MANILA, Phillippines – Let’s face it – will Filipinos ever say no to milk tea?

Here’s the tea: they won’t.

From starting off with crazy queues at their humble Siam Square store to expanding across Southeast Asia, Bangkok’s Brown Cafè is finally in Manila with a take-out counter at Serendra, BGC for sweet-crazed and apparently very lactose-tolerant milk tea addicts of Metro Manila.

To be clear, it isn’t just milk tea served here.

Brown Cafè is very on trend with the demands of the sweet tooth market. Fresh milk lattes, brown sugar syrup shakes, cheese-topped macchiatos, and slurpies are also available on their menu – freshly-made tapioca pearls and pretty presentation included.

What else is of note? Brown Cafè does not use any artificial tea powders, additives, or preservatives in their drinks – everything is done fresh and in-store, steeped from real tea leaves flown in from Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan. Their lattes are also made from 100% locally sourced, fresh milk, sans any non-dairy creamers.

Lactose-intolerant? For the Fresh Milk series, you can ask for soy.

Brown Cafè’s Royal Premium Milk Tea (P85) already comes with pearl sinkers, while the Cremè Brulee Milk Tea (P140) is hand-made every day using real eggs which are then torched until beautifully golden-brown. Want some organic brown sugar pearls (P30) with that? We’re sure you do.

However, the talk of town is the special low-calorie, collagen-infused rainbow bubbles they serve – gulaman-like, colorful pearls soaked in different fruit purees, and infused with collagen. 

They’re not as chewy as your usual pearl – they’re firmer, like gelatin, but still addicting to chew on. Also, rumor has it that Brown Cafè isn’t stopping with collagen – plans of vitamin C-infused bubbles and even glutathione are in the works. Who needs face masks when you’ve got multi-purpose milk tea? 

The original collagen bubbles also come with 0 calories and 0 sugar, while the rainbow ones are low-calorie. Bubble flavors include peach, strawberry, mango, and lychee, plus a Manila-exclusive ube variant.

From the Rainbow Bubble series, their best-sellers include the Strawberry Marble Latte with Rainbow Bubble (P120), the Melon Latte (P140), and the Grape Latte (P140).

It may look it, but there’s not really a latte going on in these drinks, which is a good thing – just fresh, creamy milk, real fruit puree, and a bunch of cute, chewy bubbles. 

Made exclusively for the Philippines, Brown Cafè’s new Ube Latte (P125) definitely puts the “yam” in purple yam. 

And what’s a millennial fad without reusable packaging? Brown Cafè’s beverages also come in portable jug form, available upon request for an additional P15. Customers can bring the jug on their next visit and get a discount for every drink they buy. Did anyone say “tea-pid?”

A Thai milk tea cafè never forgets: what is it without its signature Thai milk tea? Brown Cafe’s Thai Milk Tea (P85) is as authentic as it gets, served with classic pearls and its famous bright-orange layer. 

Feel like the Thailand favorite has got their milk tea game down to a tea? There’s more in store, in-store – just head over to Brown Cafè at Serendra starting Saturday, September 21 to get your first sip of one of Thailand’s most prized milk tea gems.  – Rappler.com