Bubble-tea aficionados, if you’ve been in those notorious hour-long queues for Tiger Sugar or Hollin, you’ll want to get ready to queue for the hottest new arrival in the bubble tea scene. A regal and sleek new addition to the long line of bubble-tea empires bubbling up, the original inventors of cheese tea has launched a second outlet along nightlife hub Clarke Quay.
HeyTea interiors
On first glance, you just might mistake it for a high-tech gadget store, what with its sleek white interiors and wooden beams across the ceiling. Modelling after Clarke Quay’s history as a key location for maritime trade, the outlet was specifically designed around a lighthouse theme. With bright lights and a clean white colour palette, it makes for a modern and classy spot you can drink your bubble tea in.
It’s not just the interior design that it models after Clarke Quay for; you’ll also get a taste of alcohol while satiating those cravings for chewy pearls. Introducing Singapore’s first-ever in-store tea laboratory, Tea Geek Bar creates a specially-curated menu for alcoholic appetites with six special blends, including two Singapore-exclusives, alongside two alcoholic ice creams.
In time for Lunar New Year and the arrival of spring, you can order yourself a Spring Fling ($16), featuring refreshing jasmine green tea infused with lime and smashed mint leaves, paired with white rum. If you want something a little fruitier to quench your thirst, Scarlet’s Heart ($16) is a pretty watermelon-pink tipple that combines the mellow sweetness of fresh fruits with cognac brandy, with hints of floral fragrance from jasmine green tea. Topped with a wedge of pineapple and a layer of foamy egg white, it’s a cocktail you’ll definitely want to put on the ‘gram.
Singapore-exclusive Special Blends
For a little more indulgence served light on the palate, The Royal’s Romance ($22) marries smooth vodka with fragrant osmanthus oolong tea, with a zesty tang from fresh lemons. Bringing in the chewiness that makes bubble tea so lovable, stir the bottom of the rich red tipple for sea coconut and mangosteen flesh.
Singapore Sling
It’s not just tea they mix alcohol with. Get the iconic Singapore Sling ($5.50) cocktail in soft serve form. Or if it’s the strong malty flavours of beer you’re looking for, the Guinness ($4.50) is made with Guinness Irish Stout and King Fone ice cream, infused with the flavour of oolong tea for a refreshing pick-me-up.
With a plethora of cool drink combinations up their sleeve, housed in a clean sit-in space you can chill at with friends, HeyTea’s not here to be your run-of-the-mill bubble tea chain. Apart from their sleek interiors and novel alcohol-tea concepts, their opening hours run unconventionally from 12pm to 1am too, so you can satiate any late-night bubble tea cravings straight after partying. It’s definitely one worth queuing for.
HeyTea’s second outlet opens 12pm-1am at #01-06, 3A River Valley Rd. More info here.
