Brand new to the NYC tea scene is C Tea in NoLita. They are having their soft opening this week with 10% off all drinks. The menu includes milkshakes, fruit tea, cheese cream tea, and lattes. I chose one of their signature shakes, the Copenhagen Mermaid, a vanilla milkshake with butterfly pea tea, whipped cream and a fondant mermaid tail. So pretty and whimsical! And let me tell you, if you’re not a fan of fondant, don’t let that put you off. I generally don’t like fondant either, but this mermaid tail was unlike fondant I’d had before, and actually tasted great. It also made a great scoop for the whipped cream. At C Tea you can choose your sugar level, which I really like. It was suggested to me to go with 50% sugar for this particular drink, so I did. It tasted very delicious, the perfect level of sweet, and the vanilla flavour tasted real, not artificial. I really loved the interior of the shop, spacious and inviting, with cute stools to sit on and personal touches like the macaron decorations, citrus plates and tropical cushions.
tea
Cha Cha Matcha
It had been on my list for a while to try the ‘Special Swirl’ soft serve at Cha Cha Matcha. Every month they introduce a special flavor that is swirled with their matcha soft serve. This month’s flavor is vegan Tangerine Dream. Located on Broome Street in Nolita, the cafe showcases the flavor of authentic Japanese Ceremonial matcha.
Cha Cha Matcha was founded by recent New York University graduates Matthew Morton and Conrad Sandelman. The two met while studying business management and hospitality and both had a fondness for matcha. Morton is the son of Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Peter Morton. They wanted to see if a matcha bar would be viable in New York so they traveled to Japan to visit small, independent tea farms and decided to partner with one in Uji, outside Kyoto. The goal was to create a matcha blend that was smooth, with more caffeine (to appeal to New Yorkers) and less bitterness. Since opening in April 2016, Cha Cha Matcha has enjoyed great success, with long lines extending out the door every weekend.