Very similar to Molly tea, I first tried Chayan in Vancouver, BC so I was thrilled when I learned that Chayan opened so close to where I work. I've tried a good amount of their menu, and will occasionally get the seasonal items like peach. Though I always revisit my favorites, which are the da hong pao tea frappe, the jasmine green milk tea, and the matcha green tea varieties. If you get the frappe, they top the whip cream to serve. Wait time can vary but generally it's about 5-10 mins to get your drink. There are some tables and seating but most people tend to grab n go. read more

Chayan - Da hong pao tea frappe - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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I was pretty excited to try Chayan as another potential spot that genuinely focuses on high quality tea. Definitely the same vibe as Molly Tea, but with a broader menu of drink options. I opted for the Da Hong Pao Tea Frappe and the tea wasn't quite as fragrant as I wanted it to be. I'd say it's middle of the road quality wise, aka a tier or two below Chicha and about the same as Don't Yell At Me. As with other boba spots, it's possible that some drinks are better than others, so maybe take a look at what the regulars are ordering. Vibe wise, the store wasn't too crowded early afternoon on a Saturday. Only 2-3 folks lined up to order on the iPad and seats were nearly full, but not quite. Vibes great, tea not bad. read more

Okay - this place feels premium. Too premium for a boba tea spot. Definitely cool atmosphere in a prime UW location. Right crowd to attract. Also lot of respect for respecting "No Sugar" option. I got a no sugar tea and they absolutely didn't put any sugar - lot of boba drinks will still have sugar. If I come here next time I will probably go with light sugar. Service is pretty quick - you shouldn't have to wait long. read more

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There seems to be a debate in the reviews about whether Chayan competes with Molly Tea or not. Both have similar menus and styles, but here's my take. I first heard about Chayan when I was visiting Richmond BC, and I did take a peak at that location. To be honest, the Richmond location was nicer than this one, but the inside of the Seattle location was bigger and had more seating. I went to try out the Seattle location yesterday with my girlfriend, and we both each got a drink. I ordered the Gardenia Milk Tea, and my first reaction to the initial taste was a little disappointing. I prefer a more tea-forward taste for my milk teas, and this one wasn't as strong as other places. I also saw reviews saying that the drinks were quite lukewarm, and the more I think about it, they're completely right. I was wondering why I felt off about it, but I do prefer my drinks to be colder. Perhaps they didn't want to dilute the milk tea with lots of ice. I will say, the drink got better the more I drank it, but it isn't something I would consistently go back for. So my verdict for the Chayan VS Molly Tea debate? Sorry to say, but Chayan is not as good. However, Chayan is closer for me and the drinks come out a lot faster. If I don't feel like driving all the way to the Eastside, I would consider coming here if I just wanted a quick fix. But then again, there are many better options for milk tea in Seattle. read more

Chayan - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

We took osmanthus and lychee milk tea without sugar and it was quite good. More than drink, i really like the premium packaging. read more

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Happy BOGO day at Chayan! Congratulations on the release of your new Camellia series. It's wonderfully floral and not too sweet but just enough sweetness and fruitiness to be a perfect midday treat. I always look forward to the new series Chayan is putting out, and the staff are always knowledgeable about their teas. They give you their signature triple straw so you can fully immerse yourself in the milk tea experience (or so I've been told!) and a spoon to eat the cream with too. They don't really do boba /tapioca balls here, it's more of a milk tea-specific establishment. Always love the selection of boba options in the university district, and Chayan is high up there in my ranking list. read more

Chayan - Camellia Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Clean/ luxurious aesthetic, got myself two of the seasonal drinks to try. Despite the whip cream being pink, it's just a normal whip cream flavor more creamer than American whip cream though! Very mainland China style with the whip cream and pecan toppings. Pecans add a nice sweet crunch. The teas themselves are very fragrant but also rather light tasting, which compliments nicely with the whip cream topping. There are bathrooms in the back, there are 5 two seaters in the shop. Workers are nice. read more

Chayan - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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This place is OK. If you read the other reviews here, the main complaint is that the tea flavor is not very strong. I'm one of those types that wants my tea, especially matcha, to be 'in your face' strong. Chayan's drinks are the complete opposite. There's also something odd (just a personal preference) with their non-transparent cups where you can't see the contents of your drink. Moreover, the cream layer on top seems very Western to me (for, you know, an Asian beverage), and I just don't get the pecan topping. At least space inside is alright and if you can find seating, it is a decent place to do work. But, with the other boba places in the neighborhood, I'd rather go to those. read more

Chayan - Got the pu er milk tea - IG: @datglobetrotterlife - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

High end tea spot. I love molly tea and this was also fun to try. I tried the peach oolong tea and the iced lemon lychee osmanthus tea ($6+ each). Both were refreshing, but I would stick with their milk teas for sure The packaging and straws are well designed and luxurious. Staff are polite and there is a decent amount of seating inside. read more

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Really surprised by how good the genmaicha latte was! It was nutty and could really taste the roasted rice flavor.I will be coming back solely for this drink. read more

Chayan - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Seattle-Area Boba Shop Review #89 I recently heard about Chayan opening up in U District and decided to visit over the weekend. This was a Sunday afternoon and there wasn't a line, although there were a couple of customers sitting at the tables sipping on their milk teas. I'm surprised they come from the UK since the aesthetics - the single tone coloration, the three-coffee-stirrer-esque straws, the cups, and the focus on higher quality milk tea with limited toppings - all remind me of the newer mainland Chinese brands (e.g. Chagee and Molly Tea). Ordering is similar as well, with a kiosk right in front for convenience. Da-Hong-Pao Milk Tea, Light Ice, Regular Sweet ($5.89) - Other reviews indicate the sweetness levels are lower than the typical boba shop and I agree. Full sweetness here is similar to a bit more than 50% sugar at other places, so there's enough to be a sweet drink but not enough to feel too sweet. This tea is very fragrant, smooth and has a certain roasted nuttiness in aroma, with the flavor being easily transferred to the mouth through the fattiness of the milk, which also gives a sweet finish. It's very tasty and easy to sip on through the small straw. At light ice, the ice level feels like it's a lot, but since there's only a limited amount of liquid that can be sucked up through the straw, it takes a while to get through the entire cup. This allows the ice to melt at a steady rate and even when fully melted, the tea flavor still shines. Milk Tea Rating: 5/5 Pu'er Tea Frappe, Light Ice, Regular Sweet ($7.29) - A frappe is just the normal milk tea with whipped cream and pecans on top. The whipped cream is pretty typical fresh whipped cream. It doesn't seem to be stabilized, so it deflates quickly. It's creamy and slightly sweet, but not that fluffy. The pecans are a nice crunchy element that add some nuttiness along with a bit of salt and some almost caramel like flavors from possibly being candied a bit on the exterior. I'm not sure the two toppings are worth the extra $1.40, but they are good to try. In terms of the Pu'er milk tea, it's quite interesting. I'm used to more oxidized and fermented, exceptionally earthy and woody notes, but this one is totally different. It tastes kind of like toasted soil and kombu. No seriously, it's earthy but it has an almost meaty savory umami note. Really interesting flavor and honestly not one I really enjoy. But, the fact that there's a distinct flavor at all makes this a very high quality milk tea. Milk Tea Rating: 5/5 As with other similar milk tea spots, I probably won't be revisiting simply because of the lack of boba as a topping. Chayan otherwise serves some very good quality milk tea so it's great for anyone who wants a more Mainland Chinese and/or coffee shop-type experience. Bathrooms - Given the aesthetics of the interior, I thought these would be impeccably clean. Instead, these are larger bathrooms with multiple stalls located via a short walk through a kind of dumpy interior courtyard area. It reminds me of bathrooms found in China and Taiwan given the location and cleanliness levels. That's not a good thing. read more

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I'm impressed, I might go as far as to say it's better than Molly Tea! Located in the University District and replacing Hey! I am Yogost, I got to try out Chayan at my old college grounds! My group came during the closing hour (and before school officially started, so it wasn't busy), yet the workers were incredibly kind and welcoming to us! Despite being close to closing, the interior and overall vibe serve as a good ambiance to study and socialize. I personally got the Pu'er Milk Tea. I was blown away by how high-quality the tea brew was. On top of that, the whipped cream and pecan were the perfect cherry on top. I'm very happy Chayan has started opening locations here in the U.S., not to mention in the U District! Especially if you enjoy Molly tea, you should definitely try Chayan! read more

Chayan - Outside - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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This place gives off Molly Tea knock off version. With the same aesthetics of the interior but just different color. This place focuses on the same thing as the store mentioned above, which is solely on milk tea. I definitely can see how this can target get more students as it's located by the Ave. However, I don't think the drinks are that good and not worth the price. I was expecting something a little bit more or better and deeper tea flavor, but I wasn't really getting any of that. read more

Chayan - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

New milk tea place! I am glad there are more places opening up that emphasize tea and are not overly extravagant with their flavors or toppings. We went to their BOGO from 9/5-9/7. I wish you could mix different drinks for the BOGO (but you had to get the same one). Line was pretty long at around 6pm and it ended up taking about 40 minutes to get our drinks. The staff were announcing numbers not in numerical order, which made it hard to estimate when your order is coming up. I hope they switch to a system where the numbers are in order. The drink itself is more subtle. I could taste the black tea but it was lighter than I thought. The worker advised us that their drinks are not very sweet, so suggested to get the 100% sweetness, which was actually perfect! 100% was not too sweet and complemented the drink perfectly. I thought the whipped cream would be more special, but it was just normal whipped cream. I liked it though. I do think Molly Tea is better in terms of the tea flavor shining through, but this is not a bad option. read more

Chayan - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Cute spot off the ave! No line when I went at 1 pm on a Tuesday. Frappe is not blended, it's a normal milk tea with cream on it. Served with a very thin straw so you can appreciate the tea flavor, and a spoon to eat the cream! Optional pecan pieces to add on top come in little packets. Comes without a lid unless you request it, made it hard to consume the cream but not a true issue. Cream topping tastes like normal whipped cream. Thankful for tiny straw because it is SO good! Black tea frappe has great flavor. No caffeine free options. They do have dairy free options (soy & coconut). You can adjust sweetness and ice. Cute inside seating area, no outside seating. You order from a human, not a kiosk. Staff were very sweet and welcoming, would definitely come back! read more

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One of my friends called this place a Molly Tea knockoff... he's also the same person who went with me to Molly Tea's grand opening a couple months ago, so I decided to do a drink run here with another one of my friends to get my own opinion. This was just before a street event down south and decided to drive up north to 30+ minute traffic to come here. We knew there was gonna be a line here but somehow it wasn't that long for a Saturday at 4pm. Turns out drinks were being quoted about an hour, but I already made the drive and the gas tank effort here, so we were literally locked in. And I'm not regretting this one bit! For starters, it indeed took an hour as quoted to get our drinks. Numbering system for drinks was a little off since they didn't seem to go in any perceivable order, and I couldn't hear the servers call out some of the numbers since it was so loud inside. For their BOGO event from September 5-7 (I went on the 6th), you can get one drink and then get a similar drink free. My friend and I each decided to get a matcha green tea frappe and a black tea frappe to take advantage. All our drinks were at regular sweetness, ice levels and milk. For both our tea frappes: - The matcha green tea frappe is all right, but the tea is really strong here! There wasn't that much matcha taste because it was drowned out by the whipped cream and pecans but it was subtle enough for both of us to enjoy. - We eventually agreed that the black tea frappe was the better of the two. It had an even stronger tea taste despite the whipped cream and pecans on top. Really floral, really ironic given those two things dimmed the taste of the matcha in the matcha green tea frappe. Most things were green inside, literally. The walls, the portion of the building above this location, and even their bags. There's several tables to sit at, and when it's a lot quieter without the lines I can imagine this area being a relaxing place for work and to hang out a little. It wasn't a good call to down both of these drinks very quickly because of my slight lactose intolerance but I thoroughly enjoyed the taste of what I had. This place is more or less similar to Molly Tea given they have similar drinks and have their own tea fragrances to define them, though this location's fragrance isn't as strong as Molly Tea's. Both places will have long lines at the time of this writing, but the wait will be worth it if you're into some high-quality tea. read more

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Self proclaimed best milk tea and frappe from the UK has arrived in Seattle and is offering BOGO September 5th to 7th. Line to order wasn't too bad, but after ordering it was about 50 minutes. I'd recommend coming back to get your order during the promotion. Overall the value evens out with the promotion and wait time. I was impressed by the service despite the soft/grand opening pressure. Prices seem average (without promo). I'd say Chayan is similar to Molly Tea, offering premium tea drinks with no focus on toppings (extra cream and extra pecans are available here). Maybe slightly less premium but I didn't try the jasmine tea. Frappes are tea with cream and pecans so very similar. Sugar is lighter by default here, but they still offer a less sweet option. Less sweet is comparable to 25% at other spots so I guess default is around 50%? Solid location next to the west dorms of UW. Classic Milk Tea - true to the name, it's a typical black tea base with milk but honestly pretty rich. Not super different than other places, but an additional light smoky flavor is present. Good but I'd opt for their other options. For black tea enjoyers, get the frappe instead. Black Tea Frappe - the frappes here are different than the base drinks because of added cream and pecans on top. It enhances the tea to be creamier at a light cost of the tea taste but the tea is still present because it's high quality and rich. read more

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What a great place to grab tea around UW. This place reminds me a lot like Molly Tea. They have a strong tea taste that compliments the rest of the flavors of the drink. Easy ordering system, I highyl recommend and would come back! read more

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The staff was helpful when I asked how to customize my order. The downside is that you can only sub nondairy for a few of the milk teas but they do have plain teas too. The menu doesn't necessarily match up to the ones that can be nondairy either but the tea itself was good. The space has some seating if you want to hang out and sit. read more

Chayan - Peach oolong milk tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

This place has more focus on the drink than the toppings as the traditional tapioca pearls are not an option. I thought the da hong pao milk tea was actually very yummy and felt like the balance of tea flavor and milk was good. The interior is also cute and has some seating to chat and chill. read more

Chayan - Da hong pao milk tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Solid spot that is reminiscent of Molly tea. I got the black tea frappe and it had good flavor. They also add some pecan pieces on the top (optional). Staff were friendly and there were a few tables to sit around. Overall, pretty solid and good if you want some tea in the area. read more

Chayan - black tea frappe - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Visited with a friend and we ordered the jasmine green milk tea and the black tea frappe. When I see frappe I think of an ice-blended drink, but Chayan's version is basically milk tea with whipped cream on top. Both drinks tasted bland and pretty standard. Nothing special. I would not go out of my way to visit again. read more

Chayan - Jasmine green milk tea and black tea frappe - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

We went during soft opening an hour before they closed and there was no line! I was pleasantly surprised by the Pu'er Frappe which was nutty and creamy. It had a rich flavor that was strong but not too much. The ambience of the inside is also quite calm too and it would be a chill place to study if I was still a student. Overall, I preferred this over Molly Tea and would come again. read more

Chayan - Pu'er Frappe - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Went here for the one plus one event and I am hooked! I got the black tea frappe and the cream is so good!! The pecan pieces came separately, and it was so good!! The wait time was about 30-40 minute and the service overall was good! Will def come back! read more

Chayan - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I love the tea here, but I'm hesitant to pay more than $6 for just tea. You can taste the difference in the high quality, and I think it's one of the best, if not the best, tea spots in U District. The decor is beautiful but there's a limited number of seats. read more

teas a super refreshing and crisp. my fav is the peach milk tea, and the jasmine green. i love the straws and they remind me of molly tea. pretty limited seating, so it can be hard to sit and chat. drinks are made pretty fast, so you never have to wait over 5 mins. a little expensive though, around $7 for a drink without toppings read more

Tried the osmanthus one and it lived up to the hype! As someone who enjoys Molly Tea, I found it to be pretty similar. I came on a Sat afternoon, and the service was so quick. read more

Chayan - Osmanthus - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

BOGO drinks 9/5-9/7. This place recently opened up and the popularity is pretty high, as there was a line to order but an even longer wait for drinks. I was quoted an hour for drinks but it ended up taking closer to 1.5 hrs, which is crazy for just drinks. I wish there was a better queue management system in case I go out and come back and was not sure where in the queue I am for the drink. I got the Da-Hong-Pao tea frappe which is fragrant tea with whipped cream on top. They gave me small pecan nibbles in a separate packaging that you can add to the drink, which added extra texture and subtle flavor. I like how floral the tea is, but compared to another place of similar format (Molly Tea), this one is not as fragrant but pricing is cheaper, so there is a tradeoff. This place is also conveniently located in UDistrict, perfect for the college clientele. Prices for drinks are still on the higher end - $6.89 plus tax for the drink for regular price, so $8+ final total is a bit steep for regular price. BOGO is fine and I was glad to take advantage of it, however. read more

Chayan - Da-Hong-Pao tea frappe - IG @bougiefoodieboi - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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their milk teas are really good! they taste super high quality and aren't too sweet (which is what i like). i wish this place was here when i was still at UW! there isn't much seating. read more

Chayan - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I'm not even sure what I just drank. Luke warm watered down milk with no flavor. It was so bad so I asked for a different flavor but second was worse. Not even warm. It comes out of a machine that dispenses watered down milk and some tea concentrate. Worst excuse for milk tea ever. Gross read more

I got a matcha latte and a matcha frap. I changed the milk with the latte to soy and it was delicious. On the other hand the frap honestly on the bitter side. The place was nice and in a good area. It was a self ordering station although pick up was great! They asked if I wanted pecan in my drink which was nice. read more

I was looking forward to my drink, but the turnaround time for my hot blossom peach oolong tea was 16min. No heads-up or update on how long I had to wait. The most disappointing part was the hot drink was completely lukewarm. read more

Chayan - Blossom peach oolong milk tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Peach oolong was really yummy, got it less sweet. Service was fast and friendly, not really sure what people have been talking about!

Would choose Molly Tea over Chayan any day. During their BOGO free, although cashier was sweet, they weren't upfront with wait time. They lack a system of calling orders. 1 hour wait for customers coming in yet they prioritize online orders. Due to the rush, the quality of drinks diminished and it tasted like milk. I found the crowd to be quite rude and pushed one another without disregard for people's space especially in such a small space. After a while, they stopped calling order numbers and just put your drinks in a cart and expected you to know. Order numbers not in order, two people yelled out the numbers and rolled their eyes and just gave up calling numbers out loud unless they felt like it. Unprofessional and can't properly run a rush. Save your time and your money. Had high expectations due to the reviews and people raving about this spot but l was severely disappointed. BTW During the soft opening, people were rewarded for giving good reviews so their google reviews are mostly lies. read more