After two visits to Molly Tea, I can finally provide my a more sound review of the place considering both experiences.
I had mixed reactions for my first time at Molly Tea, which was during grand opening weekend. Like most other visitors, I was drawn in by the hype of the brand and the promise of buy one get one free offer. Molly Tea has long been regarded as a premium quality milk tea brand in Asia and now expanding overseas. Houston was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the first locations in the US. Knowing the classic drinks offered at Molly Tea, I came into the shop with drinks in mind, but disappointingly found that the BOGO offer was only valid for select drinks, and the drinks I had in mind were of course excluded. I wish there was more clarity on that in the marketing for grand opening BOGO because I certainly wasn't the only disappointed visitor waiting in line and receiving the news.
Not a great start to the initial experience, but I still kept my spirits high excited to try the drinks: the Premium Jasmine Milk Tea and the Pistachio White Champaca Coconut. When I finally received my drinks, I sipped the jasmine milk tea first, and as a general fan of jasmine flavors, I was not impressed. Maybe it was a busy grand opening weekend and supplies ran low, but I am doubtful whether the drink used fresh milk as it tasted watered down. My second drink, which was the pistachio cloud with white champaca and coconut water, tasted great! It kept me yearning for more, which prompted my second visit.
For my second visit, I finally ordered the drink that I wasn't able to qualify for the BOGO order the visit before, Snowy Jasmine, and another order of the Pistachio White Champaca Coconut. Needless to say, the PWCC was as great as I remembered, but the Snowy Jasmine still lacked a spark.
Overall, I think if you are looking for some unique tea flavors, I think Molly Tea can definitely deliver. I don't think I have seen other tea shops in the US serve drinks with the pecan toppings and fresh pistachio chunks, which certainly takes the drinks up a level. However, the price charged for the drinks in the medium sized cup also reflect some of the higher costs for the ingredients, so don't expect to be able to get drinks here for any less than $7 or to be served a huge cup.
A few other tips to consider:
1. If you do not want too much ice in your drinks, go with no ice instead of less ice. Less ice still meant half a cup of ice in my experience while no ice meant the drink was chilled but no ice will be in the cup.
2. Go with the recommended 70% sugar; it tastes like 30% or 50% in comparison to other tea shops.
3. I recommend ordering ahead in the app to take advantage of potential coupon offers and to skip the line. However, if you do order through the app, just note that they don't always update the status of your drinks, so ask the staff for the status when your estimated time has passed so they can double check whether your drinks are ready.
4. Although there is still a crowd when I visited last, the lines move relatively quickly and there has always been some seats available to wait indoors. I really enjoy the modern tea shop aesthetics and seating options lining the wall, and I can see this being a nice place to chat with friends once the crowd lessens.
5. All of the above are my personal opinions based on personal taste, and given that my experience has been mixed with the drinks here, I recommend everyone to give this place at least one try to form your own opinion. read more