Chinese tea brands taste success on US main streets

Reminder of 'home'

For many Chinese nationals living abroad, Chinese tea beverages offer more than just flavor. They provide a taste of home, evoking familiarity and personal memories.

Audrey Xu, a millennial living in New Jersey, traveled into the city to visit Mixue after feeling homesick.

"I've always loved milk tea, and back in China I used to go to Mixue all the time," she told China Daily. "Seeing Mixue here makes me feel closer to home."

Carrying several drinks in paper bags, Xu said she planned to sit down somewhere during lunch to enjoy them.

While the menu offers fewer choices than Mixue stores in China, she said the essentials remain unchanged. "That's enough for me. It helps ease my homesickness," she said. "The core products are still the same."

Xu, who was born and raised in China and has lived in the US since 2017, said she has noticed a steady increase in Chinese tea drink brands opening across the country. With Mixue's arrival, Xu added that it has now become the first place she plans to bring friends when introducing them to Chinese-style tea drinks because of its low prices.

Some customers were drawn to Mixue by its well-known reputation in China, while others noticed the store through its extensive online promotion. The busy location itself also served as a marketing tool, generating attention even before the store officially opened.

College student Ishtiyaq Shajahan told China Daily he and his friends visited the area before the store was renovated and wondered what was going to be built at the site.

"My friend came last week and it was just opening up, but the line was crazy long. So we came back today with a couple more friends," he said.

Shajahan visited the store with his brother, Aqib Shajahan, and their friend James Gonzalez, all of whom are college students and Brooklyn natives. Gonzalez, who had previously visited a Mixue store in Singapore, said he was familiar with the brand.

"I think it does a good job setting up other bubble tea franchises. A lot of them tend to be pretty expensive. I think this one's more affordable. And it just feels more warm and welcoming, more friendly," Gonzalez said.

Compared with traditional beverage chains such as Starbucks, Ishtiyaq Shajahan said Chinese tea drinks offer a different flavor profile centered on the tea itself. He began drinking Chinese-style tea beverages several years ago, initially trying Thai tea at Gong Cha before becoming more adventurous.

"You can try different Chinese items like pandan jelly, grass jelly or different fruits like lychee … that's why I like it. I like those more different kinds of flavors," he said.

"I would say (Chinese tea beverages are) a little bit sweet, aromatic. I like the tea fragrance, the milk tea, and it's just refreshing, very soothing."

He added that Chinese tea beverages have become increasingly mainstream in the US.

"It is pretty popular now. I think it's equally as popular as a lot of other drinks. Americans used to drink a lot of energy drinks or coffee, and they are kind of changing it up a little bit… It's definitely gotten way more popular over the past five, six years, especially after COVID," he said.