We Try The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s New Lunar New Year Menu With a Citrusy Kick

We’ll be honest, some seasonal menus from brands can get weird, but The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s menu ‘Our Dragon Quest’ for the Lunar New Year hits all the right citrusy notes and is launched just in time to refresh us in this sweltering heat. The menu takes inspiration from flavours from Valencia in Spain, which boasts oranges which are recognised as the best in the world and known for their sweet flavour.

First up, we tried their Valencia Orange Sparkling Cold Brew Tea (small RM 16.90, regular RM 18.50). They also have the Valencia Orange Cold Brew Sweet Tea (small RM 13.90, regular RM 14.90) if you prefer, which is similar.

This slightly fizzy buzz of the carbonated brewed tea with Valencia Orange syrup served cold went well with the slices of oranges and was just the refreshing drink I needed in this insane heat (the ice kacang I bought today melted within the short walk to my car).

They also have a Valencia Orange Sparkling Cold Brew Coffee (small RM 16.90, regular RM 18.50) for coffee enthusiasts with the option of having whipped cream on top (this aunty can’t drink coffee at all because I can’t sleep afterwards).

No lies, Coffee Bean is my favourite coffee chain because their drinks aren’t watered down like their competitors (yes, ironically even though I don’t drink coffee), and my go-to drink is either the Vanilla Ice Blended or their Hot Vanilla (here’s a tip, you can get it off menu if you tell the barista. *winks*).

So, I also tried the Valencia Orange Ice Blended (small RM 16.70, regular RM 17.70) and it’s basically similar except that this has a zest to it with the skin of the Valencia Orange blended all in, which gives it a real fruity taste without overpowering it. It tastes a bit like a blended version of vanilla orange wafers if we had to compare.

Citrusly Good Noms

As you probably know, Coffee Bean has a decent food menu and I usually go for their pasta but this time I had their Spicy Tuna Sandwich (RM19.80) which comes with a salad. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised and liked the soft potato bread which had Nestum on it, yum. The tuna was seasoned and spiced just nice without being too spicy and didn’t have a fishy aftertaste.

They have a few desserts on the menu and to finish off, I went for the Golden Prosperity cake (RM16.90) per slice. I feel like its slightly pricey for the size but that’s how cakes are priced in this economy I guess *shrugs*.

The cake was dense yet fluffy, with orange zest which complemented the creamy mascarpone cheese. The cheese tasted like the cream on a carrot cake, which I love and most importantly not DRY, like it usually is with many coffee chains.

Although the taste of orange isn’t overpowering in any of the items, I’d still recommend only getting one orange-flavoured item and pair it with something else on the menu.

I love the Chocolate Chip muffins from Coffee Bean, but this time I had the Dragon Swirl, another seasonal menu item. It looks like a cinnamon roll, but was actually an atas ‘bak kwa bun’ which is pretty apt for the season. Of course instead of pork, it uses sweet honey smoked chicken. The tastes were both sweet and savoury with what appeared to be fried shallot bits in a soft brioche roll.

I actually enjoyed my dinner and I can totally see the drinks and cake becoming permanent items!

For more information about the latest offerings from The Coffee Bean & Tea Lea Leaf Malaysia, news and promotions, visit their Facebook page www.facebook.com/CBTLMalaysiaPage, Instagram account @coffeebeanMY, TikTok account @coffeebeanMY, or website www.coffeebean.com.my.