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| - Their slogan of "shaking tea up" has a double meaning of both physically mixing tea and of innovating. I found nothing extraordinary about what I had here.
Whether you're looking at the United States in general or at Las Vegas in particular, bubble tea started as mostly the purview of larger chains. However, the phenomenon really took off with small, independent shops proliferating all over. It's only natural that we would see more and more of the chains arrive to try to take advantage of the growing popularity of these drinks. Sadly, not all bubble teas are created equal.
As with everyone else this week, I showed up at the newly opened Chatime to take advantage of the grand opening special. I ordered a large jasmine green milk tea ($4.25 for 22 oz large size) and received a pearl milk tea (normally $4 for the 16 oz regular size).
I went for my the free drink first. The black milk tea flavor was reasonable and not overbearingly sweet (we weren't allowed to adjust the ice or the normal 100% sweetness for the free tea), but the boba pearls weren't perfect. They were a little on the hard side, and they brought nothing else to the table. Some of their competitors offer honey boba, so if you provide pearls without that additional sweetness, you're behind the 8-ball. Boba or not, this drink is still a tier or two below my favorites both locally and elsewhere.
My own selected tea was worse, despite being labeled on the menu as a "recommended" option. The jasmine flavor was faint if at all present. There wasn't ice, which was great because I'd asked for no ice, but either they disregarded my request for half sugar or the original drink would be unbearably sweet. The overall flavor was very generic and could come from any chain with powdered milk teas.
The grand opening slowness/crowd has no bearing on this rating. I could've waited 2 minutes or 2 hours and been just as underwhelmed. (I waited 34 minutes in the late afternoon on a Saturday.)
Although this Chatime is positioned to succeed by sharing a plaza with some great restaurants, I don't see how they can thrive if these basic milk teas aren't anything special. Next time I'm in the area, I'll probably either try something different like a tea with a mousse (they had run out at the time when I tried to order it) or just skip it.
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