Snow Flake Tea House is a Taiwanese tea house that opened May 2015 in the sprawling Gwinnett Station shopping center on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth. In recent years, most spaces in this desolate shopping center were vacant. However, there has been an influx of tenants in 2015. They include 89 Hot Pot (Chinese hot pot, opened in February), Thai Pad & Coco Sweets (Thai-Lao restaurant, replaced Taste of Pho, opened in May), So Gong Dong (Korean tofu house, second location, opened in May), and The Coffee by Hand (Korean cafe, opened in May). Later this year, Sweet Hut is planning to open its third location in this shopping center as well.
Snow Flake Tea House comes to metro Atlanta by way of Sno-Crave Tea House from the Bay Area in California. When it first opened, Snow Flake actually used Sno-Crave's menus, but has since switched to updated menus exclusive to this Georgia location. Unlike other Asian bakeries and cafes, Snow Flake is a "sit-down" place. When you enter the business, a server will seat your party.
Compared to its competition, Snow Flake is plain when it comes to ambiance and decor. While the strip mall space has been renovated and looks new and clean, there's not much to the place other than a wide open room with a bunch of speckled granite-looking tables and pink cushioned chairs. There's wide tiled flooring and the far wall has a neat, 3D, modern-looking, alternating symmetrical design. The "open" kitchen really isn't all that open since high countertops block customer views into the kitchen.
I estimate the store can seat about 50 guests. Seating is flexible as tables can be rearranged to accommodate various party sizes.
Snow Flake offers 25 iced green and black teas of various flavors including lychee, kumquat, red guava, wintermelon, and chrysanthemum; traditional Chinese oolong teas; 25+ iced milk teas; 10+ "healthy" yogurt and egg honey juice drinks; jelly ice drinks; 15 sweet Asian smoothies (e.g. taro, red bean, lychee); hot sweet dessert-style soups; hot traditional Chinese teas including Ti Kuan Yin (a.k.a. Tieguanyin, an oolong variant) and pu-erh (from Yunnan province); hot flavored green and black teas; 15+ hot flavored milk teas; nearly 20 hot "healthy" drinks which include fruits such as longan, goji berries, and jujubes (Chinese dates); as well as the popular "flavored snow," toast, crepes, and other desserts like creme brulee and macarons.
When it comes to tea, expect to spend roughly $3-4 each for a regular size and $4-5 each for a large size. Like other tea shops, you can adjust the sweetness level of your tea and add toppings such as boba (tapioca pearls), popping boba, pudding, and jelly for 50 cents to a dollar per topping. The healthy drinks, jelly ice drinks, and smoothies run about $4-6 each.
What sets Snow Flake apart from other bubble tea places is in its presentation. Iced beverages are served in stylish contoured glasses with open tops as opposed to the standard throwaway plastic cups with machine-sealed tops. If you have leftovers or want to take your beverage to go, the glasses are designed to make pouring your drink into another cup easy. It's a nice little touch. Hot tea is served in an all-glass tea kettle and base with a glass tea cup. There's a candle in the base, lit tableside, which keeps the tea in the kettle warm.
The milk teas and boba are A-OK. The rose green milk tea is aromatic and fragrant and the tapioca are sufficiently fresh. If you want to try something different, I recommend one of the "healthy" yogurt drinks. I found the peach yogurt to be quite delicious. Creamy, refreshing, and wholly satisfying. It's a great alternative to milk tea. On the flipside, I can't say I'm a fan of the jelly ice drinks. They're just too sweet for me. The jelly ice drinks essentially consist of a glass of sweetened, flavored crushed ice and water/syrup plus lots of flavored jellies. It would be fine if it wasn't excessively sweet.
The flavored snow ($6.95) is excellent! You must try one. The ice is neatly shaved into soft, thin ribbons similar to Ice Monster in Taiwan. I'm impressed with both the flavor and consistency of the ice. It's delicious. Flavored snow comes with two toppings and two sauces. I love adding condensed milk to any Asian snack/dessert when it's an option. As for toppings, I suggest grass jelly and egg pudding, but you might want to pair one of those with red beans for more texture. As for the actual "snow" flavor, taro is terrific.
The toast (~$3 per slice, $11.95 per special "box") and crepes (about $5-6 each) are good too. The toast is warm, appetizing, and filling. Each slice is thick with a crisp, delectable crust. It's simple yet gratifying. The special toasts are hollow and have decadent presentations. The crepes are nicely made. The fruit (mango, strawberry, kiwi, banana) is ripe. All crepes come with ice cream (OK) and are drizzled with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar.
Good service. Everything is made to order and timely. read more