Aside from having 50 drinks in Serenitea's menu, this
Filipino-owned chain of teashops offers seasonal treats that keep their patrons excited. It takes a notch higher for Christmas 2023 by collaborating with another homegrown brand, Pan de Manila, to come up with a line of holiday drinks aptly called Maligayang Festivi-teas.

"Pasok sa theme namin, Paskong Pinoy (It's in line with our theme, Filipino Christmas)," Serenitea's Peter Chen told DAILY TRIBUNE at the recent launch of Maligayang Festivi-teas, which coincided with the brand's 15th anniversary. His wife and co-founder/owner Juliet Herrera-Chen added, "Parang (It's like a) tribute to the Filipino taste."

The couple noted that Filipinos like traditional sweets like yema and ube halaya. That's why they created two unique drinks using ingredients from Pan de Manila bakery, which also sells bottled sweets as sandwich filling or palaman.

First off is Yema Mais con Yelo (P180, large size) with green tea as base and mixed with sweet corn, syrup, milk and ice. It's then topped with a generous helping of yema and cheese shavings. Then there's Ube Pandan Green Tea (P188, large size) that gives an interesting twist to the well-loved buko pandan dessert.

These holiday drinks are available at all Serenitea stores until 15 January 2024. Before that end date comes, though, the teashop runs its annual Jumbo Cup Promo from 14, 15 and 16 December. Every purchase of a large drink from participating drinks is automatically upsized to jumbo size (equivalent to one liter) for free.

The selection includes milk tea classics Pearl, Okinawa, Hokkaido and Wintermelon; Fruitea favorites Summer Breeze, Winter Frost, Green Apple, Lychee and Cranberry; and specialties Brown Sugar Regular Fresh Milk, Taro Lover and Crème Brulee Milk Tea.