This is the Gong Cha Mango Pomelo Drink ($7.10, less ice, fixed sweetness), which was inspired by the mango pomelo sago dessert from Hong Kong. It was tea-free with a coconut milk base that’s flavoured with mango and topped with mango purée, coconut jelly, and red pomelo.
The drink was an opaque yellow colour with the toppings adding flecks of orange and red. Consumed chilled, the signature nuttiness of the coconut milk dominated the initial sip before the gentle sweet mango notes came to prominence. The chunks of fresh mango added a soft texture and boldly sweet fresh flavour, while the pomelo juice vesicles added a hint of tartness. In place of the signature sago in the original dessert were the jellies, which added a similar bounce, though didn’t quite give the same overall mouthfeel.
Overall, the drink recalled the earlier renditions of the Hong Kong dessert by Milk Flower but with a much thinner consistency that worked in its favour, making it not only more affordable but more suitable as a beverage than a whole meal that the version from Milk Flower tended towards.
This Mango Pomelo Drink was purchased from Gong Cha in Sydney, Australia in May 2022.