Guo Cha Club (“fruit tea” in Mandarin) officially opened its doors on 27 January. This little shop in Luxembourg city centre specialises in selling bubble tea. It has competitors--even on the same street, across the pavement--but insists that its recipes and high-quality ingredients set it apart.

Oleksandr Petrykov and his wife Brandy work with fresh fruit and use recipes that, they say, are closer to the original Asian standards and less adapted to European tastes. “My wife Brandy is Taiwanese,” explains Petrykov. The couple co-founded Guo Cha Club. “So she has a real understanding of what bubble tea is, a drink that was invented in Taiwan in the 1980s and is a real success in Asia. That’s why we’ve paid particular attention to the selection of the teas that form the basis of our drinks, as well as the quality of the ingredients we add, such as fresh fruit purées and tapioca beads.”

The atmosphere in the shop is dynamic and full of colour. Photo: Guo Cha Club

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The counter is like a slice of lemon. Photo: Guo Cha Club

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Upstairs, there are neon lights in the shape of fruit and wood and metal furniture. Photo: Guo Cha Club

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A number of accessories are available to complement the bubble tea experience. Photo: Guo Cha Club

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The menu. Photo: Paperjam.lu

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The menu features 25 drinks in five categories: pure tea, Guo Cha series, modern classics, cheesy top and Yakult-based drinks with freshly squeezed juice. The Guo Cha Club has selected a few must-tries, such as the “Guo Cha signature” (green tea and fresh fruit), the “brown sugar pearl fresh milk tea” (delicate tea flavours and chewy tapioca beads), and the very surprising “mango cheesy top,” which has a thick layer of Parmesan cream on top, the slightly salty taste of which teases out the mango flavours.

For the founders, this is a first step: if it proves successful, the idea is to develop a franchise. “We’re also going to step up the events aspect, with manga lovers getting together to meet up, for example. We still have to work on these proposals, but we will post all the events on our social networks,” says Petrykov.

This is a tea shop we have tried and recommend. Besides great tastes, it has a dynamic setting (created by a Taiwanese design agency) with colours that pop. It’s also very kid-friendly (high chair, changing station in the toilets).

Guo Cha Club: 30 rue Beaumont in Luxembourg. Open Tuesday to Saturday (noon to 7:00pm) and Sunday (2:00pm to 7:00pm).

This article in Paperjam. It has been translated and edited for Delano.