Milk tea. These are two words which bring joy to anybody. For Filipinos, it has become a staple for various activities across different venues. According to Driftstories.com, milk tea shops in the Philippines started its roots in 2008 in San Juan City in Metro Manila. In Iloilo, I’m very sure you also remember pioneering brands such as Dakasi and Moonleaf which also opened its doors a few years later.
Basically a concoction of milk and freshly brewed tea, this drink could find its way into our study groups, all-nighters and overtime work. I could not simply count the number of times I ordered milk tea so I could get fueled to pull off a good working day. The silky smooth drink with sweet and chewy tapioca pearls almost end up as a meal replacement to get that sugar rush to beat office deadlines.
The milk tea business is simply booming these days. One after the other, stores mushroom all over Iloilo City be it a franchise or a home-grown brand. Just this January, another brand that already gained steady patronage in other cities in the Philippines opened its doors for the Ilonggos. I am referring to Infinitea which tags itself as one of the country’s top milk tea shop chain. In 2014, it was awarded as the Best Tea Shop Chain in the Philippines during the Golden Globe Annual Awards for Business Excellence.
Over 100 Drinks to choose from!
Infinitea serves a wide variety of tasty and refreshing authentic pearl milk tea drinks. These are guaranteed made from 100 percent freshly brewed loose-leaf teas of high quality. They also serve variety of coffees, Frappes, Fruit Teas and more.
Since its opening in January 2022, I have not yet repeated any of my drink orders in Infinitea. There is simply a lot to choose from. They have eight main lines of beverages:
- Milk Tea – 29 drinks
- Original Tea – 5 drinks
- Fruit Tea – 14 drinks
- Frappe – 20 drinks
- Iced Series – 9 drinks
- Lemonade – 8 drinks
- Soda Pops – 7 drinks
- Coffee Selection – 10 hot/iced coffee drinks and 5 coffee-based frappe
Among these, my favorites (so far) include the Strawberry Oreo Frappe, Green Apple Soda Pop and Okinawa Milk Tea.
Applicable to some drink items, you can choose your sweetness level at 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100 percent sugar level. For the sinkers, Infinitea also has a handful which you can mix and match for your drink such as pearls, nata de coco, assorted jelly, basil seed, chocolate or caramel topping, coffee jelly, brown sugar jelly, egg pudding, whipped cream and salted cream.
Meals and Snacks
If you think the drinks are not enough, Infinitea is also developing several menu items to meet your dining demands. They offer full meals such as chicken adobo flakes, tapa flakes, crispy chicken or crispy pork chop with rice. For some casual snacking, to complement their delicious drinks, you can have nachos, chicken pops, hamburger, lumpiang shanghai, siomai, onion rings, or seasoned fries.
To fully meet your all-day meal demands, they also recently launched their All-Day Breakfast line which embraces the typical Pinoy breakfast paying tribute to its title as No. 1 Tea Shop in the Philippines. Paired with pickled veggies, rice and egg, you can choose from Spam, pork tocino, beef tapa, longganisa, daing na bangus, spicy Spanish sardines or hotdog.
Among my favorites that you must try out include the nachos, chicken pops and onion rings. I am yet to try out their latest all-day breakfast line.
Ambiance and Staff
The store is open from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM under normal conditions (taking into account the LGU-prescribed curfews and proclamations). The store is airconditioned and is very comfortable for short visits such as dining or casually meeting someone for a quick catch up. Peak hours are usually at around 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. If you have a car that needs some washing, there is a carwash just beside it. So you can practically drop off your car and have a sip of Infinitea’s great drinks.
The store is simple but the lighting and the minimalist Nordic vibe make it an Instagram-worthy place when the proper angles are done. Don’t be afraid to ask any of their staff if you’re alone and you need that great photo. They’d be happy to take a photo of you. As a token of appreciation, tag them in your next IG story at @infiniteailo2.
Final Word and Promotion
As part of their loyalty program, Infinitea offers a loyalty card which can get you a free sinker on your fifth order, a free drink on your 10th, another free sinker your 15th and another free drink on your 20th. This promotion, however, is limited to large size drinks. You can ask for a card from the cashier when you order your 1st large size drink. (Subject to change without prior notice. Information was acquired as of this writing)
Infinitea Iloilo is one milk tea shop you should not miss and is definitely worth a visit. It provides a wide variety of drinks and a great selection of meals and snacks to choose from. If I were to rate it, I can give it a 4 out of 5 with the only recommendation to also invest in delivery so more Ilonggos could try them out. I am very sure there will be a lot of repeat orders.
Ilonggo Engineer 