The intrinsically local cempedak talam is a stand-out crowd favourite that is addictive from start to finish. — Photos: Beca Tea
Beca Tea’s fabled family tea history began in the early 20th century with Koh Ming Fang, who was a tea producer in a tiny little village in the Fujian province in China. Ming Fang’s son Koh Hooi Chew grew up there and became a school teacher, although he continued to help his father with the tea production business.
Seeking to break the cycle of poverty that the family was mired in, Hooi Chew left for Malaysia as an adult and started working as a rubber tapper before fortuitously ending up working for an tea merchant, a business that he eventually took over.
In the years since, his son Koh Heng Jin and grandson Koh Peng Chye became involved in the family business, which flourished and developed a reputation for high-quality teas. But as time progressed, the nearly century-old business (which had previously only catered to the business-to-business market) realised they needed to do something to help impart all the pedagogy they had picked up over the years to younger tea drinkers.
And that is how the family’s first retail outlet Beca Tea was born in Damansara Uptown, Selangor, powered by three main stalwarts in the family: Koh Peng Chye, better known as PC, his wife Wong Rin Rin and the couple’s nephew 31-year-old Joshua Ong, who is the fifth generation in the family to be involved in the tea business.
PC’s family tea business traces its roots to the early 20th century, which is why the fourth-generation business owner is a font of knowledge on the subject of tea.
“We’re a small company in Malaysia and what we’re trying to do is have the audacity to make tea-drinking culture popular and modernise tea-drinking. And we didn’t know whether we would succeed or not,” says Wong.
Ong meanwhile is actually a chartered account by training, but has been exposed to the tea business since he was a kid. It was only as an adult that he said he started gaining an appreciation for tea culture.
“My grandparents never taught us about tea in a formal way, so when I asked questions, they would be like ‘Why you need to know?’ It was my uncle who encouraged me to start reading about teas and that is how I slowly learnt,” says Ong.
PC is the captain and chief steward of the current generation’s tea journey and the one with the vast, unbridled passion and interest in tea – which isn’t surprising, given that he has been drinking tea since he was five years old!
“Just like what my forefathers have told me, the tea business will always survive in its own way. Because even when times are bad and you can’t afford a restaurant meal, you can afford a cup of tea, so there will always be drinkers. It’s just that we need to catch up. There’s been a gap in the market and we need to appeal to the younger generation with more innovative teas,” says PC.
At Beca Tea, expect to be fully initiated into tea culture right from the get-go with an informative opener to teas that starts from the menu itself.
There is plenty to whet the app-tea-tite so look forward to a range of botanical infusions, hot brew and cold-brew teas, pure milk teas and tea lattes, to name a few.
The brand does not use any additional sugars, except for stevia, so most of the sugars are naturally derived from the fruits in each drink. PC, Wong and Ong also worked with mixologists from Malaysia and Singapore to refine their concoctions and use as many local ingredients as possible in the teas – from honeydew melons to cempedak, which is why there is a strong, proud Malaysian slant to all the drinks.
Start with a classic local favourite in the form of the Teh Tarik (RM5.90 for the hot option). This is made using 11 different teas sourced from countries like Kenya, Indonesia and Sri Lanka as well as evaporated milk and condensed milk.
The teh tarik is a smooth operator with rich tea notes that sail through its muddy waters with clarity and depth.
“Where the Teh Tarik is concerned, it is at least seven decades of sourcing tea from around the world and then blending it at the production facility that we have and then distributing it business-to-business (B2B). We are known in the B2B market to be of very good quality but expensive and I think businesses just want something cheap. So we really felt it was good and we wanted to serve it direct to consumers,” says PC.
This is probably the purest version of teh tarik you are likely to have tried – it is rustic and unvarnished, with strong tea flavours coming through and the richness of milk to buoy the entire concoction. There is a soothing, sating feeling that will emerge when you drink this – that sort of nostalgia that comes from something familiar couched in an elevated thought process and configuration.
Moving on, definitely look at indulging in a botanical infusion in the form of the Yuzu Blaze (RM13.90) which features moonlight jasmine tea, yuzu, ginger, roselle and sago pearls. The yuzu is sourced from a farm in Japan and is the scene-stealer in this offering, with its lip-puckering qualities. This is a potently tangy drink with hints of tea riddled throughout – it’s not for everyone, but if you like the sour side of life, you’ll love this off-the-beaten-tea-track beverage.
Up next, try an oatmilk macchiato in the form of the Squash Supreme (RM15.90) which highlights black tea, Japanese kabocha squash, Italian balsamic vinegar, grass jelly, dairy foam and an oatmilk base.
The balsamic vinegar is the odd duck in this concoction and is something that Wong championed, even when PC believed such a thing could not be conceived of in a tea. And yet it is so well-calibrated and clever, inserting an acerbic component into a fruity squash based tea drink in what can only be described as a match made in heaven. This is tea for thinkers and those who like nuances and deliberate additions to their drinks.
“This drink represents who we are. We are very comfortably local – like the squash comes from Cameron Highlands, so it’s as local as you can get. However we love that dash of acidity that cuts across the foam with the balsamic vinegar.
“I think that’s the part of us that is exploratory. And this drink, it sounds a bit crazy, but it’s actually very well received by people with more sophisticated taste buds,” says Wong.
If you’re a fan of powerfully tangy drinks, you’ll instantly adore the yuzu blaze.
While there are plenty of tantalising options on offer, round out your tea-venture with a tea latte in the form of the uniquely local Cempedak Talam (RM17.90), one of Ong’s inventions.
The drink consists of ceremonial grade matcha (flown in from Japan to Singapore, where Wong and PC drive to pick it up), pandan, cempedak and coconut milk.
This drink has cempedak written all over it – from the first sniff to the last sip. It’s a uniquely tropical concoction with cempedak taking a starring role and matcha forming an able counterpart that doesn’t steal the cempedak’s thunder. Instead, the two work together in harmony to form a tag team that elevates each component and renders this a truly unforgettable drink.
Moving forward, PC says there are plans to open more outlets (there is already a second one in Bangsar South), thus expanding their market even further and introducing modern teas to a whole new generation of tea-drinkers.
“The Chinese people have a strong tea culture; it’s just been very archaic. But if you go to China now, they are super modern and advanced in their culture. So there they are thinking ‘Hey, how do we preserve our tea culture by making it more relevant for young people?’
“So that is what we are trying to do with Beca because tea is something everyone can appreciate,” says PC earnestly.
Beca Tea
61 G, Jalan SS21/1a
Damansara Uptown
47400 Petaling Jaya
Open daily: 11am to 10pm
