Here are the highlights from our recent visit to the newly-opened Cha Tra Mue Tea House in Los Angeles. Spoiler alert: If you're in the area, it's definitely worth a visit!
Cha Tra Mue is one of the premier manufacturers of Thai tea in Thailand. Their Thai tea mix is a bestseller, allowing you to make your own Thai Iced Tea at home. In addition to selling tea leaves, they also run Tea Houses where their teas are freshly brewed for you, with locations all throughout Thailand and select other countries.
Recently, Cha Tra Mue expanded to the U.S. and opened their first Tea House in Los Angeles. You can imagine our excitement when we heard this news and serendipitously were already planning to be in L.A. during their soft opening! Here are all of the details of our visit to L.A.'s first Cha Tra Mue Tea House.
Cha Tra Mue Brand
Cha Tra Mue claims to be the original manufacturer of Thai Tea. As the story goes, the company's owner immigrated from China to Bangkok, and began selling tea in 1945. Because Thailand's climate is so hot, he decided to make an iced tea with sugar and milk. This sweet, cold drink became the iconic Thai iced tea which is now known and loved throughout Thailand, and the rest of the world.
Cha Tra Mue is also known as the Number One Hand Brand. In Thai, Cha (ชา) means Tea, Tra (ตรา) means Brand, and Mue (มือ) means Hand. In a nod to their name, their logo is a thumbs up.
Along with making Thai tea, the company now also offers many different varieties of tea such as green tea, black tea, oolong rose tea, and jasmine butterfly pea tea. Their tea mixes can be found at Asian markets as well as online. Their Tea Houses are located all over Thailand, with more than 100 different shops spread throughout the country. They also have locations in select other Asian countries and are currently in the process of expanding to Europe and the Americas.
Cha Tra Mue Tea House in Los Angeles
We were so excited to be able to visit the Cha Tra Mue Tea House in Los Angeles for their soft opening. The shop is located in the same shopping complex as LAX-C, a huge Thai grocery warehouse near Chinatown. The Tea House is the first thing you see as you enter the shopping complex. It's hard to miss, with big signs on both corners of the building.
When we arrived last Saturday morning, the Tea House was packed with Thai people. The line moved fairly quickly, however, and as we were leaving, more non-Thai folks began to arrive. There were three tables at the front of the shop and several comfy seats with coffee tables on the side of the shop. Their tea mixes were available for purchase, but the main draw was, of course, their freshly made drink offerings.
Menu
The menu was much bigger than I expected, with more than 30 different drinks to choose from (only one of their menus is pictured). In addition to Thai Iced Tea, you could order Thai black tea, Thai lemon tea, Thai coffee, O'Lieng, Green tea, Cocoa, Jasmine tea, Oolong Tea, Hojicha Tea, Ceylon Tea, and Plum Red tea. They also had a Yuzu series, a Latte series, and a Rose Tea series. For each drink order, you could add toppings of brown sugar boba, jelly, or brown sugar jelly. And last, but certainly not least, they had Thai tea soft serve, milk green tea soft serve, and a Thai tea float on their menu.
When it was our turn to order, we decided to try their original Thai Iced Tea, a Thai Tea with boba, Thai coffee, and the Milk Green Tea. We also got a Thai Tea soft serve ice cream, because, well, how could you not? We went with 100% sweetness (regular sweet) for all of our teas, although they offer a range from 0% (not sweet) to 130% (extra sweet).
Taste
The drinks were made to order, and came in fancy reusable plastic tumblers with the Cha Tra Mue logo printed on them. Each cup was filled to the brim with crushed ice, and the drinks were poured on top. An informational poster at the register explained that a cup full of ice is crucial, as Thai tea is very concentrated and traditionally served sweet. The ice helps to dilute the sweetness and balances the flavor.
We tried the original Thai Iced Tea first. It was delicious.... creamy and refreshing, with a very strong tea flavor. It wasn't quite as sweet as I was expecting it to be, so the bitterness of the tea was fairly prominent. The Thai Boba Tea was sweeter, probably because of the brown sugar boba, and more in line with what I was expecting in terms of sweetness. Regardless, both of the Thai teas were an absolute treat, and brought me back to Thailand with the first sip.
The Thai Coffee was as delicious as the Thai tea. Also very strong, with a wonderful roasted flavor, and just the right amount of cream and sugar. The Thai Green tea didn't disappoint either. It had a bold green tea flavor that was balanced nicely by the milk and sugar. All of the drinks were bold, refreshing, and absolutely delicious. We had no problem finishing all four of them!
I was so busy sampling the drinks that I actually didn't get a chance to taste the Thai tea soft serve. But my Thai husband and children assured me that it was also incredibly yummy. They said it was more flavorful than other Thai tea ice creams they've had in the past, and that it tasted just like the Thai tea drinks, but in ice cream form.
Pricing
All of the teas were between $5.50 and $6.00 each, depending on which menu item you chose. The soft serve ice creams were $4.75, and the Thai tea float was $6.00. Boba and jelly toppings were $0.65 each.
Location
The Cha Tra Mue Tea House is in the same shopping complex as LAX-C, a huge Thai food warehouse near Chinatown. It is the corner building, and hard to miss as you enter the shopping complex. It's open from 11 AM to 7 PM every day. If you'd like to skip the line, you can place your order online for pick up.
Address: 1100 N Main Street, Unit A, Los Angeles 90012
I'm so delighted that we were able to stop by the first Cha Tra Mue Tea House in the U.S. Their drinks and ice cream definitely lived up to my expectations, and brought me right back to Thailand.
If you live in the Los Angeles area and are a fan of Thai Tea (and who isn't, really?), then I highly recommend you check out Cha Tra Mue Tea House!
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