Cha Tra Mue: Rose Tea - What’s the Hype? How a seemingly old-fashioned Thai tea brand reinvented itself
Thai tea, or Cha-Yen, is a favorite of many all around the world. The pungent aroma of the red tea leaves mixed with the creamy texture and sweetness of milk, creating one of the most refreshing drinks that everyone can enjoy. No matter where you go in Thailand, from a street side hawker to upscale hotels, you can find Thai Tea.
You can order them with or without milk, cold or hot, and even sweet or not. It’s perfect for the hot weather, and even if not in Thailand, Thai restaurants in many countries often have this drink available. You can say it’s a part of the Thai culinary experience, and little does people know that there is one brand that plays an important role behind all this Thai Tea culture.
Cha Tra Mue (ชาตรามือ) has been with Thai people for longer than you can imagine. Many desire their Thai Tea mix product with the “thumbs up” logo. Starting off as a small teashop, today Cha Tra Mue has a reported earning of up to 360 million THB, shipping their products to countries like Singapore and China, and delivering over 80 tons of Tea leaves every month to Café Amazon, a brand owned by Thailand’s petrol giants PTT.
Yet, even though considered a legendary brand by many, Cha Tra Mue doesn’t really get the fame they deserve especially in this day and age. The brand is often perceived as ‘old’ or ‘boring’, but that was until the 3rd generation of owners stepped in.
The Rose Tea Phenomena
Although Cha Tra Mue have been working on building its brand to accommodate the newer generation of consumers, nothing has really caused frenzy until the Rose Tea. Yep, its pink, its cute, and it came out on Valentine’s Day of 2017. But it wasn’t it fancy flower themed cups or the rose flavor that caused the hype, it was the aftermath that caused Cha Tra Mue to go viral. While we’re not sure whether it was intended or not, but the Rose Tea was advertised as a detox tea and people went ape after giving it a try.
The first few brave souls reported that the Rose Tea will guarantee to give you the runs. Reviews exploded everywhere on social media and people started telling their followers and friends to give it a shot as well to experience it themselves. The word of mouth spread like wildfire and it wasn’t long until long lines formed at every outlet that serves the Rose Tea. It was really a phenomenon and it keeps getting better for Cha Tra Mue.
The brand of over 70 years has finally found its place in the hearts of Thai people. With outlets opening up everywhere, people seems to can’t get enough of the Rose Tea and well and the brand new soft serve Thai tea ice cream. It’s pretty clear that you have to give this a try now. Locate the nearest outlet to grab your Rose Tea on their Facebook page.