From Monday, 12 October 2026, CHAGEE Singapore is pouring a new Chrysanthemum series, and for one week it comes with an adult-friendly playground in the atrium of The Star Vista. If chrysanthemum tea was the packet drink that rode along in your school bag, this launch is built around a flavour you already have feelings about.
The pop-up runs only from 12 to 18 October, and the collectible merch arrives in two waves. Before you text the group chat, here’s what’s in the cup, what’s in the playground, and which pieces are worth planning your week around.
At a Glance
- Where: Atrium, The Star Vista
- When: 12 to 18 October 2026
- Drinks: Chrysanthemum Milk Tea and Chrysanthemum Brewed Tea, both hot or cold
- Merch: Embroidered magnets, Jelly Pouch, Mini Digicam
- Second wave: Golden Mini Digicam Bundle, available from Friday, 16 October
- Bring: A kaki (Singlish for your buddy or partner-in-crime)
- Details: CHAGEE Singapore website
Your Childhood Drink, Grown Up
Chrysanthemum tea is part of the furniture in Singapore. It’s the golden drink in the hawker centre fridge, the jug on the table at zi char (casual Chinese cook-and-serve) dinners, and the carton parents hand over when someone is feeling heaty. That’s local shorthand for the “internal heat” described in TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). The floral brew has long been the go-to for cooling down in our relentless humidity.
CHAGEE’s version pairs Hangzhou White Chrysanthemum from Zhejiang Province with Golden Peony Black Tea from Fu’an in Fujian. According to the brand, the black tea gives the flower a rounder, fuller body and a lasting honeyed finish. That’s a smart fix for the thin, sugary versions many of us grew up gulping.
There are two drinks, both available hot or cold:
- Chrysanthemum Milk Tea is the smooth, creamy one. There’s no non-fat milk option.
- Chrysanthemum Brewed Tea is lighter and more tea-forward.
Which to order: Purists should get the Brewed Tea. It stays closest to the hawker-stall original while the black tea does some heavy lifting underneath. Bubble tea regulars will gravitate to the Milk Tea, which is also the cup carrying the campaign’s illustrations.
If you haven’t joined the queue yet: CHAGEE says it is an international tea chain with over 7,600 stores worldwide as of August 2026, and its APAC (Asia-Pacific) headquarters is right here in Singapore. Announcing the launch, CHAGEE’s CEO in Singapore, Lawrence Wen, said: “We took a nostalgic classic every Singaporean loves and infused it with a fresh, playful energy. This drink is a reminder to step away from your desk, meet up with an old friend, and embrace a moment of pure joy.”
Four Stops, One Playdate
The pop-up is built around #FindYourCHAGEEPlaydate, the brand’s nudge to turn an ordinary afternoon into a proper hangout. Here’s how a visit works:
1. Sample both new drinks.
2. Pick up a Playdate challenge.
3. Work through four zones with your kaki.
The four zones are:
- Find Your Kaki: Prompts you to finally text that friend you’ve been meaning to see for months. It’s the cleverest idea in the set-up, because it targets the exact thing adult life keeps postponing.
- Play Like You Used To: Turns the atrium into a playground inspired by school recess.
- Get A Little Silly: Brings the campaign’s illustrations to life as oversized installations made for posing, lounging and goofing around.
- Catch The Moment: Document your playdate, take home a keepsake, and share it with the hashtag.
CHAGEE has a track record with this kind of thing. Its Tanned Hello Kitty pop-up outside Mandarin Gallery in December 2025 ran a five-stop trail with a tasting bar and a stamp-card system. An Alice in Wonderland-themed Earl Grey pop-up landed at VivoCity in March 2026. This time the star is homegrown rather than licensed, which makes it feel a lot more like ours!
The Local Artist Behind It
The drawings come from Lauren Cheung, a Singapore-based illustrator who posts as @dirtydoodies. CHAGEE describes her as known for whimsical illustrations of food, city life and everyday moments. She created the visual identity and illustrations for the entire collection.
The result is cheerful without being saccharine. These are cups you’d happily post rather than bin straight away.
Merch to Plan Around
The limited-edition range carries Cheung’s illustrated world across three pieces:
- Embroidered magnets: The easy, fridge-friendly souvenir.
- Jelly Pouch: Sized for a day out.
- Mini Digicam: The standout, because it plugs straight into the “capture your playdate” idea behind the whole campaign.
Collectors, note the second wave. The Golden Mini Digicam Bundle only becomes available from Friday, 16 October. If you want the full set, you’ll need a second trip, and that trip lands on the pop-up’s final weekend, when crowds tend to swell.
How to Plan Your Visit
If you’ve ever strategised a drop like G-DRAGON’s McDonald’s merch, the same rules apply:
- Just want the drinks and installations? Go early in the week.
- Hunting the Golden bundle? Save it for Friday, 16 October.
- Making a weekend of it?
Why It’s Worth an Afternoon
Most brand pop-ups ask you to admire a product, but this one asks you to bring a friend, and that’s a smarter hook than any photo wall. A familiar drink, a local artist and a recess-style playground add up to a cheap excuse to clear an afternoon you’d otherwise lose to errands. The tea is the bait; the catch-up is the point.
🗓️ Date: 12 to 18 October 2026 (Golden Mini Digicam Bundle from 16 October)
📍 Location: Atrium, The Star Vista
🥤 Drinks: Chrysanthemum Milk Tea and Chrysanthemum Brewed Tea, hot or cold
🎁 Merch: Embroidered magnets, Jelly Pouch, Mini Digicam, Golden Mini Digicam Bundle (from 16 October)
🔗 Details: CHAGEE Singapore website
Chrysanthemum Milk Tea and Chrysanthemum Brewed Tea land on Monday, 12 October, and the playground stays open through Sunday, 18 October, so pick your kaki now and lock in a date before the week slips away. Check the CHAGEE Singapore website for store details, and follow CHAGEE on TikTok and Xiaohongshu for playdate updates and merch drops. Recess has never tasted this floral!
Photos and Visuals courtesy of CHAGEE Singapore.