KOI Thé: Bringing Joy To The World

KOI Thé is a well-known milk tea brand in Southeast Asia, recognized for its signature golden bubbles and premium tea blends. Originally founded in Taiwan, KOI Thé expanded internationally, gaining popularity for their milk teas and other drinks. Unlike many other bubble tea brands, KOI Thé focuses on highlighting the natural flavors of tea, ensuring that each drink is more than just a sugar rush. I was expecting this.

I only got to know about KOI Thé when we traveled to Macau. After a tiring yet fun day exploring the Cotai Strip, I stumbled upon this milk tea shop inside The Londoner Macao and decided to try it for the first time. The next day, we visited Mongkok in Hong Kong and found another KOI Thé branch, so we ordered again. Little did I know that in just fifteen days, KOI Thé would be opening its first store in the Philippines. What a coincidence!

Since then, I’ve been curious to explore their drinks. Here’s my honest take on the ones I’ve tried.

Jumbo Earl Grey Milk Tea

I initially ordered this to gauge their classic milk tea, which is merely a combination of tea and milk. I love that I could truly savor the floral notes of the Earl Grey, but the sweetness slightly overpowered them. The drink itself was very sweet, though I couldn’t tell whether it was due to fructose or the tea itself. Anyway, I also found out that the “Jumbo” in the name actually refers to their giant pearls. Unfortunately, the pearls were too firm for my liking. Since they were bigger, it needed more time in boiling water.

Taro Q Milk Tea

This isn’t your usual taro milk tea. When we hear  of taro milk tea, we think of this purple-hued drink that is flavored with taro powder or a cream-colored milk tea that has mashed taro at the bottom. KOI Thé took a different approach by making their sinkers out of taro, while keeping the milk tea base unchanged. The result was indeed delightful. I didn’t just enjoyed the smooth luscious tea. I also had fun munching the taro balls! I’ll probably say that these taro balls are better than their pearls.

Hazelnut Black Tea Macchiato

KOI Thé has a line of milk teas labeled as “macchiato,” which I initially assumed contained coffee. I eventually learned that these are tea-based drinks with a layer of frothy cream on top. I tried the Hazelnut Black Tea Macchiato, but the hazelnut flavor seemed to come from syrup rather than being infused into the tea during brewing. That said, the tea itself was nice, and when mixed with the cream, it created a thicker and more indulgent texture. However, calling it a “macchiato” feels misleading.

Mango Green Milk Tea

This was my mom’s order as she’s a fan of fruity milk teas. But yes, I still got to have a sip. WHile KOI Thé aimed for creativity, this drink fell short. It tasted more like mango cream than mango green tea, with the tea flavor barely noticeable. We requested for half sugar, yet it was even sweeter than my order, White Peach Oolong Milk Tea at 100% sweetness level. The mango flavor was already there. There choice of flavoring was delish. If they had balanced the sweetness and brought out the tea flavors more, it might have worked better.

Caramel Biscuit Earl Grey Milk Tea

This was a limited-edition drink I only found in KOI Plus Macau. It had Biscoff spread on the cup’s side, giving the milk tea a blend of nutty, toffee, and caramel flavors. While this was a great idea, the layer of spread was too thin. I wish there was more of it. I believe that a little addition of the spread won’t affect the overall quality of the drink. The drink had no ice, yet it was still surprisingly cold like as if it was filled with ice. It wasn’t ice-blended either. You’ll know it from the consistency. It was thin, despite the fresh cream on top.

The last three on the list are the Koi The drinks I had in the Philippines. As expected, the sweetness was adjusted to adapt the taste preference of the Filipinos because compared to what I had in Hong Kong and Macau, these drinks are sweeter.

Golden Bubble Milk Tea

This drink features konjac and is rated as KOI Thé’s top drink in the Philippines. The milk tea itself was creamy and floral. My taste buds was really enjoying the flavors. However, having two sinkers in a medium cup left little room for the actual milk tea. While it was our fault to choose, I wish KOI Thé offers larger sizes than medium for those who love add-ons. The golden bubbles were smaller than black pearls but had the same chewy texture. Next time, I’d skip extra sinkers and just enjoy the tea.

Peach with Yakult

I picked this from KOI Thé’s Yakult-based drinks, expecting it to be the sweetest in the lineup. And I was right. The first sip gave a burst of fruity flavors, similar to lychee. It tasted like a blend of both peach and lychee, which I really liked. I just think that the proportion of fruit to Yakult is not balanced. The flavors of Yakult was hiding. Perhaps, if I lessened the sugar level then I would recognized the citrusy flavor of Yakult. Also, I noticed a slightly thick texture in the throat after drinking it.