Hong Kong’s first handbrew tea bar Green Ginkgo Tea (GGT) debuts its third store in Pacific Place this Summer. After its very first handbrew teabar opened in Tai Ping Shan Street Sheung Wan in 2017, the second store in the LOHAS in 2020, and the pop-up at Taikoo Place earlier this year, Green Ginkgo Tea is now officially launching at Pacific Place offering their signature unique handbrew tea drinks and tea products.
With the vision of “Make tea as accessible and modern as coffee culture worldwide,” the founder of GGT Shawn Mak particularly innovates fizzy craft tap tea exclusively only for Pacific Place, giving an artisanal experience in a cup.
The new location is located on the ground floor near the high-traffic entrance of Pacific Place and its cinema. With its proximity to the many office buildings in Admiralty business district, customers can take a tea break from the hectic office work and enjoy a peaceful moment and some artisanal seasonal sweets in this new GGT tea oasis. Customers can also bring their favorite tea drinks and experience back to the office with the selected quality tea products from Japan, Taiwan, and China and enjoy corporate catering and gifting service at their own offices.
Making tea more accessible
Each tea is sourced with GGT company motto in mind “Bring you a cool moment”: offers customers a taste that they have not experienced before. To make tea more accessible, GGT brings to the menu bestselling items including handbrew reserve tea from Phoenix Oolong to Kyoto Uji Sencha, exclusive craft fizzy tap tea, cold brew tea, healthy Japan tea latte, and fruit tea, and customers can choose the drinks to be bottled for easier takeaway enjoyment.
For tea beginners, the Craft Fizzy Tap Tea (HK$62) is the very first tap tea in the market, a healthy alternative sugar-free fizzy drink, available in our all-time signature Phoenix Oolong (HK$68), sourced from the 1000m high altitude Mountain Phoenix. This oolong is said to have the most complex natural aromatic compounds among Chinese tea due to its hundred-year-old tea trees, unique soil terroir, and traditional fermentation processes, and is regarded as the “The Perfume of Tea”. The bubbles of the tap tea can further accentuate the iconic peachy and honey notes of this oolong with a hint of mountain meadow flowers. Having a sip of this tea can definitely beat the summer heat and bring a literally eye-opening sensory experience.
Those with a sweet tooth can go for another bestseller Japan Awarded Apple Juice White Peony Tea ($55): The natural sweetness of the apple juice complements perfectly with the apricot notes of the White Peony Tea, a premium white tea that has cooling and anti-inflammatory effects. Finished with the slight sourness from the apple taste, it is definitely the summer healthy drink to raise the appetite.
Tea fans are also able to enjoy awarded and special varieties of tea in this new outlet. GGT sources directly from the single-origin Uji Kyoto tea farm awarded Japan National Matcha Championip using only traditional hand-picked single cultivar and harvested only once in early spring every year: the Light of Uji Matcha Ujihikari Polaris ($890), the symbolic, umami, and sweet matcha cultivar from the origin of matcha Uji of Kyoto. This matcha is classy and sweet with a creamy mouthfeel and fresh taste.
Those who prefer the traditional tastes can try the Alishan Roasted Iron Buddha ($288) which was grown at above 1200m in Mountain Alishan of Taiwan and was awarded the Superior Taste Award which was selected by chefs and sommeliers from different prestigious culinary associations. This exquisite tea is charcoal-roasted with longan timber for three days which gives the tea its symbolic sparkling amber color and a taste of longan, honey, and fully riped wild berries.
Health-conscious tea drinkers can try the unique cultivar Benefuki ($188) from Japan containing a special type of polyphenols that are said to help improve allergy and inflammation, in particular nasal allergies, and not to mention the abundant anti-oxidants that can bring anti-aging effects. This special benefuki green tea is served in powder sachet to be enjoyed at the office easily.
Echoing the ongoing quest from customers on the artisanal caneles (HK$38) made with French and Japanese ingredients, on top of the best selling houjicha flavour, GGT also brings a Pacific Place exclusive Divine Earl Grey and Iron Buddha Oolong flavours. The hot crispy crust of the caneles with the moist tea-flavored core is the perfect snack to go with the handbrew tea such as the house blend Divine Earl Grey (HK$188) using Taiwanese honey loose leaf black tea from Sun Moon Lake infused with the choice of bergamot and citrus fruit. It has a very mellow texture and delicate bergamot aroma that slowly releases and lingers on the palate.
Customers can take home their favorite tea experience including tea bags and loose leaf tea, premium tea set, and special edition tea and teawares. They may even pick their own handmade tea tin canister (HK$160), which is made in Japan by a century-old workshop specifically for GGT in its signature red and black.
As a homegrown brand, GGT also infuses local elements in which the centerpiece retail shelf is made in Hong Kong by local craftsmen using birchwood and dyed with layers of Japanese persimmon juice (kabisiku), a traditional Japanese method with a thousand years of history to protect the wood from bugs and weathering, and give it a glamouring reddish-amber color for the customer to enjoy their cool moments.
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