MACU TEA - Robson — Restaurant in Vancouver

I’ve always loved bubble milk tea, but even without added sugar, a large cup packs a lot of calories because the pearls are cooked with sugar. So I usually hold back from having it too often. Today, though, a friend told me about a new shop in town, and like many people, I was tempted to check it out. While others flocked to line up right when it opened, I decided to go in the evening when it would be less crowded. The shop is bright and stylish, with a few seating areas inside and some by the entrance. I ordered a warm Tieguanyin Oolong Milk Tea with boba and no added sugar. I wanted to swap the milk for oat milk, but unfortunately, they didn’t have it. My drink was ready quickly, and after a few sips, I found the pearls to be perfectly chewy and surprisingly not too sweet. However, the tea flavor was somewhat muted, possibly due to the milk-to-tea ratio. The temperature was exactly right, as advertised on their wall: ‘perfect temperature.’ As I was leaving, I noticed fresh strawberries and grapes displayed in a glass case. Next time, I might try one of their...

Without a doubt, the best milk tea + fruit tea spot in all of Metro Vancouver. For the similar price of all fruit teas these days, they use real fruits and are VERY clear with showing that they are real fruits.

Their seasonal drinks are my personal favourite, and while it’s neither grape nor mango season at the moment, I absolutely love their strawberry smoothie options (King of Strawberry or Bo-Bo Strawberry Smoothie) and can never get tired of them. If you’re not feeling a heavy-ish smoothie, I highly recommend any of their fresh fruit teas at 30% sugar (but if you’re hankering for a sweet thing, by all means go sweeter). I like their passion fruit or grapefruit flavours.

Their regular milk teas also have richness and depth to them, my personal favourites being their Iron Goddess (tieguanyin) and regular black milk teas. Their pearls are well-made, but I must recommend their storemade green tea jelly as a topping - goes very well with any of their drinks. I really cannot stop praising Macu, thank you for being the light of my life at this...

10/10 recommend the King of Mango Smoothie ($7.75 before tax). This is my third time going, I've tried their Mango Chi-Chi and some strawberry drink, but nothing beats their mango smoothie drink when mangoes are in season. Standard sugar and ice level, you can't customize for the King of Mango Smoothie. I like that you can taste the tea flavour afterwards. Has creamy coconut milk, mango and grapefruit chunks, and green tea jelly inside.

Macu Tea in Richmond has insanely long line, so the downtown location is much better in my opinion. Waited about 10min for a drink. Downtown location also has seating (2 booths that can seat 4 people each, outdoor patio seating, and a few more bench seats with small circular tables).

I've also tried the Fleshy Mango drink at Sun Tea, but I like Macu Tea's better by a bit - personal preference I guess. Side note, I wish they posted the calories per drink though, I couldn't find it...