This is a half review. Please read on, or you can skip to the bottom labeled as "overview".
I will attempt to layout this review in a manner that is coherent. Though I will give a rating on a scale of 10, largely scales are irrelevant as they are subjective. So in conjunction of my rating, I will give a little commentary ;). I have personally been to Cafe LaTTea over 100+ times, tried more than half of their drinks, and every single one of their honey toast boxes. So lets get on with the ranting!
*** Milk Tea ***
8/10
First off they use real milk and brew their tea fresh everyday, unlike Quickly which uses a soy base or Volcano Tea House which uses coconut milk. The fresh milk adds more smooth flavour to their drinks, though at times some drinks can have more milk than others. Overall though they do a wonderful job not taking away too much flavour from their tea. Though if you ever find yourself in a situation where you think they've added too little of either milk or tea, request extra of one of the other. They are flexible in their orders unlike Quickly, Q-Cup, Fantasia, etc which are much less flexible. Now for their tea, they typically do NOT brew tea to order, like Purple Kow or T-Pumps (T-Pumps occasionally does such as oolong). Instead they brew it in a large batch so they can quickly dispense it (to you). I'll re-iterate a point though: they brew it fresh daily, and when they run out.
If you have not tried their silky milk tea, I would recommend trying it (or a custom order). I would recommend any of their silky drinks such as pudding silky milk tea, though my personal favourite is the Silk Rose Milk Tea (half milk tea, half silky). Now to describe what silky milk tea, it is more milky if you can believe that. Whatever they do to concoct their silky drink, it definitely is "milky".
Oh, a point I have definitely missed. I love the fact that they have a menu asking you for sweetness! Reminds me of when I was in Singapore ordering milk tea. Seriously all milk tea houses should ask your level of sweetness so it can be to taste rather than an a default option of sweet. If you think it needs less, ask for more. If you think you need more, ask for more. It's such a simple concept and standard used in Asia which as gracefully reached this little tea house. It's a nice way of finding that perfect sweetness for your milk tea..
On a last note their variety of flavours for teas is a bit lacking if you compare it to Quickly, but is a good selection if compared to Fantasia. They have a fairly large variety of add-ons (or add-ins) for their milk teas. Their puddings are great and the basil seeds are delicious to. If I recall correctly their pearls are good too--not great but definitely not bad. And if you have not tried their lattes, try their Taro Latte!!!! It's a must try off of their menu.
*** Honey Toast Boxes ***
8/10
I believe this is what separates Cafe LaTTea from most other cafes / milk tea houses in the area. They cut out the inside of bread--sometimes called brick toast--cut the inside into cube pieces, toast it up, then put them back inside. Then it is topped off with a variety of toppings such as ice cream, chocolate syrup, cookies/brownie bits, fruit(s), etc. What you end up getting is a work of art that is also delicious. Your first time trying one of these you may not want to destroy delicacy until it starts melting.
My recommendation:
* Order The Masterpiece, Oreo, Banana Chocolate Toast Box. If you're a fan of Strawberry they have one of those too!
* I would stay away from the Green Tea Honey Toast Box. My friends and I have an issue with the quality of ice cream for this one, reminding us of the flavour "avocado".
* Personally taste is in favor of Akiba, but the Toast Boxes are good!
*** Environment ***
9/10
*** Customer Service ***
10/10
*** Availability ***
9/10
*** Overall ***
Cafe LaTTea is definitely a wonderful little place that has been open for maybe 6 months now, at the time of writing this. They are exceptional in customizations of their drinks and desserts, and love hearing customer feedback. Try to get there before their late night rush hours which are around 8pm - 10:30pm. The Masterpiece is an excellent toast box to try for starters, and drinks to try are: Taro Latte, Silky Milk Tea (not on menu), and the Snowfalls.
Cafe LaTTea is the little golden gem in Cupertino.
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Credibility:
- Worked in food industry for 3 years
- Previously restaurant food supervisor/manager for 1 year, 3 months
- Trained on HACCP Food Safety, CA employment laws and regulations
- Foodie in: CA, MA, Canada, Singapore, S. Korea
- A cook since HS; baking for 1-2 years
Milk Tea Stores I Have Tried
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USA:
Quickly, Fantasia, Q-Cup, Cafe LaTTea, Verde, Teaway, Bambu, Sipatea, T-Pumps, Hydration, Half and Half, Ten Ren's, Lollicup, Boba Time, Tea Era, Volcano Tea House, Tapioca Express
Singapore:
Gong Cha, Share Tea, Koi Cafe, Ya Kun Kaya Toast, and more read more