Hanlin Tea House, oldest bubble tea franchise
I like the decoration very much. It’s clean and looks like a bookstore. What a perfect place to take someone you admire. you might be perceived as clean and well-read. I don’t understand the $6.59 price tag. The drink is worth that price tag, but I would prefer a clean number like $6.50 or $6.75. I highly recommend Hanlin Tea House. The bubble tea tastes really good here, no wonder bubble tea become so popular around the world.
Hanlin Tea House oldest bubble tea franchise Panda Black Tea Latte $6.59
As the uprise of Bubble Tea shops rages on in Vancouver. Two of the oldest bubble tea franchise fight for the title of bubble tea originality back in Taiwan. These two franchises are “Chun Shui Tang”, and “Hanlin Tea House”. Since Chun Shui Tang has not opened their Vancouver location yet, we went and tried Hanlin Tea House on Capstan Way near Hazelbridge Way in Richmond.
Strength: Balanced flavour without adjustment, fresh milk, chewy pearl
Weakness: Need more convenient locations
Other Bubble Tea Franchise
- BlackBall (3.5 Stars)
- Yi Fang Taiwanese Fruit Tea (4.5 Stars)
- Xing Fu Tang (4.5 Stars)
Check out the equally good snacks at Hanlin Tea House Afternoon Tea
Hanlin Tea House Front
I saw Hanlin Tea House the first time when I parked in front of it to walk to BlackBall dessert shop. The clean interior had me confused if this was a library or a bubble tea shop.
The interior is mostly white tiles with wood. It is very bright. The wall to the left use bookshelves as design elements. This is why the word “Hanlin” denotes an extremely knowledgeable person.
Seating area in the mezzanine
There are some seating on the ground floor, but they don’t look very comfortable. It feels more like overflowing seating for grab & go customers waiting for their drinks. We went upstairs to the more secluded seating area.
Hanlin Tea House is spacious
Since the majority of the seating is on the mezzanine level, Hanlin Tea House thoughtfully provided the order number sign on the inside of the exterior wall so patrons can see them from the upper floor.
Finishing materials that works together
There are many different materials used for decoration. There are wood, concrete, and bricks. Everything was refined, so they actually come together quite nicely.
Cute decor at every corner
Throughout the store, you can find greenery display areas. There are also silhouettes of birds and small pine trees all around.
Black Panda Tea Latte for $6.59
I ordered the Panda Black Tea Latte. It is basically black milk tea with black pearls and clear sago. The tea taste quite good without any alteration. Fresh milk did not overpower the taste of black tea. It is not too sweet. In terms of tea, Hanlin Tea House has got it right.
Panda means black and white pearls
It’s called panda because of the colors of pearls. These tapioca and sago are quite chewy. They have a consistent texture. The sago is smaller than peral. You can swallow it without chewing, but that is such a waste.
604 Food Critic Assessment
I like the decoration very much. It’s clean and looks like a bookstore. What a perfect place to take someone you admire. you might be perceived as clean and well-read. I don’t understand the $6.59 price tag. The drink is worth that price tag, but I would prefer a clean number like $6.50 or $6.75. I highly recommend Hanlin Tea House. The bubble tea tastes really good here, no wonder bubble tea become so popular around the world.
How to get in touch
- Phone: (778) 251-2385
- Address: #1121 – 8328 Capstan Way, Richmond
- Hours: 12:00 am – 12:00 pm
- Website: http://hanlin-tea.com.tw
