By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

It seems like that the humble bubble tea has been around since the 80's, but it hasn’t faded. Instead, it grew outside the Asian market. Recently, Chatime opened a store in the Surrey neighbourhood of Whalley.
I got their most popular drink -Roasted Milk Tea with Grass Jelly. I opted for 30% sugar. It allowed the natural flavours to come through.  Aromatic with a strong tea presence, the drink was milky with the bitterness of the grass jelly. I got the Milk Tea with Pearls with 50% sugar. The added 20% sugar was evident, but still allowed the tea flavour to come through and the milkiness. The pearls were on point being chewy while not melting.
My daughter had her go-to bevy - Mango Smoothie with Rainbow Jelly. It was milky, but slushy, but it was sweet even at 50% sugar because of the rainbow jelly. Her second drink was the Strawberry Yogurt with Coconut Jelly, again at 50% sweetness. It was made with yakult so it was more icy than smooth, but still had a refreshing sweet tang.
Viv had the Passionfruit Green Tea with Coconut Jelly at 50% sugar and Lychee Green Tea with Coconut Jelly also at 50% sugar. Both were green tea based so the flavours were alike. The lychee was a bit sweeter and less tangy. Compared to other bubble tea spots, Chatime is decent and holds it own, but since there is an actual system regarding sugar and ice content, it makes it easy to customize.

Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.

Chatime
10255 King George Boulevard, Surrey, BC

The Good:
• Lots of choice
• Easily customizable
• Decent

The Bad:
• Flavours are good, but some could use a bit more intensity
• Personally, the slushes could be more blend