[Big read] How Singapore’s boba milk-tea generation is rediscovering traditional tea

(Edited and refined by Candice Chan, with the assistance of AI translation.)

The recent hit film Dear You has introduced audiences to the tea culture of the Chaoshan people, with people sitting around three teacups and a pot of tea on a stove, as this everyday drink brings them together in warmth and fellowship.

In Singapore, drinking tea is also becoming a new trend. A growing number of contemporary teahouses have opened across the city, offering elegant, comfortable spaces where customers can linger over a pot of tea and enjoy a few leisurely hours away from the demands of everyday life. Run by young people, these teahouses are bringing a fresh perspective to traditional tea culture.

LimCha, on the second floor of a shophouse along East Coast Road, is the only teahouse in Singapore specialising in Teochew gongfu tea. Its founder, Gladys Lim, 26, is a third-generation practitioner of the tradition. She handles the tea ware with practised ease as water bubbles over a red-clay stove and the distinctive fragrance of dancong tea fills the air. Every cup she brews tells a story of rediscovering her roots and keeping a cultural tradition alive.

Lim opened Galore Bake Studio during the pandemic. A little over a year ago, she began exploring tea as a business and eventually launched LimCha to promote Teochew tea culture.

“When I was young, we would visit relatives in Chaozhou. Some of my warmest childhood memories are of the elders gathering to brew gongfu tea. I thought, why not bring this tea culture back to Singapore?”

She noticed that although Singaporeans do drink tea, unique varieties of Teochew gongfu tea, such as Phoenix dancong, remain relatively unknown here due to limited production.

Dancong is a well-known traditional tea produced in Guangdong. This semi-fermented oolong combines the fresh fragrance of green tea with the richness of black tea, offering a complex blend of floral, honeyed and fruity aromas. Its clear, bright orange-gold tea liquor has a mellow flavour and lingering sweetness, and the leaves can be infused several times.

LimCha imports five aromatic varieties: honey orchid, cinnamon, orchid, almond and “duck shit” fragrance. It also imports Teochew peanuts and ear-shaped biscuits for customers to enjoy with their tea.

Learning from a tea master

To master the most authentic techniques, Lim went to Chaozhou in China to study under her cousin, Long Sufang. Long is a nationally certified tea master who trained under the late Chen Xiangbai, a provincial-level representative inheritor of Teochew gongfu tea, which is recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage item.

The name “gongfu tea” (功夫茶) reflects the time, care and skill involved at every stage, from selecting and roasting the leaves to storing and brewing them.

“Many people think making tea is simple, but gongfu tea is a craft that demands rigorous practice and years of accumulated experience.”

She explained that the essence of Teochew gongfu tea lies in the details. Traditionally, four essential items sit on the tea table: a Yixing clay teapot, a red-clay stove, a water pot known as a menzhuangguan (焖庄罐) and Ruoshen cups (若深杯). Three cups are usually arranged together on the tea tray to form the Chinese character 品 (pin), meaning “to savour” or “to taste”.

Gladys turns the brewing of gongfu tea into a ritual, with pouring techniques bearing names drawn from Chinese history. “Guan Yu patrolling the city” involves pouring tea into each cup in turn to ensure it is distributed evenly, while “Han Xin mustering his troops” sees the final drops left in the pot divided equally among the cups until none remains.

Alongside traditional gongfu tea, LimCha serves cold teas and milk teas. A miniature teapot on the cup lid contains dry ice, sending delicate wisps of vapour curling upwards. Lim also puts her baking skills to use, with taro and pork floss cake, osmanthus jelly and glutinous rice balls among the treats on offer.

LimCha has expanded beyond tea tasting to offer workshops and Teochew cultural tours as part of its efforts to promote tea culture. Lim has also set up a WhatsApp group for customers, and recently organised a screening of Dear You.

She said, “I think more young Singaporeans are beginning to appreciate tea. When I talk to customers, I find that some have started buying tea and drinking it at home too. They like the feeling of slowing down.”

She shared that her clientele is diverse, with occasional tourists, as well as families on weekends, some with three generations sitting together chatting over tea.

Kwong Seh Meng, 45, who regularly brews tea at home, takes his three children, aged between seven and 18, to teahouses on weekends.

“The children know how to appreciate tea. They enjoy its lingering sweetness and can even tell the different aromas apart. I think sitting down as a family to drink tea and talk, without looking at our phones, helps bring us closer together.”

A tranquil corner in the heart of the city

Jing Studio recently opened in the House of Tan Yeok Nee, a historic Teochew building in Singapore that is more than 140 years old. The teahouse may be small, but stepping inside feels like entering a world devoted to tea, where time seems to slow and the bustle of the city fades away.

When we visited, tea master William Chee, 34, was calmly warming a teapot and brewing tea.

“We perform all the steps that can be demonstrated — brewing and pulling the tea, warming the cups and so on — in front of our customers. These sensory interactions are all part of the tea-drinking experience.”

Chee, who is Malaysian, started enjoying tea as a child when his grandfather brewed it for him. To hone his skills, he has travelled to Hangzhou in China every year for the past four years to take short courses at a local tea institute.

Having previously worked for a Western-style tea brand, Chee sees a distinct difference between Western and Chinese approaches to tea. Western-style teas, he said, tend to emphasise consistency of flavour and the blending of fruity and floral notes. Chinese tea, by contrast, prizes the lingering sweetness and pure flavour of the leaves themselves, without sugar or milk.

Jing Studio’s menu features both traditional pure teas and blended creations. The three we sampled each had a distinctive character.

Golden Loulan is a black tea from Yunnan with a sweet, honeyed aroma and is worth trying for those who enjoy the fragrance of pure tea. Wumi Yingxue draws inspiration from black glutinous rice, a dessert familiar to Singaporeans, combining pu’er tea with coconut milk to create a smooth cold drink. Jinshi Baicaofang, meanwhile, is a blend based on aged white tea from Fujian, with fruity and floral notes of pear and chrysanthemum that give it a fresh, clean finish.

Desserts at the teahouse include Japanese-style confectionery and flower-shaped biscuits supplied by Koko Patisserie, which, like Jing Studio, is part of GAIA Lifestyle Group.

Located near Orchard Road, the teahouse attracts young local customers and students from nearby international schools on weekdays. Chee said that on weekends, retirees sometimes drop in for tea after practising tai chi or baduanjin, also known as Eight Brocades qigong.

“Whatever tea they choose, everyone can find their own cup of ‘stillness’ in tea.”

Tea and ceramics in one setting

For those seeking a feast for the eyes as well as a soothing cup of tea, Incloud on Prinsep Street appeals to urban customers with its distinctive visual design.

Its centrepiece is a flowing-water tea table. Dreamlike mist drifts from the specially designed table as water trickles gently through it, creating an immediate sense of calm. Exquisite handcrafted ceramic tea ware is displayed throughout the space, adding an air of elegance and making the teahouse equally suited to business meetings or intimate gatherings among friends.

The teahouse is run by Zhou Shuzhen, 26, an eighth-generation member of the Fengyao ceramics family of Jingdezhen. She came to Singapore to study two years ago and describes herself as having an instinctive affinity for Chinese and Eastern aesthetics. She hopes to promote this cultural heritage by creating a contemporary Chinese-style tea experience in Singapore, where customers can discover the art and culture of ceramics in relaxed surroundings.

The teahouse also holds weekly flower-arranging classes. Zhou believes a teahouse need not simply be somewhere to drink tea; it can also be a venue for cultural and recreational activities. Flower arranging is one example and, like drinking tea, offers an opportunity to slow down and quiet the mind.

The drinks menu focuses on pure whole-leaf teas, which can be ordered individually or as part of its signature set that allows customers to enjoy the same tea prepared in three different ways.

The Four Seasons Spring tea we sampled began with a sweet, pure tea extraction. The second serving was a “tea polyphenol” fruit tea made with pineapple, lime and green apple juice. The third was nitrogen-infused, giving it bubbles and a champagne-like mouthfeel.

There is also a range of wellness teas, including an astragalus and poria tea said to help cut through rich and greasy food, and an American ginseng and maidong tea aimed at those who frequently stay up late. Light Chinese snacks such as walnut biscuits and nuts are available to accompany the tea.

Zhou is optimistic about the prospects for teahouses and plans to open a second outlet on Orchard Road, creating a more upmarket space centred on the aesthetics of tea and ceramics.

Far removed from the conventional image of a traditional teahouse, these contemporary teahouses are designed as inviting, restful spaces where city dwellers can find a moment of respite. Could teahouse hopping eventually take the place of cafe hopping and, in the process, introduce more young people to traditional culture?

Lim of LimCha sums up the difference between coffee and tea: “People generally drink coffee to perk themselves up for work. Tea, on the other hand, is something you drink to slow yourself down.”

Grandma’s herbal tea for the milk-tea generation

Local beverage brand Amacha is taking a contemporary approach to introducing younger customers to traditional herbal flavours.

Launched in Chinatown in 2025 and now available at five locations across Singapore, Amacha puts herbal tea at the heart of its drinks, pairing it with milk bases and toppings developed in-house to give traditional herbal tea culture a modern twist. Signature drinks include Grandma’s Herbal Milk Tea, Dried Pear, Lily Bulb and Red Date Lung-Nourishing Tea, and Rose, Peach Gum and Roselle Beauty Tea, catering to modern consumers’ interest in health and wellness.

Founder Sebastian Ang, 35, said, “When I was young, my grandmother would always brew herbal tea for the family, and that became the inspiration for my business. Some young people think herbal ingredients are bitter or that the flavours are old-fashioned. I hope to introduce them to traditional herbs in forms they are familiar with, such as modern tea drinks and ice cream.”

In July, Amacha collaborated with the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre on an event where members of the public could choose traditional herbs and combine them to create their own milk tea.

Its new AMK Hub outlet, which opened in July, also takes a different approach to the space. Alongside displays of traditional herbs, seating has been added to evoke the warmth and familiarity of “Grandma’s kitchen”.

Ang hopes contemporary aesthetics can serve as a bridge to tradition.

“The design of this little kitchen is something people can relate to, while the seating allows customers to sit down with family and friends, have tea and catch up. I’ve noticed that besides younger customers, there are also grandparents buying drinks for their grandchildren. In this way, these traditional flavours can be passed on to another generation.”

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “年轻人开摩登茶室 以新派手法沏传统茶香”.

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