one of the top ten options:

[TOP TEN]

As a cherry on top, you can even specify the sugar levels in your order. Gong Cha’s default sugar content is 70%, with other choices set at 30%, 50%, and 100%:****

[CUSTOMIZABLE OPTIONS]

Don’t worry about mulling over all your drink choices and customizations. Your English-speaking servers are more than patient.

May Flushing Food suggest: milk foam green tea.

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* None of the pictures come close to capturing this drink’s level of savoriness.
** http://www.gongchausa.com/about.html
*** http://www.gongchausa.com/blog.html?id=98
**** Caution: 70% had one Flushing Food writer wired for over five hours.

Media credits: Helen Y.
Gadget: Nikon® Coolpix™ AW110
Software: Fotor, imgflip