I am really loving the different flavoured teas that can be found and one unique one someone gave me was the Singapore Breakfast Tea from T2! T2 is an Australian tea company but this tea was created to celebrate T2’s [1] arrival into Singapore.
The tea is a blend of puer, genmai cha[2], coconut, and pandan. This is the description:
Reminiscent of kaya toast, this mix of puerh, GMC, coconut and pandan sings with richly sweet, toasty and coconutty flavours. Heavenly when served alongside the real deal, this brew is the ultimate ode to Singapore’s beloved national breakfast.
Personally, I don’t think it’s that sweet since puer and genmaicha aren’t naturally very sweet. The coconut does add a certain toasty flavour, which complemented the roasted rice part of the genmaicha really well. I was actually a bit hesitant about this tea because coconut and tea doesn’t sound like the best combination, but it worked out really well.
The company advises that you use 1 tsp per cup and brew for 2 to 4 minutes using 90-degree water.
I managed to visit the store in Suntec City (for the first time!) and got a tip from the staff. He told me that if you add sugar to the tea, it’ll feel as though you’re drinking kaya. Or as close to drinking kaya as one can. Obviously, I had to try this out because I love kaya! And kaya toast! And half-boiled eggs but I digress.
Since I don’t normally drink tea with sugar, I wasn’t sure how much to add and I forgot to ask. In the end, I just kept adding sugar until the taste changed. It does change to something like kaya, but not as much as I was expecting. So if you try this, do temper your expectations.
Strawberry Tea Samples
When I visited the store, I also got two free samples! The guy there was really nice and very helpful in suggesting tea[3], and even though I didn’t buy anything in the end, he let me take these back:
Since these are herbal teas, I decide to try them as my before-bed drink.
The first thing I noticed about the Strawberries & Cream was its smell. For some reason, it reminded me of strawberry jello before it cools. Taste-wise, it was a good blend of tart and sweet. It was sweet (but not too sweet) when it entered my mouth, but a little tart going down[4]. I loved it and once I’ve made more progress finishing my current stash of tea, I’d buy this.
Brewing recommendation: 3 to 5 min using 100-degree water.
As for the Strawberry Sensation, it had a much stronger strawberry fragrance and it tasted the same. It’s tarter than the strawberries & cream, although it isn’t overly tart, and a lot fruitier as well. The aftertaste reminds me of one of those hard strawberry sweets, which is nice if you like those sweets. If you love strawberries, this is for you.
Brewing recommendation: 3 to 5 min using 100-degree water.
I actually preferred the smell of strawberry sensation when I was smelling the teas at the shop, but when it comes to taste, I think I prefer strawberries & cream. But at any rate, I know that I’d like to pay another visit to Tea2 when I have space for more tea(:
Suntec City Store
Located at #01-304
Opening hours: 10am to 10pm
Notes and References
[1] Sourced from the Honeycombers
[2] The description of the tea uses the initials GMC and I had no idea what that was. Luckily the ingredient list is clearer. But clearly, my brain makes the worst associations because I thought of MSG and was like “is this some kind of artificial variant?” Am I the only one that thinks this way?
[3] He also suggested I visit the Orchard store because they have an F&B license and I will definitely do that! As soon as I find the time and energy because work is overwhelming right now.
[4] At first, I thought this was because the tongue tastes sweet things at the front and sour things at the back, like what I learnt in school, but it turns out that the tongue map is a myth.
T2’s Website
Singapore Breakfast Tea
Strawberries & Cream Tea
Strawberry Sensation Tea
Suntec City Store