Choo Tea trendy Chinese bubble tea franchise with questionable google review

We first heard of Choo Tea from one of the Chinese social media platform, WeChat. When a couple of foodie groups start praising about it, we thought to give it a try. Our visit was less than satisfactory. The mediocre drinks accompanied by an insane long line up with a touch of attitude from the staff makes this place unworthy of our time. After the visit, I checked google review and found most of the 5-star review accounts have questionable behavior. Choo Tea is located in a secluded corner in Aberdeen Square near the fire exit.

Strength: Good at manipulating social media.

Weakness: Pricey small drink, long wait, unfriendly staff.

Other Bubble Tea

• Hanlin Tea House (5 Stars)
• Xing Fu Tang (4.5 Stars)
• Peanut’s Bubble Tea (5 Stars)

The long line up

Choo Tea is good at online marketing. This is why they can still survive when they are located in a low traffic mall and away from food court. There are no seats and the staff side of the store is approximately 10’x10′ space. There were lots of people lining up around this tea stand when we arrived. We lined up for about 10 minutes and the tea took another 20 minutes to be ready. When I observe how they work during my wait, I’ve noticed the staff left the milk out of the fridge for convenience. Sure enough, I received my normal-ice-level drink close to room temperature.

Television menu display

There were 3 young girls working during my visit and one of them was short-tempered maybe because they were busy. When an older lady with 2 young children asked to see if the drinks were ready, she was responded with an annoyed tone of “Not Ready”. While understanding the stress level of the staff, I think they should be nicer to their customers.

Questionable Google Reviews

I don’t want to say Choo Tea buy “Fake Reviews” but I’m pretty certain from the reviewers behavior. Among the 41 google reviews on October 14th 2019, 14 of them are 5 star ratings without review posted at the same time about 2 months ago. For the rest of the 5-star reviews, more than 80% of them are 1-line simplified Chinese characters. All these 5-star reviews are done by accounts with less than 2 google reviews. There is definitely a pattern to these reviews. I cannot say it’s fake reviews, but they are definitely questionable.

Check out the reviews

Choo Tea is not located in heavy foot traffic location. This definitely have something to do with Choo Tea’s customers.

Flagship Taro Drink in a dirty cup

I ordered their flagship item, the Chudai Taro and Purple Potato Milk. It was prepared quite carelessly. The cup was dirty on the outside which got my hand sticky afterward. Contained in the deceptive long and narrow cup, there was not much to drink from after ice was added. It cost me $7.00.

My drink was close to room temperature when I first got it. It got colder after it’s diluted from melting ice. This drink is not too sweet but has a strange flavour profile. The drink was very thick which left me more thirsty than before drinking it.

604 Food Critic Assessment

Choo Tea offers specialty drinks at a premium price. When they didn’t want to charge more to go above the norm, they reduced the quantity in drinks. I don’t find their drinks refreshing. It feels more like dessert that require another drink on the side. The poor service and careless staff shows Choo Tea lack integrity. Worst of all, I do not appreciate their manipulating social media reviews.

Menu

How to get in touch

• Phone: (604) 370-5575
• Address: #1020 – 4000 No 3 Rd, Richmond
• Hours: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm, Thursday to Saturday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm