"Three-Hour Wait in the Middle of Sinchon and Gangnam"... The 'Chinese Milk Tea' Craze Fueled by Jang Won-young and Sullyoon

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[Financial News] CHAGEE, a premium milk tea brand from China, is drawing strong popularity among people in their 20s and 30s in South Korea, with wait times of more than three hours at each store. In particular, IVE's Jang Won-young sparked attention after she was seen drinking a CHAGEE beverage during a live broadcast, drawing strong interest even before the brand's official launch in Korea. The buzz grew further when NMIXX's Sullyoon also joined in, quickly spreading demand among fans.
On the 13th, the area in front of CHAGEE's Gangnam Flagship Store in Seocho District, Seoul, was packed with people in their 20s and 30s. Some visitors asked staff whether on-site waiting was possible, while others tried to confirm what was causing the crowd, saying, "What is going on that so many people are gathering here?"
CHAGEE is a Chinese tea and milk tea brand built around a premium image. It officially launched in South Korea last month by opening three stores at the same time: the Gangnam Flagship Store, the CHAGEE Yongsan I'Park Mall Branch, and the ChaJi Shinchon Branch. About a month later, on the 21st and 22nd, it added the Yeoksam Branch and the City Hall Branch, expanding rapidly.
As visitors have flocked to each store since the opening, the on-site waiting line at busy locations such as the Sinchon branch has taken up nearly half of the sidewalk. The stores said they operate both on-site waiting and remote waiting through a mobile app depending on the situation.
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In fact, when this reporter tried remote waiting through the app around 3 p.m. that day, the estimated wait time was about 170 minutes, with more than 670 drinks already queued ahead. The reporter returned to the store about three hours later, matching the estimate, but additional delays followed after a problem occurred with some equipment during the preparation process. In the end, the drink was not received until about three and a half hours, or 200 minutes, after the order was placed.
Asked why they were willing to endure such long waits, customers gave a range of answers, from "I was curious about the taste" to "because my favorite celebrity drank it."
Yoon, 27, said, "A colleague who had been to China recommended it to me before, and when it came to Korea, the viral buzz around Jang Won-young made me even more curious." She added, "Since it became a topic on social networking service (SNS), I think I naturally became interested." She also said, "The wait is long, but being able to check the pickup time makes it more manageable than I expected."
Lee, 21, and Park, 22, said, "We're fans of NMIXX's Sullyoon, and we came because Sullyoon drank it." Lee added, "We did wait for three hours, but the taste is pretty good." She said that if she had visited without knowing how popular it was, it would have been inconvenient, but since she knew in advance, the wait was acceptable.
There were also many foreign visitors inside the store. Wakana, 30, and Ayaka, 31, Japanese women living in Gangnam, said, "We came because CHAGEE is called 'Jang Won-young milk tea.'" They added, "If you wait through the app and spend time nearby, it is not very inconvenient." After taking a sip, they said, "It is not overly sweet and feels refreshing, which is nice."
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Overall, consumers said CHAGEE stands out from existing domestic milk tea brands because it reduces sweetness and highlights the natural flavor of tea. Lee, 25, said, "Existing milk tea brands such as Gong Cha tend to be sweet like dessert, but CHAGEE feels more focused on the aroma of tea leaves." She added, "If there were no waiting line, I would probably drink it often instead of coffee."
Still, some said the waiting time was excessive for the taste. Kim, 27, said, "It has already been two weeks since the opening, but the wait is still long, so expectations were high." After trying it, he described it as "a rather bland taste, like brewed tea mixed with milk," and added, "I'm not sure it deserves this much attention."
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localplace@fnnews.com Kim Hyun-ji Reporter