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Tag: Khun Thai Tea

  • Khun Thai Tea heading for Singapore

    Khun Thai Tea heading for Singapore

    Singapore’s Khun Thai Tea, the franchisor for the Thai iced black-tea brand that originated from a pushcart in Bangkok, is about to launch its first outlet in the city.

    This follows its establishment in the Philippines last year as its first step toward expansion in Asia.
    Elis Chai, who co-founded Khun Thai Tea along with fellow Bronze Media Singapore owner Jeremy Lee, says their company has retained global rights for the brand, based on a recipe created in 1955 by Auntie Marlee, the sole proprietor of a pushcart in Sukhumvit.

    “Her recipe for ‘cha-yen’ was restricted to her family members,” says Chai. “Her pushcart soon came to be Sukhumvit Soi 11’s best-held secret. Its popularity rose in tandem with the street’s fame, which was earning a well-deserved reputation as a dining and nightlife destination.”

    More recently, Auntie Marlee began searching for successors to continue and expand on her pushcart’s legacy, finally tying up with Filipino Nancy Padilla. This led to SM Mall of Asia in Manila becoming the first outlet outside of Bangkok to feature Auntie Marlee’s tea in June last year. Padilla owns and runs the Khun Thai Tea Shop (Philippines), including “khun” (Thai for “respect”) in the franchise name as tribute to Auntie Marlee.

    Two more Khun Thai Tea outlets followed: one at Star City Amusement Park in Manila, and another at MegaMall Manila in the Ortigas business district. Lee says more branches are set to open in Manila before the end of this year.
    With Khun Thai Tea established in Singapore as global franchisor, Lee says rapid expansion across Asia is planned. “We will strive to bring a Khun Thai Tea branch to every Asian shopping mall.”

    As well as the tea, the shops offer other Asian-influenced drinks as well as snacks. The drinks include the coffee and tea mix yuan yang, first brewed in Hong Kong, and ice bandung, inspired by a Malaysian recipe that combines rose syrup with milk. Taiwanese-style boba (small tapioca balls) are an optional extra.

    Snacks include Thai-influenced items such as crispy kangkong and tea toast.

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  • Milk tea chain plans Asian expansion

    Milk tea chain plans Asian expansion

    After early success in the Philippines, Khun Thai Tea is now eyeing three more Asian markets.

    The milk tea concept was co-founded by Bronze Media LLP Singapore owners Jeremy Lee and Elis Chai.

    Lee says the company is about to open its third store in Metro Manila, at MegaMall, with plans for a new kiosk every month moving forward. It is looking for partners in other Southeast Asian markets.

    “We are going to take Khun Thai Tea to Jakarta in Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and Taipei in Taiwan,” he says. “Plans to start outlets in these cities are already underway.”

    Local Filipino partner Nancy Padilla says the chain’s drinks are based on an original recipe for a refreshing black iced-tea (‘cha-yen’ in Thai) that dates back to 1955. First created by a Thai native fondly known as Auntie Marlee, the strongly brewed Ceylon tea has since been modernised with a switch from Ceylon to a Thai-grown assam tea known as ‘Bai Miang’. Infusion with spices maintains the headiness of the original recipe and bring out its complex flavours.

    The traditional sugar, condensed milk and evaporated milk-heavy Cha-Yen recipe has also been updated to better suit the tastes of modern health-conscious consumers.

    In addition to the original recipe, says Padilla, Khun Thai Tea outlets also offer variations of the concoction inspired by drink recipes from around Asia, such as a mix of coffee and tea (‘Yuan Yang’), which was first brewed in Hong Kong.

    Drawing inspiration from Taiwanese bubble milk tea recipes, Khun Thai Tea also comes with small chewy tapioca balls (‘boba’, or bubbles) added, to infuse new textures and experiences to the drink.

    The newest menu item, Ice Bandung, is inspired by the original popular Malaysian beverage recipe which combines the alluring taste of rose syrup with the velvety smoothness of milk.

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