Sometimes when you’re in the mood for a certain something, nothing else will do. And for my daughter that day after school, it was boba tea.
She’d just tasted boba for the first time on a trip to Atlanta. But where to go for boba in Augusta?
A quick Google search pulled up Lily Coffee, Tea and Bread (which I’ve heard is amazing!) on Laney Walker Boulevard, Teaspoon Augusta in Evans, and Ding Tea Augusta in Martinez, among others (we would also discover a few weeks later that our favorite, New Ming Wah, also serves up boba or bubble tea!).
But my daughter had a specific place in mind. We’d passed it a few times before and she remembered the giant balloon outside (proof that advertising works!). When we found the photo online, we started to make our way to Gong Cha in Martinez.
A little lesson in Chinese here: “cha” means tea, and “gong” means tribute or gift. Combined, it’s a phrase meaning “to offer the best tea to the emperor from all possessions.”
Gong Cha itself isn’t fancy, but it’s fun and casual. There are faux marble-topped tables, heavy white plastic chairs, chalkboards advertising flavor options, plus a foosball table and a shelf full of games and activity books. One corner featured an array of colorful packaged Asian snacks, like shrimp chips, Hello Panda cookies, Oreos in all kinds of fun flavors that I’ve never seen at an American grocery store, and so much more.
We stepped up to the counter, not really sure what to order. Gong Cha offers a huge menu of drink options, with flavors like green tea, hibiscus, lychee, lemon wintermelon basil seeds (!), taro, caramel chocolate, coffee, matcha, strawberry, crème brulee, earl grey, passionfruit and others. One thing is the same though is the ordering process, which they explain nicely: 1) Choose your drink (hot or cold…some are only served cold); 2) Choose your size, medium or large; 3) Add your toppings; and 4) Choose your ice and sugar level.
The last is my very favorite thing…I love that you decide how sweet to make your drink.
After looking seriously at all the options, we decided on two caffeine-free options to try: a lychee drink with mango popping pearls and a mango milk tea with milk foam. Gong Cha also had macarons that day as a special, so we ordered two: a lemon and a wildly colorful option.
We grabbed a couple of activity books to play with while we waited, but it didn’t take long. My daughter took a sip of the lychee: “Brain freeze!” It was sweet and tasted exactly like lychee fruit. We’d chosen a sugar grade of 30 out of 100, but I personally could have gone a little less sweet, although my daughter thought it was perfect. The mango popping pearls were a good complement though, so tangy that it made both of us “squinch” up our eyes, as my daughter said, and puckered our mouths.
The mango milk tasted just like a mango lassi for those who tried that drink at local Indian restaurants. It was sweet and creamy, basically a mango milkshake. The milk foam wasn’t sweet and tasted more like sour cream! It wasn’t my daughter’s favorite, and it was fine, although I’d probably try something different next time.
The colorful macaron I think was supposed to be birthday cake flavor, although it really just tasted like sugar to me. It wasn’t my favorite, but again, my daughter really liked it. We both agreed on the lemon though—it was sweet, but not too sweet, with lots of lemon filling, and delicious. Both were made perfectly too, with a crunchy exterior and soft and fluffy interior.
It was a hot day when we went, so it was a great afternoon, sitting inside in the cool shadiness of the tea room, working on our activity books while enjoying sips of our cool, sweet drinks. Gong cha, you hit the spot.
Make Your Reservation
Gong Cha
3821 Washington Road
Cost: $5.50 to $7.25
